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Re: New SDSU Football Stadium Site Plan
I wonder how married the administration is to the planned capacity of "about" 18,000 seats? The UNI game was one that should have drawn fan interest even though both teams have struggled. Yet, on a sunny October day, less than 8,000 fans were in attendance. Now imagine a mid-November game against an Indiana State or Western Michigan when State is not in competition for a playoff spot. How many seats will be filled and now will an 18,000 seat stadium look to players and fans? What kind of atmosphere will that create? Even with 10,000 or 13,000 fannies in the seats an 18,000 seat stadium is going to look pretty empty.
I know that surveys have been conducted and many respondents have said they would be more likely to attend football games if they were guaranteed a decent seat or any seat at all, which isn't always available given recent attendance. But in reality, State has a fair-weather fan base that requires quite a lot of spectator travel to fill seats. That's probably something that won't change until we see sustained success measured by conference championships and playoff runs - perhaps even a national championship or two.
Because it appears that the lion's share of stadium funding will be financed by stadium revenue itself, might it make more sense to throttle back capacity until demand warrants it? Why not a 15,000 or 16,000 seat stadium? Perhaps leave the south end open. With seating for only 10,000 now, we've had attendance over 16,000 several times. Presumably, with east and west permanent seating, we could still accommodate 3,000 or more standing room only folks for those big games when 4,000 buffalo chips travel south on 29 and we could put 19,000 or 20,000 people through the turn styles. I'm not a construction guy, but I would imagine a fair amount of savings would be achieved. Ideally the stadium would contribute financially to the football program. In reality, for decades, the stadium will be a liability and need to pay for itself. Obviously, less debt to service the better.
Look at the University of Minnesota. TCF Bank Stadium is constructed for future expansion to 80,000. Currently, capacity is 50,000. Rarely are the Gophers able to fill the stadium up unless the visiting team is a Nebraska, Iowa or Wisconsin, who travel well and want to see what that Mall of America is all about. State would sure like to have 18,000 people in the stands each Saturday but the reality is that will seldom happen. Let demand build before building beyond means. Athletic departments do struggle. Look at Montana State. Let's not go down that road in an effort to keep up the the Joneses (NDSU).
I wonder how married the administration is to the planned capacity of "about" 18,000 seats? The UNI game was one that should have drawn fan interest even though both teams have struggled. Yet, on a sunny October day, less than 8,000 fans were in attendance. Now imagine a mid-November game against an Indiana State or Western Michigan when State is not in competition for a playoff spot. How many seats will be filled and now will an 18,000 seat stadium look to players and fans? What kind of atmosphere will that create? Even with 10,000 or 13,000 fannies in the seats an 18,000 seat stadium is going to look pretty empty.
I know that surveys have been conducted and many respondents have said they would be more likely to attend football games if they were guaranteed a decent seat or any seat at all, which isn't always available given recent attendance. But in reality, State has a fair-weather fan base that requires quite a lot of spectator travel to fill seats. That's probably something that won't change until we see sustained success measured by conference championships and playoff runs - perhaps even a national championship or two.
Because it appears that the lion's share of stadium funding will be financed by stadium revenue itself, might it make more sense to throttle back capacity until demand warrants it? Why not a 15,000 or 16,000 seat stadium? Perhaps leave the south end open. With seating for only 10,000 now, we've had attendance over 16,000 several times. Presumably, with east and west permanent seating, we could still accommodate 3,000 or more standing room only folks for those big games when 4,000 buffalo chips travel south on 29 and we could put 19,000 or 20,000 people through the turn styles. I'm not a construction guy, but I would imagine a fair amount of savings would be achieved. Ideally the stadium would contribute financially to the football program. In reality, for decades, the stadium will be a liability and need to pay for itself. Obviously, less debt to service the better.
Look at the University of Minnesota. TCF Bank Stadium is constructed for future expansion to 80,000. Currently, capacity is 50,000. Rarely are the Gophers able to fill the stadium up unless the visiting team is a Nebraska, Iowa or Wisconsin, who travel well and want to see what that Mall of America is all about. State would sure like to have 18,000 people in the stands each Saturday but the reality is that will seldom happen. Let demand build before building beyond means. Athletic departments do struggle. Look at Montana State. Let's not go down that road in an effort to keep up the the Joneses (NDSU).
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