Some old info on stadium expansion

[NHRich]

This is from 2001:

Hi,
I've heard the seating will start at anywhere from 40,000 to 42,000.
And, that future expansion up to 50,000 is possible. Does this mean it
will be impossible to expand further if demand is there?
-Rich


ANSWER: The stadium is designed to have 50,000 seats with the addition of
10,000 seats in an upper deck opposite the press box tower. Additional
seats are possible with a different upper deck design and by filling in the
open end of the middle deck

Daniel Sullivan, AIA
Ellerbe Becket

I was reaching (if 65k was possible), but he didn't say no:

Hard to say if it would be 65,000 or above. It will start slightly below
40,000.

Daniel Sullivan, AIA
Ellerbe Becket

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

50k is good...

but 65k is the number. It seems like 65k is the minimum for the really big boys to be HAPPY to come to your place. They will come occasionally if you have less...but there is always some dealing that has to be done.

 

[Dougsts]

I say screw expansion until the Rent gets sold out consistently. As a taxpayer, I certainly don't want my money going into unfilled seats.

 

[Dooley]

I researched Rentschler Field expansion and came across this:

http://www.pcine.org/projects/project.cfm?articleID=26F23EFE-F1F6-B13E-8AE1656170DACE59&categoryIDs=
Approximately half of the 40,000-seat structure is comprised of structured seating utilizing a precast structural framing system totaling 97,600 SF. The lower bowl portion of the facility is below grade. The layout and design for the structure will allow expansion of another 20,000 seats in the future.
My guess is that a third deck would added to the "UConn side" of the stadium that could add 10-12,000 seats and then enclosing the scoreboard side of the stadium with an additional 10,000 or so to get up to 60,000.

 

[beerfan]

I hate to say this and ruin everyone's Christmas but I cannot imagine an circumstance where 65,000 people in CT would come see Uconn play on a regular basis.

 

[John]

I hate to say this and ruin everyone's Christmas but I cannot imagine an circumstance where 65,000 people in CT would come see Uconn play on a regular basis.

They need to make the Rent like a drive-in movie, where people don't need to leave thier tailgate to attend the game. I'm the Big Ideas Guy, now some small-thinking nuts & bolts types just need to make my vision a reality and we'll be all set.

 

[uconNYC]

NFL teams are trying to downsize their stadiums and offer creative seating options (e.g. bar stools, standing room only, fan zones). Further goes to show the bubble that NCAA schools are operating in.

 

[ZooCougar]

By chance, I sat next to one of the Architects who designed the Rent on a flight out of KCI a few years back.

He said that the same thing, and that they fully expected the option to be executed at some later date. $$$$$$$$

This is from 2001:

Hi,
I've heard the seating will start at anywhere from 40,000 to 42,000.
And, that future expansion up to 50,000 is possible. Does this mean it
will be impossible to expand further if demand is there?
-Rich


ANSWER: The stadium is designed to have 50,000 seats with the addition of
10,000 seats in an upper deck opposite the press box tower. Additional
seats are possible with a different upper deck design and by filling in the
open end of the middle deck

Daniel Sullivan, AIA
Ellerbe Becket

I was reaching (if 65k was possible), but he didn't say no:

Hard to say if it would be 65,000 or above. It will start slightly below
40,000.

Daniel Sullivan, AIA
Ellerbe Becket

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

I hate to say this and ruin everyone's Christmas but I cannot imagine an circumstance where 65,000 people in CT would come see Uconn play on a regular basis.

It depends on the opponent. In this league you're not getting 65,000. An invite to the B1G or the ACC and the game changes. I don't see why the stadium would have to be expanded now, because you're correct - as is it's not going to be filled. However, I don't see why commitment to expand couldn't be a part of any negotiations towards an invite from the aforementioned conferences. A steady diet of B1G opponents Michigan, OSU, Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers, the Edsalls (MD) - or- traditional opponents from the OBE: BC, Cuse, Va Tech, Miami, Pitt would not have a lot of problems putting people in the seats.

 

[Palatine]

I say screw expansion until the Rent gets sold out consistently. As a taxpayer, I certainly don't want my money going into unfilled seats.

Exactly Jeff Hathaway's position. And its wrong.

The stadium needs to be big enough to accommodate the big payday games. If you biggest game of the year (Michigan in this case) sells 55,000 seats, it should seat over 50,000.

If a stadium is constantly sold out, you have waited too long to expand, you're losing money.

 

[Dougsts]

Exactly Jeff Hathaway's position. And its wrong.

The stadium needs to be big enough to accommodate the big payday games. If you biggest game of the year (Michigan in this case) sells 55,000 seats, it should seat over 50,000.

If a stadium is constantly sold out, you have waited too long to expand, you're losing money.

So what your saying is we have one big payday game every few years and that will pay for the expansion? I am not buying that. Doesn't Temple play in a pro stadium? How many big payday games have they had?

 

[UConnJim]

So what your saying is we have one big payday game every few years and that will pay for the expansion? I am not buying that. Doesn't Temple play in a pro stadium? How many big payday games have they had?

Penn St. @ Temple in 2011 = 57k fans, Penn St. @ Temple in 2007 = 69k fans.

So, yes, if you want to play against major teams, you need a larger stadium. If you schedule one marquee home game per year, you could get 50k+ for a UConn home game.

Teams that would bring >50k to The Rent: Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio St., Florida St., Texas, Oklahoma, USC, Penn St., Alabama, Florida, LSU, Georgia, Notre Dame. Also, WVU, BC, Rutgers, and Syracuse could attract 40k + to The Rent as they did in the past, except during the economic downturn.

 

[hexlub]

Penn St. @ Temple in 2011 = 57k fans, Penn St. @ Temple in 2007 = 69k fans.

Well, yeah. Those are Penn State home games in Philly.

Biggest homegame this year was Rutgers at 35k (again, basically a South Jersey Rutgers homegame)

Went back and tried to find another 'big' name to play at Lincoln Financial. Closest I got was 2005 against Miami (ranked #7) where 11K was the listed attendance.

You can say that Philly is not a college football town (which is true) however, is Connecticut?

 

[UConnJim]

Well, yeah. Those are Penn State home games in Philly.

Biggest homegame this year was Rutgers at 35k (again, basically a South Jersey Rutgers homegame)

Went back and tried to find another 'big' name to play at Lincoln Financial. Closest I got was 2005 against Miami (ranked #7) where 11K was the listed attendance.

You can say that Philly is not a college football town (which is true) however, is Connecticut?

Temple has never really played marquee teams at home outside of Penn St. with the exception of Miami and WVU before WVU had their recent success. But, they play Notre Dame at home in 2014 and Penn St. at home in 2015. Notre Dame will play at 69k Lincoln Financial Field, but they won't play at the Rent. We are still worried that Michigan won't play UConn at the Rent next year. Major college teams, in general, want bigger stadiums to visit.

 

[hexlub]

Temple has never really played marquee teams at home outside of Penn St. with the exception of Miami and WVU before WVU had their recent success. But, they play Notre Dame at home in 2014 and Penn St. at home in 2015. Notre Dame will play at 69k Lincoln Financial Field, but they won't play at the Rent. We are still worried that Michigan won't play UConn at the Rent next year. Major college teams, in general, want bigger stadiums to visit.

Yeah, I get what you are saying. Back in the day Rutgers used to play bigger games at Giants Stadium. I just hope if/when expansion happens, we have an AD capable of getting those big home and home series signed and sealed.

I guess I'm in the middle here where I do feel there is something to telling these teams that they have to play in the Rent if they want to play. However, I think there is also something to extending the brand once a year to MetLife or Foxboro. Just as a way to show the footprint extends across Boston/Southern New England/NYC/NJ. Also, somewhat selfishly, I'm not too far from MetLife.

 

[ZooCougar]

It's better to have reasonable excess capacity before you need it, than to not have it all and miss opportunity.

 

[ruskoolie]

I don't think you guys should expand just to expand. I personally like the feeling of a cozy stadium. Navy has a great place and it seats about 35k but it is packed and gives a good feel. Same with Cincinnati's stadium. Don't expand unless the demand is consistently there and then do it slowly to keep demand there. Rutgers expanded in 2009, and while we definitely get far more people per game than we would've gotten if we didn't expand - we've only sold out 3 games in 3 years. A stadium looks much better 100% capacity than 70-80% capacity. Which would you rather have: Pitt's stadium atmosphere 50k (big stadium that is 2/3rds full - maybe) or UCONN atmosphere 40k and full. Like another poster said, stadium capacity is a bubble that is going to burst. It is becoming too easy to watch multiple games on your TV and not enough entertainment at the stadium for some folks. Once your build more seats, that's it - they're there. You can't take them down in 5 years if your team goes 2-10 one year, so that needs to considered.

 

[Dougsts]

I don't remember, was our last home game against West Virginia a sellout?

 

[Dougsts]

It's better to have reasonable excess capacity before you need it, than to not have it all and miss opportunity.

Well then, we are there.

 

[Palatine]

So what your saying is we have one big payday game every few years and that will pay for the expansion? I am not buying that. Doesn't Temple play in a pro stadium? How many big payday games have they had?

No I'm not saying that and I did NOT say that. You can be Temple if you want. I would rather be UConn.

I'm saying our stadium should accommodate near what what big paydays can produce. I'm suggesting the Rent should be, maybe 25% larger than its current size. We have had numerous sellouts with our 40,000 capacity. Simply fielding a winning team puts UConn at or near the 40,000 capacity for every game. And I am not suggesting you have a big payday game every few years. We should have marquis opponents every year and could with a larger stadium.

And I'm saying that waiting to sell a place out for years before expanding -as you propose- is bad economic policy. It is also bad policy if you want to join the ACC or B10. I suspect a 50,000 seat stadium would have gotten us an invite by now. I also believe your policy shows no faith in the ability to grow.

 

[Dougsts]

I think our record the past couple of years played a bigger roll in us being where we are rather than empty seats in our stadium. As a taxpayer, I would be all for expanding the stadium if there was sell out pressure to do so. I really don't think have more empty seats for the second and third quarter is going it make us a commodity that the other conferences want. Just my opinion.

 

[DJ Spanky]

Yeah, I get what you are saying. Back in the day Rutgers used to play bigger games at Giants Stadium.

That was because we had a 23K seat stadium, and D1A regulations at the time stated you had to have an average seating capacity of 30K for your home games. So we'd play one game a year up at Giants Stadium to boost our average. Once we expanded our stadium to 41.5K for the 1994 season, we phased out playing at GS. I believe our last game there was in 1996 against Army.

 

[Devland]

I read that since the introduction of HDTV attendence at pro and college sports has been trending down. Even teams that have waiting lists have seen the waiting lists shrink.
I also wonder how easy it would be if UConn wanted to expand. It is owned by the state and leased by UConn. Would this require approval from the state legislature? I would imagine they would.

 

[uconNYC]

How do we know schools have rejected scheduling us based on the Rent's seating capacity? It certainly was not an issue for Michigan and Tennessee.

 

[Bootsthemonkey]

I think it currently is an issue with Michigan but they are still honoring the game.