He said in the Shoutbox the other day that the Athletics Facilities Master Plan had been delayed till Spring.
To be clear the plan is pretty much done. There just are a few things we have to iron out before any kind of major announcement is made.
Few things to iron out? Do we have any idea what that means?
Sounds like āfunding/donationsā being finalized to me.
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Just so folks can have a size comparison, hereās South Alabamaās new stadium under construction. Thatās what 25k looks like:
I would like our upper decks to be a bit bigger than that.
Like the green roofs. Wonder why they didnāt choose red or blue, their school colors.
That looks pretty nice to me. We have GOT to get a big press box built.
We got to get moving is what weāve got to get. We canāt let South Alabama build a new nicer stadium than we have. That sucks.
I think we have to be really smart with this expansion. We need to add size obviously but the trend in college football is smaller attendance. The students are not tuning in like they used to and thatās impactful once they become alums. I think this could be the only expansion we see for a long time so we need to get it right. Big enough for big games, small enough it doesnāt appear empty for others, bells and whistles and suites as needed. I donāt envy the AD on this decision responsibility.
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32k, thatās the sweet spot.
We need curtains for the upper levels.
Are we limiting size comparisons pics to just stadiums? Just checking. Thanks.
I think 32k is probably on the high end, 28k on the low. Actual number will depend on configuration if I was to guess. Stadium capacity though with SROs will also he figured in and the ability to put temps in end zone. I am assuming we are keeping end zone open for the site lines.
Since the mantra has always been that we can expand without tearing anything down, I have always assumed our second level would be above the current seats, not behind them. That is the only way we can continue to use the current press box building. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
Yep. We were already behind on size but at least played in a ānicer ā stadium than schools like uab, USA, odu, and Georgia state. Thatās not true anymore. We are smaller and the stadium more dated than those.
Something needs to be shared to excite people. I donāt like the āletās reach out to a select few whales firstā model because it ignores the fact that there are a lot of big dollar alums out there that may be willing to stroke a check to something that excites themā¦just like the people that donated for that plaza or whatever they called it at the football stadium. They came to us, we didnāt find them. Jerry came to us after we announced football, we didnāt find him.
Donāt release the entire plan but for the love of god do something to drum up excitement for football facility upgrades. I have full faith in Healy and hills ability to fundraise in a very wealthy city so I canāt see us releasing a realistic plan and then never being able to get it built.
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What has our average attendance been the last 2 years?
We have averaged just under 12k in 2017 and 2018. Not sure about 2019.
Stadium size has to increase given OOC foes we have coming in and the program is better positioned for success than in those years. We just have to be careful not to overbuild. Stadium ls are always built for the big crowd not the every game crowd, but we canāt go too far with it so that itās a fine line.
the least they could do is show some images of what the new locker room upgrades will look like
Iām willing to bet Mike Hill has been far more active at recruiting donors. The plaza and big cat donations came in uncontacted because Judy didnt reach out to them. I feel certain Hill is turning over just about every potential big donor out there.
With that said I get what you are saying. I think they want to be able to announce the plan show what has already been funded (field house, etc) and a portion of other programs already well on their. That is very different than hey this is what we want, none of itās funded.
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