Rent Field Orientation

[geohusky]

Does anyone else have an issue with the orientation of the way the Rent was built? When watching a game on TV the field is always in shadows and when you are there the majority of the fans are on the cold side and in the shade.

 

[Palatine]

The Rent is oriented to give satellite communication equipment a clear view of the southwest sky. The stadium is TV friendly. This was discussed when it was being built.

 

[Mr Blueskin]

My only negative is the amount of sideline on each side of the field which makes every seat outside of the end zones that much further from the field. When looking at the field from the end zones it's clear to see there is way too much room behind the benches and before the seats start.

 

[CTMike]

I'm in the sun all game long in 231... Which was borderline too warm today!

 

[Kgun7]

gotta disagree with the OP and agree with CTMike ... I'm in 230 and could clearly see that 2/3 of the stadium was in the sun the entire game. How would you have accounted for the sun on sunny days??? Care to tell us your plan?

 

[Nostical]

According to the guy who managed the build, the Rent was built applying baseball principles. No one -- not one person on the advisory commitee--had Division 1 football experience and despite the footprint and the seating capacity the commitee consensus was that UConn football would average 15,000 ( yes, you read correctly). That's why the stadium has some now admitted severe deficiencies --including its positioning, sideline spacing, gaps between tiers allowing standing in the shadows. Quote--"If stadium was built today it would look very different."
Also, beer prices were set very high after one of commitee members--who was averse to selling it--thought the high price would discourage binge drinking. The motion was passed.

 

[kibblesnbits]

The sideline spacing was intentional. It supports an international regulation soccer field. That has paid off with the playing of multiple men's and women's national team games. Many mid-sized football stadiums are too narrow for a full-sized field.

I'd also be surprised if they would build a stadium today without the open concourse design that permits viewing from standing room areas between tiers. It's a feature of most new stadiums (Gillette, Yankee, Citifield, etc).

 

[Waquoit]

The Rent is a great place to watch an event. Better than any place you can name.

 

[Nostical]

The opening between tiers would not be built today at The Rent. There is actually conversation about filling it in -- as well as the scoreboard end---with bleachers. The space was left open -- as well as the seats not all being blue chair backs-- due to cost. As hard as it was for me to believe, two reasons were given. The cost of the concrete to close the areas and the fact that the building mgr missed a kickoff TD as a kid in Giants stadium were the reasons why it was left open.

 

[alexd]

The opening between tiers would not be built today at The Rent. There is actually conversation about filling it in -- as well as the scoreboard end---with bleachers. The space was left open -- as well as the seats not all being blue chair backs-- due to cost. As hard as it was for me to believe, two reasons were given. The cost of the concrete to close the areas and the fact that the building mgr missed a kickoff TD as a kid in Giants stadium were the reasons why it was left open.

Really? Who gave those reasons? Someone told you the building manager made an architectural decision like this?

 

[dsturdy5]

Aren't most stadiums now open between tiers to allow fans a chance to see the game while at concession stands?

 

[jdb50]

When it comes time to replace the video board they should add an upper deck, like the one on the south end and put the board on top of that. When building this they could start it right off the existing slab and not elevate it so as to eliminate the standing room crowd in this area.

 

[Devland]

The funding for the stadium was attached to the Adrian's Landing project (convention center). Because of this they designed the stadium with an open end framing the Hartford skyline. This is also the reason for the orientation of the stadium. If you notice the stadium is not parallel with Silver Lane. I was told this on a Riverfront Recapture tour of the stadium prior to its opening

 

[Chin Diesel]

I like the way the stadium is set up. When it comes time for expansion I hope they keep the end zone facing the Hartford skyline open and start filling in the stadium on the side opposite the suite tower. Then wrap it around above the student section.

It's a good starter stadium and has the chance to have some more character added to it with additions.

For what it's worth, I love the TV shots from the suite side over looking the Uconn players and extending over the stadium in to the Connecticut river valley.

 

[kibblesnbits]

The opening between tiers would not be built today at The Rent. There is actually conversation about filling it in -- as well as the scoreboard end---with bleachers. The space was left open -- as well as the seats not all being blue chair backs-- due to cost. As hard as it was for me to believe, two reasons were given. The cost of the concrete to close the areas and the fact that the building mgr missed a kickoff TD as a kid in Giants stadium were the reasons why it was left open.

That makes no sense. It would be cheaper not to elevate the upper level. The cheapest stadium I've ever attended was the old Schaeffer/Sullivan/Foxborough Stadium, which was just a continuous curved slab of concrete on each side (with 3 levels of seats) and small ones in each end zone. It had a capacity of 60,000 and was built for $6M in 1972. Take away the elevation of the upper level and The Rent would be Schaeffer Stadium on 2/3 scale. In fact, Schaeffer also limited chair backs to a few sections at mid-field.

The open concourse design is sold as a feature in the most expensive new stadiums. It's not a money saving move.

 

[PAGS]

Scoreboard's and signage need some upgrading. It would be nice to have one of this digital led boards wrap around the entire 200 rail....

And the open concourse is the new thing....all the baseball fields have gone to that....you can walk and watch and it gives an open feel

 

[UCHuskies08]

We had our season tickets switched from the cold side to the warm side. Section 124 was warm enough to be in a t-shirt today.

 

[geohusky]

After reading some of the responses to my original post I decided to randomly check the orientation of some other stadiums. I checked the following Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Auburn, The Meadowlands and Gillette. Without exception they all were built with the end zone to end zone running mostly North to South. The rent runs end zone to end zone more East to West with the highest part of the stadium on the south.

As I said in the original post as built the main seating section cast shadows on the field making for a poor TV broadcast and shades most of the fans. I wasn't sure when I started this thread but I would believe there is a reason all the other stadiums (as random of a sample that it is) are built in the opposite orientation than the Rent.

 

[uconNYC]

After reading some of the responses to my original post I decided to randomly check the orientation of some other stadiums. I checked the following Michigan, Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State, Auburn, The Meadowlands and Gillette. Without exception they all were built with the end zone to end zone running mostly North to South. The rent runs end zone to end zone more East to West with the highest part of the stadium on the south.

As I said in the original post as built the main seating section cast shadows on the field making for a poor TV broadcast and shades most of the fans. I wasn't sure when I started this thread but I would believe there is a reason all the other stadiums (as random of a sample that it is) are built in the opposite orientation than the Rent.

At least for soccer, stadiums are supposed to run North to South so that the sun does not get into one of the Goalkeepers' eyes.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

In football (initially college football as that was at once the highest level) fields were almost entirely built north/south to prevent the disadvantage of a team needing to drive in a direction with the sun in their eyes. There is one midwest school (I think Oklahoma St) that has always had a north/south football field but prior to the beginning of domed stadiums, other than when in a reconfigured baseball stadiums, football fields had almost exclusively been north/south.

 

[jdb50]

It figures that the politicians got involved and made featuring a view of Hartford as a priority in the orientation of the stadium. Looking at Stanfords stadium they have the upper decks starting above the first level which moves the upper seats closer to the field. Adding another level on the east side (UConn's side) will have the fans very far back from the field. At the top of the lower bowl at the Rent you could add a few rows of seats behind every section and eliminate the walk around crowd. This would make the openings to the lower Bowl more like the portals at the Yale Bowl. The space at the northwest plaza shouldn't be wasted so some fans can have a view of Hartford from the stadium. What a non-priority for football fans- a view of Hartford when they are watching the game. Fill that area in with stands and the stadium would be vastly improved IMO.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

The Rent would be well served to reconstruct upper decks so you got more of a "Death Valley" effect. Stand outside of the stadium at the scoreboard end and what you see are the upper decks at about a 25-30 degree angle. Go to many other college stadiums and those same decks are about 45 to maybe 60 degrees (a guestimation to be sure). The idea should have been to make that crowd feel like it is on top of the field. I know that the configuration had something to do with the noise level and view from nearby neighborhoods, but that was ridiculous. If your gonna build a stadium for Division 1/BCS/Big East football, than do it right.

 

[uconNYC]

If your gonna build a stadium for Division 1/BCS/Big East football, than do it right.

Same goes for the gameday experience. Seems UConn wants to give fans an NBA experience at a college football game.

 

[Murph]

I was always told that for TV purposes at stadiums, they don't want the cameras pointed into the sun, so the press box is positioned accordingly.

 

[Waquoit]

It figures that the politicians got involved and made featuring a view of Hartford as a priority in the orientation of the stadium. Looking at Stanfords stadium they have the upper decks starting above the first level which moves the upper seats closer to the field. Adding another level on the east side (UConn's side) will have the fans very far back from the field. At the top of the lower bowl at the Rent you could add a few rows of seats behind every section and eliminate the walk around crowd. This would make the openings to the lower Bowl more like the portals at the Yale Bowl. The space at the northwest plaza shouldn't be wasted so some fans can have a view of Hartford from the stadium. What a non-priority for football fans- a view of Hartford when they are watching the game. Fill that area in with stands and the stadium would be vastly improved IMO.

WTF are you talking about? The Rent is great. You and other's are working to solve problems that don't exist.