According to the NCAA, Appalachian is currently #1 in attendance over capacity at an average of 117% for the 2017 season. Top 5 are App, Michigan, Ohio St, Kansas St, and Oregon.

I understand people are reluctant to add seats with our current season ticket numbers, and drawing 20k or 22k for some games, but I'm not sure how some can continue to ignore the need for more seats at KBS based on this stat. We could add 4k and still be the top 10 nationally averaging 100%.

I was at the game Saturday, and saw the people leaving at half like they always do. I also noticed that the the hill seemed to lose the most people. I would not want to stand on a bank for three hours either. I hope we can streamline the north end zone project, as our student body and alumni continue to grow, and we continue to draw well over capacity.

http://stats.ncaa.org/reports/attendance?id=16400

You and I have debated this before, so probably no point doing it again. I'll just reiterate two points:

1) That "over capacity" stat is misleading because it doesn't include general admission seating in our capacity.

2) Some people like sitting on the hill. It is their preferred location. I know this is hard for others to accept, for whatever reason. But they aren't there because they have no choice.

And I'm not sure where you were sitting (I was on the East side), but it certainly wasn't just people on the hill leaving; the West side was hemorrhaging fans for much of the second half.

It was a good crowd Saturday, though. If we start drawing north of 30K regularly (instead of just for P5s and Family Day), then I'd agree with you on expansion.

It's too bad we didn't draw more for homecoming against NMSU. Had another 3,500 shown up to bring attendance above 26k, App would be sitting in the top 80 for average attendance and just above Wake and Duke.

While I'd love to see KBS get to 28k seats, I'm with DG on the need to get season tickets up before seat expansion takes place. I'd guess we need to hit 10k and possibly sustain it over a couple of years. We'll probably see a dip next year with no Miami or Wake on the home slate.

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:17 am

You and I have debated this before, so probably no point doing it again. I'll just reiterate two points:

1) That "over capacity" stat is misleading because it doesn't include general admission seating in our capacity.

2) Some people like sitting on the hill. It is their preferred location. I know this is hard for others to accept, for whatever reason. But they aren't there because they have no choice.

And I'm not sure where you were sitting (I was on the East side), but it certainly wasn't just people on the hill leaving; the West side was hemorrhaging fans for much of the second half.

It was a good crowd Saturday, though. If we start drawing north of 30K regularly (instead of just for P5s and Family Day), then I'd agree with you on expansion.

I was on the East side. Everyone around me agreed the hill had thinned out the most. Just an observation and a stat. I have discussed this before, and think it deserves to be discussed until action is taken. My fear is people will stop coming to marquee games because the lack of amenities. Adding 4k to the stadium is not unreasonable.

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:17 am

You and I have debated this before, so probably no point doing it again. I'll just reiterate two points:

1) That "over capacity" stat is misleading because it doesn't include general admission seating in our capacity.

2) Some people like sitting on the hill. It is their preferred location. I know this is hard for others to accept, for whatever reason. But they aren't there because they have no choice.

And I'm not sure where you were sitting (I was on the East side), but it certainly wasn't just people on the hill leaving; the West side was hemorrhaging fans for much of the second half.

It was a good crowd Saturday, though. If we start drawing north of 30K regularly (instead of just for P5s and Family Day), then I'd agree with you on expansion.

The thing is the hill would be great if it was just 30-40 yards closer to the field. After the track is no longer in place, the whole bowl should be filled in same elevation as the road is now by the restrooms and then a concrete plaza put in place there and the grass hill be re-done exactly the same as it is now, just 30-40 yards closer to the endzone.
I could see that concrete plaza getting a lot of use for various outdoor events.

I know many love that hill, but I'm one who believes that our having a massive overflow section is what's putting a damper on our season ticket sales. Presently we have 24,000 seats with room for about 5,000 to 10,000 or so on the hill and elsewhere. If we had, say, an overflow area of no more than 1,000, I'm betting season ticket sales would significantly improve. Once fans realize there's a real possibility they might not get a ticket, they'll be more willing to come off the hip.

AppGrad78 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:55 am

I know many love that hill, but I'm one who believes that our having a massive overflow section is what's putting a damper on our season ticket sales. Presently we have 24,000 seats with room for about 5,000 to 10,000 or so on the hill and elsewhere. If we had, say, an overflow area of no more than 1,000, I'm betting season ticket sales would significantly improve. Once fans realize there's a real possibility they might not get a ticket, they'll be more willing to come off the hip.

There needs to be more and more reasonably priced motel rooms in Boone to get season ticket sales to where they are wanted to be.

AppGrad78 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:55 am

I know many love that hill, but I'm one who believes that our having a massive overflow section is what's putting a damper on our season ticket sales. Presently we have 24,000 seats with room for about 5,000 to 10,000 or so on the hill and elsewhere. If we had, say, an overflow area of no more than 1,000, I'm betting season ticket sales would significantly improve. Once fans realize there's a real possibility they might not get a ticket, they'll be more willing to come off the hip.

not so sure it's a meaningful # of persons not buying season tickets because they "know they can always get a seat on the hill"...

Another interesting stat. We are 2nd in the SB in average attendance this season, only a few hundred behind Troy. Yet we are 8th in stadium seating including the temporary seats. We are 10th if you don't include the temporaries. Troy is in the process of adding 402 club end zone seats giving them 30,402.

I challenge anyone to name a worse spot to watch a football game from than Miller hill. I can't think of any other venue in sports that puts paying customers that far away from the action. It's absurd and the reason why the hill begins to clear out DURING the first quarter.

I love our fan support and atmosphere, but if we had Montana's stadium we could have one of the scariest places to play in all of College Football. You can't convince me otherwise. I dream of the day when we have a tight, cohesive stadium. May never happen, but man it would be something else.

If we have 24k for either GS or ULL let's have the discussion at that point.

Or perhaps we'll learn more during the GS game to render this conversation moot.

Saint3333 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:27 pm

If we have 24k for either GS or ULL let's have the discussion at that point.

Or perhaps we'll learn more during the GS game to render this conversation moot.

Why not have the conversation after 30k for CCU? They're not a P5, not a strong G5, not a rival. Give us a smaller hill, more seats, more bathrooms, better experience for more people. Why should we wait any longer? Should we wait until the season before ECU or UNC comes to town? Or when we are in a geographical conference with teams that will bring more than 100 people?

Appftw wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:24 pm

I challenge anyone to name a worse spot to watch a football game from than Miller hill. I can't think of any other venue in sports that puts paying customers that far away from the action. It's absurd and the reason why the hill begins to clear out DURING the first quarter.

I love our fan support and atmosphere, but if we had Montana's stadium we could have one of the scariest places to play in all of College Football. You can't convince me otherwise. I dream of the day when we have a tight, cohesive stadium. May never happen, but man it would be something else.

I actually agree, and this has been debated time and again on this board. There are budget constraints obviously, but we need to think this through and get ahead of the curve. We may not have a need right at this moment, but we're going to be getting more regional teams and bigger name teams coming in. I believe we could get north of 40K in attendance for some of those games The hill is definitely an over-flow valve, if we could get a large percentage of the hill people to sit in seats then additional seats would be justified. It'd be a better experience for them and for the game-day environment as a whole. Perhaps we should bring back the mini-season packages?

Maybe I’m wrong ..but I can pretty much guess that there is zero fans rolling into Boone that would prefer to sit on a damp hill half a mile away from the field. Maybe some 8-10 year old kids ?

The biggest ticket demand is for suites. Those people can pay $$$$$$ too. That's the next phase because that's type of seating with the most consistent demand that can produce the most revenue immediately.

Then we can add outdoor seating, which I do agree we need to do.

We're never going to have a Montana-style small bowl. We're in too deep. Somewhere between Texas State and Duke is where we'll land.

mountaineerman wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:45 pm

Maybe I’m wrong ..but I can pretty much guess that there is zero fans rolling into Boone that would prefer to sit on a damp hill half a mile away from the field. Maybe some 8-10 year old kids ?

When my daughters were young they used to love playing on the hill. I'd sit in the last section on the home side so I could keep an eye on them. They're 28 & 30 years old now and still talk about sliding down the wooden A that used to be there, and not happy that's it's gone.

We need more seating and more club level seating. We have been over capacity many times over the years and its time to address that issue. It doesn't mean that we will have a packed stadium on every Saturday, but it does mean that we have the capacity for those 2-3 games a season when the demand is more than we can currently handle.

Let me pose this question to those who are anti-lawn seating: What is it that bothers you so much about OTHER PEOPLE sitting there?

For all the posts that make it sound like some kind of uninhabitable hellscape, many fans choose to sit there every week, despite most games having plentiful reserved seats sitting empty. So, as unfathomable as it may be to you, some people clearly enjoy and even prefer that experience.

The north end zone project will take care of the club seats, but I hope they're also thinking long term for future enhancements. I'm no engineer/architect but it seems to me like the best thing would be to lower the field a little and replace the old original lower sections with steeper graded bleachers which could go down closer to the lowered field with the track gone. Then bring in the Miller hill closer or just build lower level seats on the hill side. I don't want to block off the side of the mountain on the south end zone side as that's something unique to us.

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:49 pm

mountaineerman wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 23, 2017 2:45 pm

Maybe I’m wrong ..but I can pretty much guess that there is zero fans rolling into Boone that would prefer to sit on a damp hill half a mile away from the field. Maybe some 8-10 year old kids ?

When my daughters were young they used to love playing on the hill. I'd sit in the last section on the home side so I could keep an eye on them. They're 28 & 30 years old now and still talk about sliding down the wooden A that used to be there, and not happy that's it's gone.

Lol I remember getting my butt chewed out for ruining a brand new pair of stonewashed Levi’s. The only thing I remember other than my mom yelling was her telling me ...do you know how much those cost? 11$ she said lol.