Football facilities and expansion

Dang…if thats true, then clearly there have been enough 'ā€œconversationsā€ with all AAC members to know how each would vote…that’s interesting.

I bet we are waiting on making a firm decision on the stadium till we exhaust all options of going to the AAC. If we get invited then the stadium will be around 35k, if not, then product around 28k. SRO probably gives us another 2k.

I’d keep the end zone open for sure.

Expand to 25k, put a dome over it with A/C, strike a sponsorship deal with Flying Saucer and have Saucer Girls serving the White, Gold and Green sections, and concession stands for everyone else. Call it a day.

I may have missed it but I am curious what the average football attendance is of the AAC schools, NOT capacity but actual attendance.

If we expand to 35K I fear we’re going to have a lot of empty seats most games and it will hurt the atmosphere.

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Nearly 29K which includes some really good UCF, Memphis, and Cincy teams. It was be interesting to take these teams out of the total and see what the average would be for the AAC.

Thanks for the info!

25k sounds like the number

You’re right you can’t go big hat and no cattle. It’s a balance

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I agree with overbuilding especially seeing that we can’t put 10000 in the place sometimes (even when it’s not a hurricane). If we suck 32000 is going to be the loneliest place in Charlotte.

Having said that, I think ODU may have shot themselves in the foot in regard to their expansion (22000).

I’d go 30k*

25ish K pure seating with some entertainment areas with SRO seats for bigger games.

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And ECU…

I wonder if this AAC talk is purely cart before the horse. We don’t know what we don’t know, and while the last year has seen drastic improvements in performance and in terms of our relationship with the city and region, I just feel like talk of a move to the AAC, or the SEC as some of you mention, just feels farfetched.

I mean, we are a great fit for both conferences, and super desirable, but I still find us ā€œgreen,ā€ and unproven to move up. I’d love to be wrong.

And this facilities talk is just to get us to status quo. We aimed low at the beginning, and we are still low, but we are least thinking about our peers.

I know the total of the overall master plan is around $250M so that is a big jump in getting our facilities updated probably above most of our peers. I am sure some schools will have more, but to have a plan for $250M in improvements is a big task for a school that was mainly commuters 20 years ago.

Any stadium expansion in that $250M figure will probably be north of $80M, even if we just go to 25k. Building above ground is expensive.

You have to factor in the cost of the brick as well!!

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My understanding about the Master Plan is that it is a roadmap, and may take a decade to work through.

If building below ground is cheaper…I would LOVE an underground football stadium.

It’s not. Building above ground is significantly cheaper than excavation. If below ground construction was cheaper we wouldn’t have above ground parking decks. The Duke Energy Center and 300 South Tryon were absurdly expensive because of all the excavation that had to take place. Way cheaper to pour a concrete piling the it is to excavate and remove thousands of truck loads of earth.

clt pages a civil engineer

Take a look at what EZU built for $60 million. I would love to see $100 million put into the football stadium, and $60 million in basketball. The other $90 million can be spread around in other places.