Athletic Facilities Announcement

[trueblue]

Does anyone have any idea what the seating capacity will be after renovations? Pictures look great.

[salemjack]

Does anyone have any idea what the seating capacity will be after renovations? Pictures look great.

5,500


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[Mr_Tibbs]

Huge deal, and long overdue. I understand how the naming stuff works, but I hope they can find a way to keep frost in the name somewhere, whether it’s the court, Mazda one, or something. Too historic and figurative for basketball season (winter) to not keep somewhere. I felt the same way about Coughlin. But I too, am glad that Sanford isn’t in the name on this one. Not that we don’t appreciate all they’ve done, it’s just nice to not have every athletic building in the dakotas betting their name.

[GoJacks2011]

Impressive donation and renderings. Release says none of the sports within it will be disrupted during construction. Thank you First Bank & Trust and the Fishback family! This is next level.

[filbert]

FAQ's
Renderings

[jackdaniel]

I must be getting old, I kinda liked this presentation ceremony, it had a nice "family " relationship to it, all the honored guests seemed genuinly thrilled to be a part of this lead donation event. I really appreciated the sentiments expressed by all the speakers, really enjoyed the history behind it too. Before SD officially became a state, hearing that I envisioned a line of hitching posts instead of parking lots. Glad I watched this historic event unfold , it will bring many joys and memories to many people and will provide many dividends down the road. Can't wait for the next season of sports to start, VB already has, it will be great to pack in fans once again to cheer on the student athletes who represent all of us, on and off the court. A much needed and greatly appreciated facility for all to enjoy.

[DieselJacks]

I feel kinda bad for First Bank & Trust, because everyone will still call it Frost. The renderings look awesome though. Looks like the student sections are being brought closer to the court!

[filbert]

I feel kinda bad for First Bank & Trust, because everyone will still call it Frost. The renderings look awesome though. Looks like the student sections are being brought closer to the court!

For a while, maybe. Although, nobody calls the DJD "Coughlin-Alumni" any more, do they?

[GoJacks2010]

I feel kinda bad for First Bank & Trust, because everyone will still call it Frost. The renderings look awesome though. Looks like the student sections are being brought closer to the court!

I wouldn't worry about this. People said the same thing about Coughlin. You know how many people call DJDS Coughlin-Alumni? Literally, almost zero. Sure there are a few but not really. It just doesnt happen and wont.

[JimmieTuba]

I wouldn't worry about this. People said the same thing about Coughlin. You know how many people call DJDS Coughlin-Alumni? Literally, almost zero. Sure there are a few but not really. It just doesnt happen and wont.

I still think of it as Coughlin. I still think of where the White Sox play Comisky, Cleveland plays at the Jake.

I understand selling naming rights but it goes to crap when the place you play changes names every 5-10 years.

The next step will be universities with European soccer like jersey sponsors, but the first step will be the NBA version (barf).

[jackrabbit1979]

I still think of it as Coughlin. I still think of where the White Sox play Comisky, Cleveland plays at the Jake.

I understand selling naming rights but it goes to crap when the place you play changes names every 5-10 years.

The next step will be universities with European soccer like jersey sponsors, but the first step will be the NBA version (barf).

This is true related to naming rights at the professional level. But I find it difficult to imagine that the naming rights or either DJD Stadium or FB&T Arena will change any time in our lifetimes, unless new facilities would be built.

[JACKGUYII]

This is all exciting and expected, but I have to wonder what a new facility would have cost? $100 million? I understand all the arguments for making the venue a hard to get ticket and maximizing revenue with premium seats etc, but in my opinion 5500 is too small and would have liked to see something in the 7500 range. Is the arena expandable? Our recent attendence figures probably don't justify a bigger venue, but would hate to see inability to expand should the product and demand really take off again.

[UWMandSDSU]

This is all exciting and expected, but I have to wonder what a new facility would have cost? $100 million? I understand all the arguments for making the venue a hard to get ticket and maximizing revenue with premium seats etc, but in my opinion 5500 is too small and would have liked to see something in the 7500 range. Is the arena expandable? Our recent attendence figures probably don't justify a bigger venue, but would hate to see inability to expand should the product and demand really take off again.

Construction of USD's new arena was $73 million which opened 5 years ago. So your $100 million is probably pretty close. I think 5500 capacity hits the mark. The days when arenas are pushing capacity are long gone (TV deals, online viewing options).

[LARabbit]

This is all exciting and expected, but I have to wonder what a new facility would have cost? $100 million? I understand all the arguments for making the venue a hard to get ticket and maximizing revenue with premium seats etc, but in my opinion 5500 is too small and would have liked to see something in the 7500 range. Is the arena expandable? Our recent attendence figures probably don't justify a bigger venue, but would hate to see inability to expand should the product and demand really take off again.

I was hoping we would have 6,000+ for capacity still, but we are confined to the footprint of the building. The only way we could expand in the future would be to remove the roof and basically build a new building surrounding the current seating bowl. Oklahoma State did something similar about twenty years ago. I don't see that as ever being a realistic option for Frost, so building new would be the only realistic option to achieving a larger arena.

JMU opened a new arena last year with a capacity of 8,500 for a cost of about $90 million. I am curious what it would cost for us to do a new 7,500 seat arena, but I feel the additional cost wouldn't justify the additional 1,500 seats that usually will not be used.

I'm loving the look of the new arena renovation, and I feel that the fan experience is going to be drastically upgraded. My only complaint is that they are not doing anything with the existing corners at the north side. The lower seating areas will be obstructed by ADA seating as it is now. I would like to see this situation improve and for us to take advantage of these corners to create more of a full upper bowl.

[filbert]

I think the ongoing trend throughout all spectator sports, pro and college, is towards having smaller attendance capacities--driven mostly by TV/streaming.

Also, recall that Gonzaga's home arena seating is 6,000. A brief web search produced the following: University of Texas is planning a new 10,000 seat, $300 million basketball arena. Georgia State's building a 7,300 seat, $85 million arena. Idaho is planning a 4,200 seat arena. Liberty built a $65 million, 4,000 seat arena.

For where SDSU is geographically and athletically, 5,500 is probably just about right IMHO. If it was a new build it probably would be 6-7,000 again IMHO.