North End Zone project update

[proasu89]

How about we tear everything down and replace them with hills. Seeing as hills are so awesome and all.

Lol, I gave my 2 cents about the Hill on the belt board. Would probably get neg repped if I posted that here.

[Rick83]

The topic of seat expansion has been debated time and again but I'll again add my perspective because I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting my input again. We're still in our infancy stage in the FBS world and the 2020s are going to be full of potentially packed games, not just P5s but regional rivalries that will draw people in. We need to be ahead of the curve on this, and we need to get it done before the college football landscape changes (probably in the mid 2020s) so that our facilities and average home attendance numbers are up as high as possible. The hill is not comfortable for most and the bathroom and concessions need to be upgraded.
Reasonable funding has to be available obviously, but what is gained by waiting? Cost of borrowing and inflation are still low in the current economic environment but probably won't be forever. Why wait...let's expand before the 2020s.

[bigCasu]

There have been empty seats at every game for the last several years outside of Miami and Wake. Gillin has said seat expansion isn't needed but the club boxes and seats are absolutely needed. Is he misinformed?

The last thing we need to do is take seating away.

The need for boxes and suites in the north endzone is greater than for the temporary seats.

You're changing the subject.

How many of the 1,000 new club seats are new ticket holders?

No, I directly addressed your statement. Club seats and boxes are more beneficial than the temporary seats in the north endzone. Not according to me. As for the 1,000 new ticket holders... I have no idea. Do you? If they are current ticket holders on a waiting list without a box, they'll end up paying more than they do today for a box.

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Do you think it wise to reduce the seating capacity, permanent or temporary, of KBS??

[Appstate88]

Take the backs off the stadium seats on the east side and you won’t see as much aluminum on TV if you are concerned about not filling the stadium every game. We need the north end zone project to recruit, move the weight room. get more club seats and to remove the track.

[APPARJ]

The last thing we need to do is take seating away.

The need for boxes and suites in the north endzone is greater than for the temporary seats.

You're changing the subject.

How many of the 1,000 new club seats are new ticket holders?

No, I directly addressed your statement. Club seats and boxes are more beneficial than the temporary seats in the north endzone. Not according to me. As for the 1,000 new ticket holders... I have no idea. Do you? If they are current ticket holders on a waiting list without a box, they'll end up paying more than they do today for a box.

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Do you think it wise to reduce the seating capacity, permanent or temporary, of KBS??

In a vacuum? Absolutely not. Makes no sense. Do north endzone club boxes and seats benefit us more than temp bleachers? According to everything we know, yes. That's all I'm saying.

[App91]

[qu

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Can Never, never do this, its all about revenue. its the gas that makes the engine go. with no revenue, no show.

[APPARJ]

[qu

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Can Never, never do this, its all about revenue. its the gas that makes the engine go. with no revenue, no show.

This is 100% true. This concept is misconstrued is when organizations do things that sell tomorrow's growth for today's gain. Short-term opportunities that ultimately damage customer good will should be ignored. Doug Gillin probably could've generated a lot more revenue by setting last year's season tickets at $300 per seat vs. $200. Enough people would've still bought tickets for a gain but it would've marginalized a lot of loyal fans and put a bad taste in everyone's mouth making a significant portion of the donors less enthusiastic to support the school.

In other words, follow the Jerry Moore principle of "it's all about people."

It's often difficult to determine what the right decision is but long-term sustained revenue growth should always be the top priority if we want to maximize our potential.

[bigCasu]

[qu

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Can Never, never do this, its all about revenue. its the gas that makes the engine go. with no revenue, no show.

Right, its all about revenue, so its always a good idea to remember your future donors. Without them, you got nothing.

[App91]

You gotta make future donors first! That's the one thing the YC is terrible with. Don't want this discussion to get off track with that statement, but all these things have to be done in the "maximize revenue" mindset, especially at this level.

[MtnDevil95]

I don't think it's black and white, the concept of reducing overall capacity to increase specialized capacity is not a new concept in the football stadium design world. There is a delicate dance of sizing not just the overall capacity, but getting the right number of decently positioned "cheap seats" and well appointed club level amenities. The ROI per person is higher certainly for the big money donors and corporate sponsors that call for a demand on club and box seats, but any good AD or GM will also make good accommodations for the rest of us fans.

Revenue is the name of the game, when it's all boiled down, and teams all over have done renovations that remove 500 $20 seats to add 15 $1,000 boxes because it is good math . . .

[NoLongerLurking]

It's all good, we filthy commoners have IMG and ESPN3.

[APPdiesel]

The back side of the temporary north end zone bleachers are basically pipe and drape with porta johns at the bottom. It does look bad. It smells bad. It sounds bad when you hear plastic doors bang shut every time someone goes in and out. Not to mention the last time I was there the joints of the bleachers didn't quite match up.

I hate the erector set look of our 2008 east side upper deck expansion. I hate the rickety erector set north end zone temporary bleachers more. If you've never wandered over to see it APPARJ I invite you to do so. It's embarrassing.

I haven’t said the bleachers look or smell wonderful. My only point has been about the value vs cost of addressing these problems. Don’t like how the east side upper deck looks? For a mere “X” million you can replace it with a more attractive upper deck. Is it worth it?

I'm not saying permanent outdoor seating in the north end zone needs to happen right away. I don't think anyone is saying that. We all just expect it to be part of the plan. Even if it's phase 3, 4, 5, whatever.

[Goapps15]

I'm probably not in the majority here but whenever we are expecting to have lesser crowds block off the end zone seating. That way at least both sides can be full. Then open as necessary.

[NoLongerLurking]

I just had a weird thought thanks to the Charlotte News......... We might be able to say last year we hosted the FBS champions - depending on what Miami does.

[Dmanuhone]

Well in this case we will have to move the band.

[tigersef]

The back side of the temporary north end zone bleachers are basically pipe and drape with porta johns at the bottom. It does look bad. It smells bad. It sounds bad when you hear plastic doors bang shut every time someone goes in and out. Not to mention the last time I was there the joints of the bleachers didn't quite match up.

I hate the erector set look of our 2008 east side upper deck expansion. I hate the rickety erector set north end zone temporary bleachers more. If you've never wandered over to see it APPARJ I invite you to do so. It's embarrassing.

I haven’t said the bleachers look or smell wonderful. My only point has been about the value vs cost of addressing these problems. Don’t like how the east side upper deck looks? For a mere “X” million you can replace it with a more attractive upper deck. Is it worth it?

I'm not saying permanent outdoor seating in the north end zone needs to happen right away. I don't think anyone is saying that. We all just expect it to be part of the plan. Even if it's phase 3, 4, 5, whatever.

Exactly. If the funds aren’t available to add 2,000 - 3,000 seats in front of the north end zone club level at this time, then make space available, and accommodations in the design, for them to be added in the future. We get one shot at the north end zone; let’s do it right.

[BTK2000]

I'm all down for an expansion but the money needs to be there first. I don't agree with puting another loan on student fees or borrowing money from the Appalachian foundation like they did for the aluminum Stands.

I have yet to see the stadium sold out for more than a couple games a year and would rather not have P3s involved to save costs like they are with the end zone section. A for profit agency will never have the schools or athletics interests as a priority and are unethical for a public school to to be involved with in my opinion

[APPARJ]

[qu

Forget revenue component for a minute.

Can Never, never do this, its all about revenue. its the gas that makes the engine go. with no revenue, no show.

Right, its all about revenue, so its always a good idea to remember your future donors. Without them, you got nothing.

A 1M today is worth more than 10M in 10 years. People are on lists waiting to pay a lot of money. Future donors are better served meeting that demand.

[Stonewall]

No P3, no project .Not anytime in the next several years anyway.

[t4pizza]

We have consistently sold overcapacity for years. Not a single season, but for years. There is no question that every seat we build with expansion WILL be sold to a fan. Whether or not that person decides to come to the game is irrelevant because the MONEY will be paid for the SEAT. I really don't get how anyone can say that we don't need more GA seating considering our years of overcapacity ticket sales. Empty aluminum means nothing if it is paid for because when the ticket is sold the price of the expansion has been paid. I live in Florida and rarely get to the Rock, so I watch almost every game on espn3 and I can say that the empty seats are far less than other G5 programs and make no impact on my enjoyment of watching on tv. In fact, the cameras almost exclusively pan to the west side crowd and it is always packed. We need to have actual seats for everyone that wants to buy a ticket to a game. We haven't had that number of available seats for years and it is time we change that. Bigger things are coming and if we aren't ready we may lose out on great opportunities.