Y'all Watch Florida (stadium enhancements)...

[KingWard]

When they do it, they'll do it right. They are determined to hit a homerun with their upcoming stadium renovations. I wish I were as confident about our resolve and vision - whatever it is. Note: stadium capacity will be REDUCED. They are going the NFL route.

Florida takes 1st step in $400M Swamp revamp

The Swamp is getting a makeover that's expected to cost at least $400 million and be a "multigenerational solution" for an aging iconic stadium.

www.espn.com

Florida seeking architecture firm for historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium renovations

The University of Florida's historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is in line to get a major facelift in the near future. The Associated Press confirmed on Monday that the venue that houses the Swamp will receive an overhaul that is expected to cost at least $400 millio

gatorswire.usatoday.com

 

[Atlanta_Cock]

We have a smaller and less wealthy fanbase coupled with an Ath-a-letic Director who is a trillion miles away from being creative and inspiring.

We should rip out the East Upper entirely and replace it with a 2-3 rows of suites running from end zone to end zone that are vertical - similar to the suites in State Farm Arena in ATL. It’ll reduce capacity, but who cares? Make the concourses and restrooms first class and bring in a real food and drink vendor and create an environment ppl are willing to pay for and can’t wait to return to.

 

[Uscg1984]

We have a smaller and less wealthy fanbase coupled with an Ath-a-letic Director who is a trillion miles away from being creative and inspiring.

We should rip out the East Upper entirely and replace it with a 2-3 rows of suites running from end zone to end zone that are vertical - similar to the suites in State Farm Arena in ATL. It’ll reduce capacity, but who cares? Make the concourses and restrooms first class and bring in a real food and drink vendor and create an environment ppl are willing to pay for and can’t wait to return to.

Who cares? All the thousands of folks who can afford tickets in the East Upper but can't afford suites, for one group.

I'm always very skeptical when I hear about a university working to "improve the game-day experience" for fans. What that usually means is they are going to create more opportunities for a relatively small group of people to spend even more money watching their football team. Yes, it's the NFL model. But there's a reason why NFL teams are located in major metro markets - because they could never consistently fill a stadium in places like Tuscaloosa, Athens, Gainesville, and Columbia where there isn't a large enough market to buy their insanely expensive tickets.

 

[Atlanta_Cock]

Who cares? All the thousands of folks who can afford tickets in the East Upper but can't afford suites, for one group.

I'm always very skeptical when I hear about a university working to "improve the game-day experience" for fans. What that usually means is they are going to create more opportunities for a relatively small group of people to spend even more money watching their football team. Yes, it's the NFL model. But there's a reason why NFL teams are located in major metro markets - because they could never consistently fill a stadium in places like Tuscaloosa, Athens, Gainesville, and Columbia where there isn't a large enough market to buy their insanely expensive tickets.

Upper East is miserable, especially early season day games, and rarely fills up. I would decline free tix up there unless it’s a night game against a top opponent.

 

[bayrooster]

Make the concourses and restrooms first class and bring in a real food and drink vendor and create an environment ppl are willing to pay for and can’t wait to return to.

This needs to happen before ripping out seats and installing suites. The disparity between those who have tickets to the suites with catered food versus the majority who have to settle for stone age restroom facilities and crap volunteer concessions will not go unnoticed if they don't.

 

[18IsTheMan]

We have a smaller and less wealthy fanbase coupled with an Ath-a-letic Director who is a trillion miles away from being creative and inspiring.

We should rip out the East Upper entirely and replace it with a 2-3 rows of suites running from end zone to end zone that are vertical - similar to the suites in State Farm Arena in ATL. It’ll reduce capacity, but who cares? Make the concourses and restrooms first class and bring in a real food and drink vendor and create an environment ppl are willing to pay for and can’t wait to return to.

This is the thing. We have a very passionate and loyal fan base, second to none. Just not a wealthy one.

 

[will110]

We have a smaller and less wealthy fanbase coupled with an Ath-a-letic Director who is a trillion miles away from being creative and inspiring.

We should rip out the East Upper entirely and replace it with a 2-3 rows of suites running from end zone to end zone that are vertical - similar to the suites in State Farm Arena in ATL. It’ll reduce capacity, but who cares? Make the concourses and restrooms first class and bring in a real food and drink vendor and create an environment ppl are willing to pay for and can’t wait to return to.

This is a terrible idea. The fans who are the backbone of the gameday atmosphere aren't the rich people who can afford suites. It's the normal people who sit in the normal seats without access to decent bathrooms or concessions. They don't have comfortable seats with backs, just metal benches. They walk up those ramps and then countless stairs to find their seats.

Rip those seats out and put in suites? You lose capacity and fan engagement. Loyal fans who can afford those seats suffer.

All the big renovations and additions to WB lately have targeted the wealthy fan. They did nothing to improve the gameday experience for the vast majority of fans in the stadium.

Williams-Brice NEEDS renovation. The concourses are too narrow. The benches are extremely uncomfortable. It needs a facelift for the normal fan, the fan who populates a huge percentage of gameday attendance. A great first step would be removing the metal bleacher seating and put in individual chairbacks with cupholders. That would obviously decrease capacity, but it would increase comfort drastically.

 

[Cockypantherfan]

Upper East is miserable, especially early season day games, and rarely fills up. I would decline free tix up there unless it’s a night game against a top opponent.

I had season tickets for two years post graduation in the Upper East and I really enjoyed it. Sat on the third tier about 5 rows up and the seats were awesome. Sitting higher up you can see plays develop and you get a nice view of downtown and the state fairgrounds to boot!

 

[ToddFlanders]

This needs to happen before ripping out seats and installing suites. The disparity between those who have tickets to the suites with catered food versus the majority who have to settle for stone age restroom facilities and crap volunteer concessions will not go unnoticed if they don't.

I've always wondered why they couldn't have concessions like a professional stadium (in quality and quantity of options). You're always going to make money on concessions - why not make them something that people look forward to eating (they might eat more). And it seems like an easy way to enhance the fan experience.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

This is a terrible idea. The fans who are the backbone of the gameday atmosphere aren't the rich people who can afford suites. It's the normal people who sit in the normal seats without access to decent bathrooms or concessions. They don't have comfortable seats with backs, just metal benches. They walk up those ramps and then countless stairs to find their seats.

Rip those seats out and put in suites? You lose capacity and fan engagement. Loyal fans who can afford those seats suffer.

All the big renovations and additions to WB lately have targeted the wealthy fan. They did nothing to improve the gameday experience for the vast majority of fans in the stadium.

Williams-Brice NEEDS renovation. The concourses are too narrow. The benches are extremely uncomfortable. It needs a facelift for the normal fan, the fan who populates a huge percentage of gameday attendance. A great first step would be removing the metal bleacher seating and put in individual chairbacks with cupholders. That would obviously decrease capacity, but it would increase comfort drastically.

They definitely need wider concourses.

If they would expand the concourses, double the amount of concessions and bathrooms, and of course improve the concession options (as has already been mentioned), I’d be completely satisfied.

For sold out games i.e. Georgia last year, you can hardly walk on the concourses in the upper decks because the lines for bathrooms or beer completely fill the space

While chairbacks are obviously better than bleachers, the upper decks have the metal bleachers with back support which isn’t too bad. Ironically only the lower bowl (minus the west sideline) has benches, and a ton of other SEC schools still have bench bleachers with no back support.
2 years ago we brought some friends to the Auburn game and sat in East Upper in my season tickets at the time. Their first comments were how nice it was to have bleachers with a back. They are Auburn season ticket holders and their tickets at Jordan Ohare are just a metal bench.

 

[will110]

They definitely need wider concourses.

If they would expand the concourses, double the amount of concessions and bathrooms, and of course improve the concession options (as has already been mentioned), I’d be completely satisfied.

For sold out games i.e. Georgia last year, you can hardly walk on the concourses in the upper decks because the lines for bathrooms or beer completely fill the space

While chairbacks are obviously better than bleachers, the upper decks have the metal bleachers with back support which isn’t too bad. Ironically only the lower bowl (minus the west sideline) has benches, and a ton of other SEC schools still have bench bleachers with no back support.
2 years ago we brought some friends to the Auburn game and sat in East Upper in my season tickets at the time. Their first comments were how nice it was to have bleachers with a back. They are Auburn season ticket holders and their tickets at Jordan Ohare are just a metal bench.

Even games where the crowd isn't huge the concourses get crazy. I was at the Missouri game and the lines for concessions overwhelmed everything.

You're right about the bench backs. Far better than mere benches, but not near as good as actual stadium chairs like professional stadiums have.

 

[Prestonyte]

It's an understatement that vision and planning for WB by the administration has been poor to non-existent. For a team to have such a loyal fanbase, they are not being respected or nurtured the way they deserve regarding stadium amenities.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

Even games where the crowd isn't huge the concourses get crazy. I was at the Missouri game and the lines for concessions overwhelmed everything.

You're right about the bench backs. Far better than mere benches, but not near as good as actual stadium chairs like professional stadiums have.

It’s true, the chairs in pro stadiums are way better and cup holders are game changers.

I still can’t believe (and it really shows our admin’s poor planning) that the cockaboose club has metal benches. Lol. How do they spend $20 million renovating all of the club spaces and not replaces the seats in the lower end zone.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

It's an understatement that vision and planning for WB by the administration has been poor to non-existent. For a team to have such a loyal fanbase, they are not being respected or nurtured the way they deserve regarding stadium amenities.

At least they started bringing in the giant water refill stations. It’s sad that more than once over the years I’ve seen people carted out due to the heat at those early September games.

carted out due to alcohol is a different story... Lol

 

[Big JC]

It's all about the $$$$. Until the results on the field are good enough that the athletic association can really demand more from the donors and ticket holders, it is hard to justify pouring tens or hundreds of millions into stadium improvements. In 2022, USC athletics lost a little over $1 million. Borrowing money for stadium improvements without the necessary ability to demand more from ticket holders and donors wouldn't be a smart move. USC has some wealthy alumni and fans but not enough to depend on those few (relatively) for what it would cost to make substantial stadium improvements.

 

[Tngamecock]

Their stadium had become like UTs. It needed about 200 million in renovations to not feel like a homeless shelter. The side of UT's stadium facing the river feels like a ghetto ally at night. I'll worry about their "upgrades" and suites once they hire an architectural firm. UT spent a ton.......it still looks crappy on the outside (river side). They did a nice job cleaning up the front side. Big deal. And o yeah, for the millionaires, they have a few more choices now.

But, I would welcome a few thousand at Willy B to get rid of the doo doo ice.

 

[KingWard]

It's all about the $$$$. Until the results on the field are good enough that the athletic association can really demand more from the donors and ticket holders, it is hard to justify pouring tens or hundreds of millions into stadium improvements. In 2022, USC athletics lost a little over $1 million. Borrowing money for stadium improvements without the necessary ability to demand more from ticket holders and donors wouldn't be a smart move. USC has some wealthy alumni and fans but not enough to depend on those few (relatively) for what it would cost to make substantial stadium improvements.

So basically what you're saying is that we are in the wrong league if we want to be top-tier. We can't hang. I get that.

 

[Big JC]

So basically what you're saying is that we are in the wrong league if we want to be top-tier. We can't hang. I get that.

No, I'm saying that until USC is winning 9 or more games a season consistently it will be a hard sell to demand more money from ticket holders/donors in big enough numbers to fund substantial stadium improvements. USC athletics aren't swimming in money and there aren't enough really big money alumni/fans/donors who will dump big money into a capital improvement project.

The ever increasing percentage of out of state students (currently it is 52% of all students) also means more and more alumni are not living within easy driving distance of Columbia so they aren't becoming season ticket holders and won't be likely to make big donations for stadium improvements. WB isn't a bad stadium, it isn't perfect but I really can't think of one that is. The restroom and concession situation in the stadium isn't holding the football team back.

 

[KingWard]

No, I'm saying that until USC is winning 9 or more games a season consistently it will be a hard sell to demand more money from ticket holders/donors in big enough numbers to fund substantial stadium improvements. USC athletics aren't swimming in money and there aren't enough really big money alumni/fans/donors who will dump big money into a capital improvement project.

The ever increasing percentage of out of state students (currently it is 52% of all students) also means more and more alumni are not living within easy driving distance of Columbia so they aren't becoming season ticket holders and won't be likely to make big donations for stadium improvements. WB isn't a bad stadium, it isn't perfect but I really can't think of one that is. The restroom and concession situation in the stadium isn't holding the football team back.

They turned over almost the entire West Lower section under Hyman. If that is no longer possible with more boosters and alumni (than are dying) attaining high-income status each year, then we are sunk.

 

[Deleted11512]

I read they're looking to reduce seating by 20K+. That's massive. That takes them down to our size +/-. But what that also does is make every remaining seat much more expensive, which effectively prices out the population of fans that are typically your loudest. But hey, it'll be pretty.

 

[Uscg1984]

I read they're looking to reduce seating by 20K+. That's massive. That takes them down to our size +/-. But what that also does is make every remaining seat much more expensive, which effectively prices out the population of fans that are typically your loudest. But hey, it'll be pretty.

Their stadium capacity is currently listed at 88,000, so that would pull them well below Williams-Brice capacity. It's hard to imagine they would make such a drastic move. And, yes, it would drive up the cost of remaining tickets, leaving a lot of would-be ticket-holders watching the game from their living rooms.

 

[Deleted11512]

Their stadium capacity is currently listed at 88,000, so that would pull them well below Williams-Brice capacity. It's hard to imagine they would make such a drastic move. And, yes, it would drive up the cost of remaining tickets, leaving a lot of would-be ticket-holders watching the game from their living rooms.

Ah, I thought it was the mid 90s for some reason...yeah, then that's a terrible idea in terms of the environment they have down there.

 

[Big JC]

I read they're looking to reduce seating by 20K+. That's massive. That takes them down to our size +/-. But what that also does is make every remaining seat much more expensive, which effectively prices out the population of fans that are typically your loudest. But hey, it'll be pretty.

They better start winning more games or those new luxury boxes and higher priced seats are going to be a tough sell.