(08-12-2018 05:01 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 11:45 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  EZ suites are not as valuable. You have those when you've 'maxed out' your sideline suites and still have donors dying to throw money at you

Why not build a new elevator column outside the west side and then build new suites and press boxes just below/in front of the existing ones within the current footprint. You could even have a 'party deck' with shades and not obstruct any views... and the existing elevators and boxes could become 'service' areas for things not requiring expediency and storage. SHOULD be relatively inexpensive to build because unlike all of the other similar deals, we aren't trying to put an additional 10,000+ seats within the existing footprint, but can afford to lose 2,000 otherwise empty seats.

Do we have a committed market for these?

This feels cart-before-the-horse. We need more than 2500 people in the stands before it makes sense to put money into the stadium at all. And the only way to do that is to get a decent team (and even then with the conference and TV situation, the financial picture is precarious).

I just remember the opening of Tudor with the 100 black suits and a completely empty expensive chairback section.

That sounds reasonable, Ant. I'd rather they update the bathrooms and clean all of them up until the crowds swell again (hopefully) then do suites.

I remember reading here that to do press box you almost had to do suites at same time, though. I know updated press box would help perception/coverage a little. Is that still the thinking?

Perhaps a few additional ideas can be gleaned from this article:

link: A look inside Georgia’s new locker room, recruiting lounge

Quote:Georgia used its massive new locker room and recruiting lounge on the west end of the stadium for the first time Saturday. On Monday afternoon, a few media members toured the $63 million structure built behind and below the west end-zone stands....

Quote:One floor above the new locker room, a 10,574-square-foot recruiting hospitality lounge is Georgia’s latest weapon in college football’s facilities arms race.

Used for hosting prospects and their guests before, during and after games, the sprawling space is set up with dozens of tables and no shortage of TV screens, some as large as 95 inches. In an entry area, a scrolling LED display screen delivers a not-so-subtle message to recruits: the names of recent Georgia players drafted by the NFL and, in some cases, their cumulative career contract values. Among the scrolling data: Matthew Stafford $262,278,969; Justin Houston $104,547,248; A.J. Green $89,864,098; and the earnings of a half-dozen other former Bulldogs....

(09-04-2018 10:44 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

Quote:One floor above the new locker room, a 10,574-square-foot recruiting hospitality lounge is Georgia’s latest weapon in college football’s facilities arms race.

Used for hosting prospects and their guests before, during and after games, the sprawling space is set up with dozens of tables and no shortage of TV screens, some as large as 95 inches. In an entry area, a scrolling LED display screen delivers a not-so-subtle message to recruits: the names of recent Georgia players drafted by the NFL and, in some cases, their cumulative career contract values. Among the scrolling data: Matthew Stafford $262,278,969; Justin Houston $104,547,248; A.J. Green $89,864,098; and the earnings of a half-dozen other former Bulldogs....

I would be more interested in knowing the median income for former Rice football players as compared to the top income. Bet Rice's median income is much better than the vast majority of schools. A couple good NFL players can certainly skew the distribution!

(09-04-2018 10:51 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 10:44 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  

Quote:One floor above the new locker room, a 10,574-square-foot recruiting hospitality lounge is Georgia’s latest weapon in college football’s facilities arms race.

Used for hosting prospects and their guests before, during and after games, the sprawling space is set up with dozens of tables and no shortage of TV screens, some as large as 95 inches. In an entry area, a scrolling LED display screen delivers a not-so-subtle message to recruits: the names of recent Georgia players drafted by the NFL and, in some cases, their cumulative career contract values. Among the scrolling data: Matthew Stafford $262,278,969; Justin Houston $104,547,248; A.J. Green $89,864,098; and the earnings of a half-dozen other former Bulldogs....

I would be more interested in knowing the median income for former Rice football players as compared to the top income. Bet Rice's median income is much better than the vast majority of schools. A couple good NFL players can certainly skew the distribution!

That's a very good point, and an excellent way for a school like Rice to adapt what other bigger schools are doing to focus on our own strengths. I think a large display focusing on what the average Rice football player ends up earning after he gets his degree here sends a powerful message. We could still have a listing of our NFL and other professional players, of course, and then a "just in case you don't play in the NFL...here's what you can expect to earn with your Rice degree:...and then an extensive listing of regular players , and perhaps some way to differentiate or point out what happens to, say, UT players after they graduate there vs Rice. I don't know if we have to go so far as to have pictures of former Rice players in their careers as Doctors, lawyers, Engineers, etc... juxtaposed next to pictures of former UT players at their jobs as security guards, etc... but then again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Oh, I thought football players went to Georgia to excel on the football AND scholarly fields? /sarcasm

I'd be interesting in seeing what the cumulative contract value is while at UGA.

(09-04-2018 01:34 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  I'd be interesting in seeing what the cumulative contract value is while at UGA.

I know we currently don’t need to add any seats in the end zone, but this is exactly what I think we should eventually do opposite the EZF...

https://twitter.com/howielindsey/status/...53090?s=21

High $ chairback seats and suites. Can preserve the R room one level above the suite level. Can even chop off the top deck of seats if we want and put in 1 videoboard instead of 2. I think the field level suites are very cool even if they don’t offer the best views.

We probably don’t need nearly as big a structure underneath to accomplish our version vs this one. The concourse level of our stadium could pass through the 2nd level of this new facility or something like that to get the suites closer to the field. This concourse level would then be enclosed and air conditioned and you can add additional restrooms on that end (seems to be the biggest complaint now). That still leaves the corners of the stadium open for the entrances and maybe a food truck plaza (cheap addition for concessions) or something else unique.

Underneath you have 2 very basic locker rooms (2 so that we can host HS playoff games) and a band hall.

Southern Miss has a really nice suite/donor area opposite their EZF: http://www.netitor.com/photos/schools/sm...mpaign.pdf

(09-04-2018 04:08 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Southern Miss has a really nice suite/donor area opposite their EZF: http://www.netitor.com/photos/schools/sm...mpaign.pdf

Very nice. I’ve always thought it would be much cheaper to do the south end next, but depending on what the plan is the home side renovation could definitely make a bigger impact.

Nah, grass berm down to the field, similar to what UVA does. Upgrade the R Club facilities (with better souvenir store, and additional concessions at concourse level), or fancy tents like the UVA link, or something else. But the grass end zone area, for families/etc., would be fairly rare.

(09-04-2018 04:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  Nah, grass berm down to the field, similar to what UVA does. Upgrade the R Club facilities (with better souvenir store, and additional concessions at concourse level), or fancy tents like the UVA link, or something else. But the grass end zone area, for families/etc., would be fairly rare.

Since Rice keeps showing the JFK speech from Rice Stadium, I'm not sure if we should have a grassy knoll.

(09-04-2018 09:53 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 04:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  Nah, grass berm down to the field, similar to what UVA does. Upgrade the R Club facilities (with better souvenir store, and additional concessions at concourse level), or fancy tents like the UVA link, or something else. But the grass end zone area, for families/etc., would be fairly rare.

Since Rice keeps showing the JFK speech from Rice Stadium, I'm not sure if we should have a grassy knoll.

(09-04-2018 10:05 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 09:53 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 04:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  Nah, grass berm down to the field, similar to what UVA does. Upgrade the R Club facilities (with better souvenir store, and additional concessions at concourse level), or fancy tents like the UVA link, or something else. But the grass end zone area, for families/etc., would be fairly rare.

Since Rice keeps showing the JFK speech from Rice Stadium, I'm not sure if we should have a grassy knoll.

That reminds me of the time I attended a reception of some kind on the 6th floor of Fondren Library. I joked that it seemed a little awkward to be having a party on the 6th floor of a building filled with books. But no one got the joke. :(

(09-05-2018 09:56 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 10:05 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 09:53 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  

(09-04-2018 04:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  Nah, grass berm down to the field, similar to what UVA does. Upgrade the R Club facilities (with better souvenir store, and additional concessions at concourse level), or fancy tents like the UVA link, or something else. But the grass end zone area, for families/etc., would be fairly rare.

Since Rice keeps showing the JFK speech from Rice Stadium, I'm not sure if we should have a grassy knoll.

Since Space Center Houston is/was displaying the Podium where he made that speech, I assume Rice either loaned them the Podium or was it a donation?

That reminds me of the time I attended a reception of some kind on the 6th floor of Fondren Library. I joked that it seemed a little awkward to be having a party on the 6th floor of a building filled with books. But no one got the joke. :(

Speaking of facilities....check out the upgrades at K State.
https://twitter.com/forbessports/status/...68352?s=21

FC Dallas recently had an event for season ticket holders to visit the new locker rooms in their stadium. They were nice... an upgrade over most Health Clubs, but it struck me that most P5 football locker rooms were probably more luxurious. It was also a little odd in that Soccer teams only really need about 21-25 seats, max, but the FC Dallas stadium also hosts football games, so they had to be able to seat around 80-100 plus coaches, so that left a lot of unused space for soccer. That said, I think the biggest difference between the FCD setup and UGA is probably the showers and the medical room (though FCD doesn't seem to have that part fully stocked yet, it was pretty much an ice machine and couple of tubs). The bulk of the extra money that UGA had available is probably LED lighting and shiny panels.

(09-08-2018 11:59 AM)I45owl Wrote:  FC Dallas recently had an event for season ticket holders to visit the new locker rooms in their stadium. They were nice... an upgrade over most Health Clubs, but it struck me that most P5 football locker rooms were probably more luxurious. It was also a little odd in that Soccer teams only really need about 21-25 seats, max, but the FC Dallas stadium also hosts football games, so they had to be able to seat around 80-100 plus coaches, so that left a lot of unused space for soccer. That said, I think the biggest difference between the FCD setup and UGA is probably the showers and the medical room (though FCD doesn't seem to have that part fully stocked yet, it was pretty much an ice machine and couple of tubs). The bulk of the extra money that UGA had available is probably LED lighting and shiny panels.

American college sports are on a whole next level of arms race. Having been to several soccer stadiums around the world, their locker rooms etc. are spartan in comparison.

Heck, even winners of the last 3 Champions league trophies, Real Madrid, have locker rooms not even as nice as Rice does.

(09-08-2018 01:18 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(09-08-2018 11:59 AM)I45owl Wrote:  FC Dallas recently had an event for season ticket holders to visit the new locker rooms in their stadium. They were nice... an upgrade over most Health Clubs, but it struck me that most P5 football locker rooms were probably more luxurious. It was also a little odd in that Soccer teams only really need about 21-25 seats, max, but the FC Dallas stadium also hosts football games, so they had to be able to seat around 80-100 plus coaches, so that left a lot of unused space for soccer. That said, I think the biggest difference between the FCD setup and UGA is probably the showers and the medical room (though FCD doesn't seem to have that part fully stocked yet, it was pretty much an ice machine and couple of tubs). The bulk of the extra money that UGA had available is probably LED lighting and shiny panels.

American college sports are on a whole next level of arms race. Having been to several soccer stadiums around the world, their locker rooms etc. are spartan in comparison.

Heck, even winners of the last 3 Champions league trophies, Real Madrid, have locker rooms not even as nice as Rice does.

Haha, yup. I was in Chelsea’s game locker room in April and it honestly wasn’t a ton worse than Rice’s OLD locker room (in terms of amenities, I’m assuming the hot water worked and there were no buckets catching leaks).

(09-08-2018 01:18 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(09-08-2018 11:59 AM)I45owl Wrote:  FC Dallas recently had an event for season ticket holders to visit the new locker rooms in their stadium. They were nice... an upgrade over most Health Clubs, but it struck me that most P5 football locker rooms were probably more luxurious. It was also a little odd in that Soccer teams only really need about 21-25 seats, max, but the FC Dallas stadium also hosts football games, so they had to be able to seat around 80-100 plus coaches, so that left a lot of unused space for soccer. That said, I think the biggest difference between the FCD setup and UGA is probably the showers and the medical room (though FCD doesn't seem to have that part fully stocked yet, it was pretty much an ice machine and couple of tubs). The bulk of the extra money that UGA had available is probably LED lighting and shiny panels.

American college sports are on a whole next level of arms race. Having been to several soccer stadiums around the world, their locker rooms etc. are spartan in comparison.
Heck, even winners of the last 3 Champions league trophies, Real Madrid, have locker rooms not even as nice as Rice does.

Same for Chelsea and Tottenham in the EPL, although Tottenham has basically a reconstruction of WHL in progress and Chelsea has plans to do a major renovation of Stamford Bridge. Tottenham is playing home matches at Wembley during their construction, and Chelsea plans to move to Wembley after Tottenham is done there, while their renovation is underway. Both stadiums are expected to seat roughly 60-62,000, up from around 38-40,000 now.

In Europe, football clubs build their own stadiums, instead of holding a gun to taxpayers. So they tend to be smaller and not as elaborate. That's one reason why FIFA likes the USA as a World Cup venue. 1994 still holds the attendance record. An 80,000 seat stadium half full is not a great look, but it's still 10,000 more people than a 30,000 seat stadium full.