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Charlotte with a huge athletics campaign and expanding their football stadium to over 30,000. Looks very nice. Lots of other athletic facility improvements too.

https://charlotteevergreen.com/index.html

I know we are working on the new baseball stadium. The Ted is still awesome. But, I do think we need to work on our football stadium to keep the momentum going there and not get passed by teams like Charlotte and to keep competing with the likes of ECU, App, FAU etc. Some are suggesting that the AAC demanded that Charlotte upgrade its stadium and they agreed. Perhaps that's part of why we didn't go there.

So they want 20,000 empty seats?

(05-25-2022 10:55 AM)monarx Wrote:  Charlotte with a huge athletics campaign and expanding their football stadium to over 30,000. Looks very nice. Lots of other athletic facility improvements too.

https://charlotteevergreen.com/index.html

I know we are working on the new baseball stadium. The Ted is still awesome. But, I do think we need to work on our football stadium to keep the momentum going there and not get passed by teams like Charlotte and to keep competing with the likes of ECU, App, FAU etc. Some are suggesting that the AAC demanded that Charlotte upgrade its stadium and they agreed. Perhaps that's part of why we didn't go there.

Good for them. That's exactly how they got in to AAC. We simply didn't budge to those demands and we told Aresco we will invest when we see a need and after that things didn't go any further is what i was told or atleast that is how i interpreted it.

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(05-25-2022 11:00 AM)Stat Geek Wrote:  So they want 20,000 empty seats?

Had the same thought. I guess they think playing ECU, Memphis, USF will increase the need for capacity. Plus, the visuals of that place and the added exposure from AAC TV will benefit recruiting too. I can't see them selling more than 20,000 for games not against ECU or a P5 though.

(05-25-2022 11:04 AM)12thmonarch Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 10:55 AM)monarx Wrote:  Charlotte with a huge athletics campaign and expanding their football stadium to over 30,000. Looks very nice. Lots of other athletic facility improvements too.

https://charlotteevergreen.com/index.html

I know we are working on the new baseball stadium. The Ted is still awesome. But, I do think we need to work on our football stadium to keep the momentum going there and not get passed by teams like Charlotte and to keep competing with the likes of ECU, App, FAU etc. Some are suggesting that the AAC demanded that Charlotte upgrade its stadium and they agreed. Perhaps that's part of why we didn't go there.

Good for them. That's exactly how they got in to AAC. We simply didn't budge to those demands and we told Aresco we will invest when we see a need and after that things didn't go any further is what i was told or atleast that is how i interpreted it.

Makes sense. I guess we will know if/when FAU announces anything about their stadium. UAB, UTSA, UNT, Rice already have large stadiums and UAB & UNT's are very nice.

Edit: FAUs already holds 29,500 fans. So probably no need for them to expand either.

I'm a bit dubious about that 30K claim they keep making. They say it's in phase 1, but actual phase 1 seems to be the 18K stadium, with the other side happening as a phase 1a to bring it up to 21k, which is still smaller than our stadium. The rest of the 30K would come from filling out the rest of the upper deck constructed in phase 1 and 1a, but I feel like the most economic way to do that would be to have one bid put out, at the very least to stretch the full sidelines, with the endzone piece being another phase. This makes me think that they're having to wait for funding for each piece, and we all know how much of a boondoggle that can be.

I would say that SB Ballard as is is still pretty nice. Gotta work on a few quality of life things like upper level bathrooms, elevators, cup holders, etc, but the only big glaring issue we have is the North Endzone. If we could fill out a lower bowl (or at the very least extend the concourse out to an end zone section) and make it nice, then I'd say we've got a pretty good stadium on our hands. If we continue to grow and start maxing out attendance again, I know they designed it so that we could add another deck over the East side stands to get over 30K.

With the way in-person attendance is going for non P5 (suburban type settings), I cant see any rationale though for increasing capacity to double what your attendance is. Is there any data suggesting football attendance is going to increase in the future....anywhere....while the comfort of staying at home and watching ESPN+ increases?

So maybe you close your eyes an try to claim it is just COVID related? This is the 7th straight year that attendance has declined and 9th out of the last 10 years. Not counting the COVID season, football attendance roughly 1,000 fans per season.

Maybe we are conservative. I love my seats and will be there every home game, but I can't imagine the thought process of Charlotte expanding by double what there current attendance is. It had to be something forced on them, if true.

(05-25-2022 11:12 AM)Blue_Trombone Wrote:  I'm a bit dubious about that 30K claim they keep making. They say it's in phase 1, but actual phase 1 seems to be the 18K stadium, with the other side happening as a phase 1a to bring it up to 21k, which is still smaller than our stadium. The rest of the 30K would come from filling out the rest of the upper deck constructed in phase 1 and 1a, but I feel like the most economic way to do that would be to have one bid put out, at the very least to stretch the full sidelines, with the endzone piece being another phase. This makes me think that they're having to wait for funding for each piece, and we all know how much of a boondoggle that can be.

I would say that SB Ballard as is is still pretty nice. Gotta work on a few quality of life things like upper level bathrooms, elevators, cup holders, etc, but the only big glaring issue we have is the North Endzone. If we could fill out a lower bowl (or at the very least extend the concourse out to an end zone section) and make it nice, then I'd say we've got a pretty good stadium on our hands. If we continue to grow and start maxing out attendance again, I know they designed it so that we could add another deck over the East side stands to get over 30K.

Agreed. Ballard is a great foundation for a nice stadium. Just needs amenities like bathrooms, some bells and whistles, signage/branding, more suites and and end zone. But that's probably $30-40 million these days. An upper deck holding another 5000 would be awesome in the long term, but probably isn't needed at this time. I'd rather work on quality than quantity.

Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

I agree that in-person attendance is in an overall decline across most sports. I think the days of sold-out mega stadiums are fading into the sunset. Young people today are much more inclined to consume events virtually vs. in-person.

I think Ballard is a nice size. If we do remodel the North end zone, that will probably be all we'll ever need.

Wake me up when they build it. Master plans are simply best case scenario ideas. And with them pledging to do it all with private fundraising, they got a big hill ahead of them.

(05-25-2022 11:24 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

That, more elevators and 2nd deck bathrooms is what their focus is on.

(05-25-2022 11:48 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  Wake me up when they build it. Master plans are simply best case scenario ideas. And with them pledging to do it all with private fundraising, they got a big hill ahead of them.

+1 They are probably going to have to fundraise a lot to even begin this and if they can pull this off purely on private money then more power to them i guess.

(05-25-2022 11:57 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:24 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

That, more elevators and 2nd deck bathrooms is what their focus is on.

As a parent i can't stress how important that is. Missed a few TD's because i have to rush down and then wait in the family line and then come backup with my kid.

(05-25-2022 12:00 PM)12thmonarch Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:57 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:24 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

That, more elevators and 2nd deck bathrooms is what their focus is on.

As a parent i can't stress how important that is. Missed a few TD's because i have to rush down and then wait in the family line and then come backup with my kid.

I moved my seats to the lower level this year, in part, to be closer to the restrooms.

(05-25-2022 12:08 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 12:00 PM)12thmonarch Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:57 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:24 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

That, more elevators and 2nd deck bathrooms is what their focus is on.

As a parent i can't stress how important that is. Missed a few TD's because i have to rush down and then wait in the family line and then come backup with my kid.

I moved my seats to the lower level this year, in part, to be closer to the restrooms.

Yeah we thought about it too but sticking to 212 for now.

(05-25-2022 12:08 PM)monarx Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 12:00 PM)12thmonarch Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:57 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(05-25-2022 11:24 AM)DaBigBlue Wrote:  Have to do the Bud and it has to have seat backs. The next expansion at SBB will be suites on the West side.

That, more elevators and 2nd deck bathrooms is what their focus is on.

As a parent i can't stress how important that is. Missed a few TD's because i have to rush down and then wait in the family line and then come backup with my kid.

I moved my seats to the lower level this year, in part, to be closer to the restrooms.

I did the same prior to last year. Also went from west to east side, was more convenient to our tailgating spot in the blue lot. We’re in and out of the stadium pretty fast now.

Absolutely mandated by the AAC. I think this is them still struggling to claim that "P6" title. You need to look the part/dress for success, is probably their thinking. Unfortunately it's forced, and kinda like wearing knockoff jewelry to fit in with rich people at a party.

Call me going crazy but I gave up my chair back, tiny arm rest with no cup holder for the bench back seats. During the spring game I sat on the bench backs and it just felt like I was more comfortable and roomy compared to the chair back seats I had.

(05-25-2022 11:00 AM)Stat Geek Wrote:  So they want 20,000 empty seats?

I know right! That cannot fill the 15k High School Stadium they have now.