Stadium expansion

[Sooner24]

Dean Blevins just said on News9 that OU is going to expand by adding seats in the south endzone making the stadium a bowl and taking attendance to 90,000+. Also new suites and a new press box to be ready for the 2015 home opener.

[stoopified]

My wife just told me she read this on MewsOK.Figured I would see if anyone had any additional info.

[picasso]

Hmmm ok but I always liked seeing the campus from the east side. Ah well, gotta roll with the times.

[swardboy]

Hmmm ok but I always liked seeing the campus from the east side. Ah well, gotta roll with the times.

Buy seats on the top row. YWIA.

[Sooner24]

As long as they add 5,000 more parking spots too it's all good.

[Boomer.....]

I thought we were always told that bowling in the south end zone wasn't an option due to structural constraints.

[Sooner24]

Last time they expanded the stadium they tacked on a fee to our season tickets to pay for it. Wonder if that's the plan this time?

[TheUnnamedSooner]

I'm really surprised about the bowling in part. About 4-5 months ago, I got to participate in a survey regarding upgrades to the stadium. There was a lot of questions regarding club seats and suites, but nothing about bowling in or adding additional regular seats. Considering Dean's track record, I'm going to wait until the official announcement from the university before I believe it.

[badger]

Last time they expanded the stadium they tacked on a fee to our season tickets to pay for it. Wonder if that's the plan this time?

I'm quite sure OU will lower season ticket prices when the stadium is finished expanding

Thank you in advance for buying season tickets at full price with these added fees. I can't attend all of the games, but when I can, there's always a ticket holder ready to sell me one at below-face

[KantoSooner]

With OKC Metro's continued population growth, any 'empty seat' problems are likley to be short lived.

[8timechamps]

I thought we were always told that bowling in the south end zone wasn't an option due to structural constraints.

That's what I've heard in the past too.

If you look at the south end, it's not level with the rest of the stadium, so it'll be a big project if they want to bowl it in.

I'm glad they are redoing the weight room and locker room. I think both are really nice as they sit, but in today's arms race...newer is better.

[tycat947]

I'm sure with the waiting list on hand there won't be any problem selling an additional 5,000 season tickets but I sure wouldn't add many more. I just read that Kentucky is doing a $100+ million renovation and reducing the number of seats from 67,000 to 61,000. That's a pretty significant drop in capacity. With all the games on television now and so many other things going on in peoples lives, I think the attendance at collegiate events has pretty much peaked out. So, all these schools that are adding major amounts of seats (i.e. a&m, MIZ....ZOU, etc) may be crying in a few years for money to pay for these extravagant expansions and no one to fill the seats. The young people today do not have the enthusiasm which some of us older fans grew when only getting to see 3 or 4 games a year on TV and didn't have all the cable TV, smart phones, tablets, computers, etc to distract us from watching 40 or 50 games a weekend on TV. I think we have enough demand, and additional suites will provide much needed revenue, to pay off this large expansion/renovation is a relatively short period of time. But a lot of schools that don't have a self sufficient athletic department (i.e. all but 6 or 7 schools) will be in trouble in 5 to 7 years. I also read today of a school that was reducing the amount of student tickets since demand keeps going down. Again, the younger generation doesn't have the passion for collegiate athletics that a lot of us in the older generations do.

As for the empty seats at games, all the tickets are sold, but just not used. I don't care how big an OU fan I am, I'm not going to every game and wait outside and see if and where and how much tickets are and go through that hassle. And I live in Norman! If I live in Lawton, Clinton, Ardmore, Tulsa, etc, etc, and every game is on TV, I'm not going to fight that fight. But if I have season tickets, as I do, I'll attend every game. I think there is a misnomer that there is no demand for season tickets because of all the people selling outside the stadium. When I was in school, there were 18,000 student season tickets sold every year and now there are around 6,000. Enrollment then was about 21,000 and now it's 30,000+. Again, the younger generation does not have the passion. Not just at OU but pretty much all schools. This will only get worse and hurt attendance as the years go by. I think Joe C/David B are really analyzing what's best for OU and which way to go and that it's not advantageous for OU to expand to 100,000+ seats, even though right now, we could probably sell those tickets. They want to create a demand and keep the stadium as full as possible for as long as possible and that's the right way to go IMO.

[jkjsooner]

That's what I've heard in the past too.

If you look at the south end, it's not level with the rest of the stadium, so it'll be a big project if they want to bowl it in.

I'm glad they are redoing the weight room and locker room. I think both are really nice as they sit, but in today's arms race...newer is better.

This is overblown. There is not a requirement that the two have to match up perfectly. There are stadiums all across the country that have sections that don't match exactly. Ohio State and Nebraska come to mind. Our stadium will match up a lot closer than what NU did.

These "imperfections" are what gives college stadiums character in my opinion - unlike monolithic NFL stadiums that are built in one shot.

I'm a little surprised they're bowling in the south endzone simply because the seats aren't ideal. On the other hand, I'm sure it's relatively cheap as compared to building a north upper deck.

I like it simply because I think that having the open corners means that it's always easier for the visiting team to operate in the south half of the stadium than the north. I like the idea of having that advantage throughout the stadium. (Maybe slightly less due to the presence of visiting fans but still a lot louder than it is today.)


Here's a question, will they use a more rounded corner or will they just complete the elongated octagon by making straight corners like on the north side. I think rounded would give a little better sight lines by angling the seats towards the field but it of course would by asymmetrical.

Maybe we can nickname it The Octagon or the Big O.

[badger]

Fun thought: This looks like a giant O and U interlocked in a new fangled way:

[TheUnnamedSooner]

Seems that closing in the south endzone will make it that much hotter on those really hot days. With it open, I tend to think it gives us a little breeze down below the upper decks. No?

[Eielson]

Seems that closing in the south endzone will make it that much hotter on those really hot days. With it open, I tend to think it gives us a little breeze down below the upper decks. No?

Next step; turn stadium into air conditioned dome.

**** you 'Bama and your fancy weight room.

[TheUnnamedSooner]

Ok. How about this Outlook: the open end zone allows for more Oklahoma elements (wind) that the players have to play in.

[8timechamps]

This is overblown. There is not a requirement that the two have to match up perfectly. There are stadiums all across the country that have sections that don't match exactly. Ohio State and Nebraska come to mind. Our stadium will match up a lot closer than what NU did.

These "imperfections" are what gives college stadiums character in my opinion - unlike monolithic NFL stadiums that are built in one shot.

I'm a little surprised they're bowling in the south endzone simply because the seats aren't ideal. On the other hand, I'm sure it's relatively cheap as compared to building a north upper deck.

I like it simply because I think that having the open corners means that it's always easier for the visiting team to operate in the south half of the stadium than the north. I like the idea of having that advantage throughout the stadium. (Maybe slightly less due to the presence of visiting fans but still a lot louder than it is today.)


Here's a question, will they use a more rounded corner or will they just complete the elongated octagon by making straight corners like on the north side. I think rounded would give a little better sight lines by angling the seats towards the field but it of course would by asymmetrical.

Maybe we can nickname it The Octagon or the Big O.

What's overblown? If the foundations do not match up, then there are major construction issues, which WILL require construction fixes. It's not as simple as "hey, let's close in the corners".

As for the NFL, it's not so much they are monolithic, it's more about the age of the stadium. Since most NFL teams level and rebuild, they seem to go with the "design of the time". There are still plenty of NFL stadiums that have unique characteristics. It also make a big difference that there are about 10 times as many college programs. There are a LOT of college stadiums that look the same.

As for my preference, I'd like to see it match the north end, but I really don't care. I completely agree that a bowled in stadium is better for 'home field advantage'.

[8timechamps]

Fun thought: This looks like a giant O and U interlocked in a new fangled way:

That's a cool look, but the stadium in that picture would seat about 120,000. While that would be really cool, we'll never see that.

[8timechamps]

I'm sure with the waiting list on hand there won't be any problem selling an additional 5,000 season tickets but I sure wouldn't add many more. I just read that Kentucky is doing a $100+ million renovation and reducing the number of seats from 67,000 to 61,000. That's a pretty significant drop in capacity. With all the games on television now and so many other things going on in peoples lives, I think the attendance at collegiate events has pretty much peaked out. So, all these schools that are adding major amounts of seats (i.e. a&m, MIZ....ZOU, etc) may be crying in a few years for money to pay for these extravagant expansions and no one to fill the seats. The young people today do not have the enthusiasm which some of us older fans grew when only getting to see 3 or 4 games a year on TV and didn't have all the cable TV, smart phones, tablets, computers, etc to distract us from watching 40 or 50 games a weekend on TV. I think we have enough demand, and additional suites will provide much needed revenue, to pay off this large expansion/renovation is a relatively short period of time. But a lot of schools that don't have a self sufficient athletic department (i.e. all but 6 or 7 schools) will be in trouble in 5 to 7 years. I also read today of a school that was reducing the amount of student tickets since demand keeps going down. Again, the younger generation doesn't have the passion for collegiate athletics that a lot of us in the older generations do.

As for the empty seats at games, all the tickets are sold, but just not used. I don't care how big an OU fan I am, I'm not going to every game and wait outside and see if and where and how much tickets are and go through that hassle. And I live in Norman! If I live in Lawton, Clinton, Ardmore, Tulsa, etc, etc, and every game is on TV, I'm not going to fight that fight. But if I have season tickets, as I do, I'll attend every game. I think there is a misnomer that there is no demand for season tickets because of all the people selling outside the stadium. When I was in school, there were 18,000 student season tickets sold every year and now there are around 6,000. Enrollment then was about 21,000 and now it's 30,000+. Again, the younger generation does not have the passion. Not just at OU but pretty much all schools. This will only get worse and hurt attendance as the years go by. I think Joe C/David B are really analyzing what's best for OU and which way to go and that it's not advantageous for OU to expand to 100,000+ seats, even though right now, we could probably sell those tickets. They want to create a demand and keep the stadium as full as possible for as long as possible and that's the right way to go IMO.

I think you're correct, attendance has probably peaked. There are just too many options these days.

Ticket demand may not be as big an issue now though, with the online ticket brokers buying big lots. That's a lot of what happens with those empty seats.

I recall reading a comment by Joe C. that said something about bringing innovations to the next major stadium project. I'm sure they are going to do what they can to keep the game day experience worth the price.