In my opinion we're relying too much on the hill instead of providing seating. Perhaps with the re-grading it'll be a better situation and will make more sense. The way it is now the concourse/hill is a nightmare when we're playing a big name or a local opponent (like UNCC). I wonder if we should go back to offering the mini-season ticket deals and then give a slight pricing break for those of us who purchase the full season.
We have some great home games scheduled for the 20s and we need to position ourselves to look as attractive as possible for when the conference re-alignment thing happens. As for this season, we had an incredibly unlucky year with the weather which obviously affected attendance. Our 3rd best weather game was the championship game in December. If conditions are wet (even if not currently raining) you can't even stand on the hill so why bother coming?
I believe that our attendance routinely exceeds seating capacity. Perhaps the re-grading project will help the situation and make it more attractive for people to attend and sit or stand on the grass on the hill..

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:59 pm

In my opinion we're relying too much on the hill instead of providing seating. Perhaps with the re-grading it'll be a better situation and will make more sense. The way it is now the concourse/hill is a nightmare when we're playing a big name or a local opponent (like UNCC). I wonder if we should go back to offering the mini-season ticket deals and then give a slight pricing break for those of us who purchase the full season.
We have some great home games scheduled for the 20s and we need to position ourselves to look as attractive as possible for when the conference re-alignment thing happens. As for this season, we had an incredibly unlucky year with the weather which obviously affected attendance. Our 3rd best weather game was the championship game in December. If conditions are wet (even if not currently raining) you can't even stand on the hill so why bother coming?
I believe that our attendance routinely exceeds seating capacity. Perhaps the re-grading project will help the situation and make it more attractive for people to attend and sit or stand on the grass on the hill..

Recommend everyone buy Full season tickets and support our awesome football program. You get a metal seating surface, not wet grass. You can give the tickets away to others if you can’t make all the games. This is a way to us get to new heights.

Club seats are lucrative, but it seems like we could have gotten many, many more seats in the NEZ. We'll need them in the '20's.

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:59 pm

In my opinion we're relying too much on the hill instead of providing seating. Perhaps with the re-grading it'll be a better situation and will make more sense. The way it is now the concourse/hill is a nightmare when we're playing a big name or a local opponent (like UNCC). I wonder if we should go back to offering the mini-season ticket deals and then give a slight pricing break for those of us who purchase the full season.
We have some great home games scheduled for the 20s and we need to position ourselves to look as attractive as possible for when the conference re-alignment thing happens. As for this season, we had an incredibly unlucky year with the weather which obviously affected attendance. Our 3rd best weather game was the championship game in December. If conditions are wet (even if not currently raining) you can't even stand on the hill so why bother coming?
I believe that our attendance routinely exceeds seating capacity. Perhaps the re-grading project will help the situation and make it more attractive for people to attend and sit or stand on the grass on the hill..

I mean in all reality we are still visiting a stadium with slightly more amenities and less concourse room than Conrad stadium had. The newer bathrooms and concession areas take away concourse space on the App side. Without a complete demolition and rebuild of the grandstands there won’t be anymore space on that side. The hill remodel will shorten the trip from East to west and open up more usable space behind the scoreboard.

When it comes to attendance I would say we are an average 24-27k stadium. Obviously when wake or Miami come to town we are a 36k team but those are the statistical outliers. While not a fan of the financing of the NEZ, I do think it provides more seats and donation threshold opportunities for high dollar donors. This is better for the year to year operations. I think the Yosef club need to challenge its member buy setting incrementally higher thresholds for the premium seats. Let’s be real the $500+ seats in KBS on the app side are $1000+ at any other top 25 school.

NewApp wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:38 pm

Club seats are lucrative, but it seems like we could have gotten many, many more seats in the NEZ. We'll need them in the '20's.

Supply and demand. The more people the want them the higher the donation threshold to be eligible for tickets. That’s the way I would do it.

Yes, but don't most other top 25 schools have more overall seating capacity?

BTK2000 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:57 pm

NewApp wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:38 pm

Club seats are lucrative, but it seems like we could have gotten many, many more seats in the NEZ. We'll need them in the '20's.

Supply and demand. The more people the want them the higher the donation threshold to be eligible for tickets. That’s the way I would do it.

True, but it would seem we need more seats for thousands more butts more than we need donations of sort. I want to see 40K in the stadium eventually without doing something cost prohibitive and silly like lowering the field.. Is that a pipe dream?

Yes. Without a complete demolition of the current stands. DG said he wants app to have the best 30k stadium in the country. I support that idea

I think i have seen it posted here before that there is a waiting list for club seats in the Athletics center, feel free to correct if wrong on that. So does anyone know if it is believed by the athletic department that 100% of the NEZ seats/boxes/suites etc will sell before the season opener?

Yosef10 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:09 pm

Go check out the Murphy Center at ECU. Someone please correct me if i have this wrong but my understanding is the NEZ will have glass paneling on the ground level pretty similar to the Murphy Center. I don’t think you’re going to see seats on the ground level, would make that part of the project pretty pointless.

I haven't seen any renderings showing glass -- based on this it just looks like a brick wall with doors in the middle for the team to run out from.

bigdaddyg wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:19 pm

Who on earth will want to sit at ground level (or even 10' higher) at the back of the end zone for really expensive seats when you can sit in the east or west and have a much better view of the game?

As I envision it, lower-level seats in the NEZ would not be club seats -- they'd just be GA seats at a normal GA rate. Regarding who would want to sit there -- Miller Hill is a terrible place to watch a football game, yet the hill is rarely empty.

Also, it would be a great location for the band, since both sides would be able to hear them. This would free up the section the band currently sits in, which are pretty solid seats.

We shouldn't add more seats anytime soon, but should take it into account as a long-term option.

I think future stadium priorities should be:
1. Re-grading Miller Hill (2020)
2. Adding chairback seating (By 2025)
3. Add club seats to the upper East Stands, getting rid of the black boxes (which may require re-doing the east stands entirely) (By 2030)

3. Add club seats to the upper East Stands, getting rid of the black boxes (which may require re-doing the east stands entirely) (By 2030)

One of those black boxes is for visiting team AD crew, another is season ticket sky box (24 longtime holders), and the third seems to be game by game rental.

Until we have the demand for more suites, boxes should stay.

BTK2000 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:06 pm

Yes. Without a complete demolition of the current stands. DG said he wants app to have the best 30k stadium in the country. I support that idea

Good, but why not the best 40K without sacrificing Miller Hill? Just a thought.

If you can upgrade your contributions you get
More points in 2020 per Yosef Club Facebook post.

Yosef Club Members!

Please keep in mind our new incentive for 2020 when renewing your membership. A Mountaineer Scholarship Incentive is aimed to increase scholarship opportunities for student-athletes.

Members who increase above their 2019 donation will receive double points on the increased amount!

Saw this on Social Media. Is there a link that provides more details?

I still think tickets for the hill should only be an option once the seating is full.

Back to NEZ discussion...more risers going in for the seating area today - even in the snow.

JTApps1 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:17 pm

I still think tickets for the hill should only be an option once the seating is full.

An unintended consequence will be people buying regular seats and choosing to sit on the hill thus making the seats look worse.

I get what you're trying to do, but that policy won't change human behavior, there are fans that choose to sit on the hill out of preference.

Saint3333 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:42 pm

JTApps1 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:17 pm

I still think tickets for the hill should only be an option once the seating is full.

An unintended consequence will be people buying regular seats and choosing to sit on the hill thus making the seats look worse.

I get what you're trying to do, but that policy won't change human behavior, there are fans that choose to sit on the hill out of preference.

Didn't Cobb block off the hill for seating for some playoff games?

TheMoody1 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 2:25 pm

Saint3333 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:42 pm

JTApps1 wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:17 pm

I still think tickets for the hill should only be an option once the seating is full.

An unintended consequence will be people buying regular seats and choosing to sit on the hill thus making the seats look worse.

I get what you're trying to do, but that policy won't change human behavior, there are fans that choose to sit on the hill out of preference.

Didn't Cobb block off the hill for seating for some playoff games?

So you are saying he was, “Cobb blocking”.

Yosef10 wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:06 pm

Just kinda crazy to me that with the well known financial shortcomings we have that there are some who think we should add seats when, like Saint said, there was PLENTY of empty aluminum to be seen in what was a 13-1 season. That money would be better spent taking out bleachers and putting in chair backs. And count me among those that think it’s pretty wasteful to embark on a many multi-million dollar project just for one game a year.

The financial issue is the only real justification for not adding seats (my opinion only of course). I know that DG wants to use the limited seating to drive season ticket sales, and given the limited funding available that's fine. relying on the bank to seat fans who pay $40 for a ticket is pretty bush league though. From a financing stand point, it would have been cheaper to add the seats as part of this project than it will be to add them later, but there will be other projects in the future that I'm sure the seating can be incorporated with in order to get best possible pricing.

Yes, we did have empty seats this year in a season with some absolutely horrible weather. That's not always the case and I think we lose attendance in some of those more marginal games because people won't pay that price and drive up the mountain to sit on a wet, cold grass hill. I'm aware many don't agree with me. I know you aren't going to change your mind based on this post. I've already said I accept the decision based on limited resources but I don't buy the "capacity" arguments. We don't know what the "opportunity cost" is because you can't sell what you don't have.