I ve been standing on the sidewalk outside the stadium during rain & lightning waiting to get in the stadium. It’s 4:30.
Anarently it’s to dangerous to permit people inside the stadium, but not to dangerous to be outside on the sidewalk. I’m probably never going to waste my time here again!

What about the sale?

Standard protocol with lightning.
Given no ushers, etc. Not going to let people in the .stadium and assume everyone will be on their best behavior and stay in concourse under stadium. .. as we know that will not happen..

On a concourse? We should have been so lucky. On the sidewalk on the street. No admittance to any type of shelter.

goapps wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 15, 2026 3:39 pm

What about the sale?

They moved it to the 5th floor this morning or last night. Basically the plan was to have people wait outside under the west stands and take the elevator up.

Long line all the way from the west entrance to the east entrance on Stadium Drive before 4:00. Hot and muggy. Right at 4:00, lightning and downpour. People go to the NEZ overhang, only to be told by security to either go to their car or indoors. Many people squeeze inside the NEZ facility hallway. Many more stay in line.

Once FanFest was canceled and scores of student athletes got in a traffic jam trying to leave, they told people to go to the Champions Lot entrance to the west tower, which is 4th floor. BTW, from the line behind the north end zone facility, you could barely hear the in-stadium PA, which was only used twice. And you cant see the scoreboard which had this info on it.

Once in on the 4th floor, you had to take the stairs to the 5th floor. Get there, security says to get in line on the 6th floor.

Go up the stairs again to where a couple hundred are in a line in a hallway waiting to go back down to the 5th floor, which was packed and people weren't in a rush. Line didn't move one bit in the 10 minutes I waited before leaving. One lady said she collectively had been waiting 2 hours between at the gate and on the 6th floor.

Sounds like a typical athletic department cluster f#%k.

If you're still in Boone, the marching band is having a free community performance in the stadium at 7:30. I see band kids walking up now. Weather has calmed down and its cooler.

Oldlknapp wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 15, 2026 4:25 pm

On a concourse? We should have been so lucky. On the sidewalk on the street. No admittance to any type of shelter.

Of course not. They did not have enough personnel to monitor people to ensure they would stay under the area where there are concession stands. . Some yos-yos would not have followed directions and been in the stands full of aluminum. That's my whole point. Personally, they handled it in a correct manner.

No win situation. I’ve been in my share. Easy to second guess.

T-Dog wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 15, 2026 5:06 pm

Once in on the 4th floor, you had to take the stairs to the 5th floor. Get there, security says to get in line on the 6th floor.

Go up the stairs again to where a couple hundred are in a line in a hallway waiting to go back down to the 5th floor, which was packed and people weren't in a rush. Line didn't move one bit in the 10 minutes I waited before leaving. One lady said she collectively had been waiting 2 hours between at the gate and on the 6th floor.

Someone told me that after waiting a while on the 6th floor, the line was moved down to the 1st floor, with no discernment for who was in what part of the line, and that either a security guard or staffer told the people in line it was their fault for not following directions.

The answer was simple. If there's a threat of lightning 24 hours out, move it to the Holmes Center. Use the seats to manage the line (and sell concessions to those in line).

Also, offer the surplus sale to season ticket holders first before the sneakerheads and resellers. That's been suggested before and ignored.

Imagine this will be in the new indoor facility going forward. But if there continues to be events with changing directions and no clear plan due to weather and staffers all but ready to blame the fans who showed up and didn't want to stand in the rain, then there won't be many fans left next time.

The sneakerhead issue was dealt with after the surplus sale in 23 with a limit on the number of shoes that one can buy.

I get the frustrations and the arm chair suggestions regarding how this could have been handled better, but the bottom line is that weather is always going to create havoc on a scheduled outdoor event. Contingency plans are great and it seems like the one they implemented wasn’t run well; but not every option laid out, after the fact is viable. Moving it to Holmes wasn’t a likely option as the volleyball court was set up for an exhibition match that morning.

Hey, at least yall didn’t get touched by the band director.

No one was struck by lightning, at least no one that I know.

AppSt94 wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 16, 2026 12:16 pm

The sneakerhead issue was dealt with after the surplus sale in 23 with a limit on the number of shoes that one can buy.

I get the frustrations and the arm chair suggestions regarding how this could have been handled better, but the bottom line is that weather is always going to create havoc on a scheduled outdoor event. Contingency plans are great and it seems like the one they implemented wasn’t run well; but not every option laid out, after the fact is viable. Moving it to Holmes wasn’t a likely option as the volleyball court was set up for an exhibition match that morning.

Agreed. Sometimes shit just happens and it sucks. Doesn’t necessarily mean anyone did anything egregiously wrong.