Is There a Bigger Eye Sore in Power 5 CFB Than the M-Club Building?

[ShotgunDawg]

My solution: Moorhead takes us to Atlanta this year forcing a necessary expansion. Bye bye, M Club.

I think this is the issue.

We are in no-mans land waiting to expand the stadium, but we are without need of extra seats to need to expand the stadium

Thus, we have a stalemate of sorts that leads to having this stagnant, ugly, deer camp quality structure in the most photographed & videoed part of our entire university.

[ShotgunDawg]

Something more like what Mercer has?

Yes, this would be 1,000 times better. Shoot, add some sky boxes in it to pay for the thing

[Cooterpoot]

Ticket sales are dropping at most schools. It's gotten too expensive for people to go to games. We've probably hit the wall of expansion for awhile.

[BrunswickDawg]

Yes, this would be 1,000 times better. Shoot, add some sky boxes in it to pay for the thing

Or make it like the Left Field Lofts.....

[ShotgunDawg]

Or make it like the Left Field Lofts.....

Even better. Lets not let a sub-par, ugly building lessen Davis Wade Stadium in hopes that we will expand the south endzone in time. We may not expand the south end zone for another 10 years. Meanwhile, we've got an eye sore making the university look cheap on TV in front of millions of viewers.

It's a complicated answer because everyone wants to expand the South end zone, but how long are we going to hold off before addressing this?

I realize it doesn't bother some, many people but it's an eye sore on TV. It really isn't a good look for the university

[Matty Dispatch]

Or make it like the Left Field Lofts.....

This is probably the direction. Some form of that Mercer stadium / LA Tech / Left field lofts premium style attraction. I believe the next step in the expansion is a second deck on the North EZ anyway...which will be our last seating expansion. Then this South EZ deal will get built.....maybe with two smaller video boards on the SW and SE corners like Bama has instead of one mega board. 2030 watch out.

[Johnson85]

one sellout....yikes. We had 39 straight sellouts, or something like that. Then expanded and it was spotty, then Dak left and it takes Alabama to sell it out. That doesn't give the admin much reason to spend millions on any more expansion. With TV the way it is now, it's really hard to envision that we'll ever bowl it in - it's just hard to get people to come to games, let alone stay for four quarters.

If we ever bowl it in, I don't think we'll increase capacity much. The TV experience is just too good to continue to expect a big demand for non-premium seating. My guess is if we do it, we'll primarily fill the space wiht something like the left field lofts, and then add a little bit of seating to fill in the corners, and then I still expect to see us convert more seats to chairbacks, which will reduce capacity for those areas and make the net something close to neutral.

[MarcoRubio]

If we ever bowl it in, I don't think we'll increase capacity much. The TV experience is just too good to continue to expect a big demand for non-premium seating. My guess is if we do it, we'll primarily fill the space wiht something like the left field lofts, and then add a little bit of seating to fill in the corners, and then I still expect to see us convert more seats to chairbacks, which will reduce capacity for those areas and make the net something close to neutral.

I?ve always thought bowl in the south end zone, add premium seating/sky boxes for revenue. As part of the expansion, convert every seat in the stadium to chair backs. Create the best game day experience for fans in college football. This would limit the numbers added or be nearly neutral. If there?s ever a need to expand capacity after that, add upper decks to both end zones.

[bostondawg]

I really wish we would bowl in the stadium ASAP. It's probably not a wise financial decision. But I feel like if we sat at 70k+ capacity that would be good for a long time. I'd love to see them mirror the north end zone in the south end zone. But that would be a 60 million dollar project that we probably just can't justify right now. Unpopular opinion of mine, I suppose.

[BrunswickDawg]

This is probably the direction. Some form of that Mercer stadium / LA Tech / Left field lofts premium style attraction. I believe the next step in the expansion is a second deck on the North EZ anyway...which will be our last seating expansion. Then this South EZ deal will get built.....maybe with two smaller video boards on the SW and SE corners like Bama has instead of one mega board. 2030 watch out.

If we ever bowl it in, I don't think we'll increase capacity much. The TV experience is just too good to continue to expect a big demand for non-premium seating. My guess is if we do it, we'll primarily fill the space wiht something like the left field lofts, and then add a little bit of seating to fill in the corners, and then I still expect to see us convert more seats to chairbacks, which will reduce capacity for those areas and make the net something close to neutral.

The trend will definitely be toward more luxury. Chair backs will be the next major trend - and not the BS clip-on kind most stadiums have now. I've sat in them at MSU, UGA, and UF. They are all squeezed in too tight, are not comfortable, and wear out pretty fast. We could figure out the lower bowl capacity with real seats and keep it relatively the same with a SE addition, build the End Zone lofts above it, and still have future expansion capacity with a north endzone 2nd deck. I'd pay more per game for a real seat with cupholders in a heartbeat. You will make the money on the Endzone Lofts to pay for most of the expansion.

[PMDawg]

Do you get paid for every thread you start? If so, how about you donate some of that to make this change you're proposing.

What perception are you referring to? I don't think I've ever come across anyone that has stated this is a pressing need (but maybe I don't get out and about and hang with big donors like yourself). I'd say replacing the plywood in the Palmeiro Center would be a bigger bang for the buck than this.

If you don't think EXACTLY like Shotgun, then you are "small-minded" and one of the reasons our Athletics aren't better? It's thinking like yours (not like SD's) that holds our University back!

[WPDawg]

Seriously, let's get real here. Is there a bigger eye sore in power 5 football than that building?

As far we've come as university & with our athletic facilities, it's unreal to me that the front porch of school still has the equivalent of toilet sitting on it.

Want the change the perception of facilities, tearing down that place is a good place to start. It makes us look cheap & poor

Looks fine to me and certainly not terrible. And I love the open end stadium. Allows campus view from inside the stadium and allows a view in to stadium from the junction. Kind of a campus connector feel. Bowled in stadiums lose that on campus feel. Seems like more modern stadiums (professional viewpoint) try to allow for views that connect to areas outside of stadiums.

[Liverpooldawg]

We've got money and I think sprucing up the front porch of the school is of the upmost importance.

Then do something with Dorman.

[ScottH]

The south endzone expansion will be underway in 2 to 3 years, if I had to guess.

Correct. All premium seating.

End zone along with the indoor tennis center and the Hump renovate are three parallel projects.

[Ezsoil]

3 times...barely.
2016 - Auburn 60,102
2017 - LSU 60,596
Alabama - 61,344

I would say this year will add 3 games to that list this year

[Jack Lambert]

The main thing I dislike about the south end right now is how we incorporated the jumbo-tron - it looks stuck on (because it was).
I really don't worry about it much because I know when the time comes to replace it or bowl in the endzone, we have proven we hire the right designers now to handle the project.
That's why I used Bobby Dodd as an example as an eyesore - not a single part of that stadium is integrated into any other part of the stadium architecturally. It makes our unbalanced east and west upper decks look well planned.

It's sad too - Bobby Dodd used to look like a cool old stadium when I was a kid - this is 1983

Space is a issue with a lot of schools. Not with us. I wish they would add more premium seating on the home side with hard permanent chair backs with cushions like you see in club level at NFL stadiums. Make them big. Then add seating you lose by enclosing the south end zone and make all those seats chair back.

[smootness]

It looks fine. The jumbotron looks a little strange stuck on the front of it, but it not nearly as bad as you are claiming.

[Bully13]

Can the Jumbotron be moved to another location?

[ScoobaDawg]

Can the Jumbotron be moved to another location?

Highly unlikely. the cost to take it down and put back together would likely be more than replacing it. As I mentioned..it's also 10 years old now.

[mstatefan91]

I do like the idea of increasing premium seating in the South Endzone, but there are some other projects that need to be done first.. like renovating the east side concourse/concession area.. that's long overdue