The Hump

[RocketDawg]

It's probably been discussed before, but are there any immediate plans to upgrade, or even replace, the Hump? We have a new baseball stadium (essentially), there's a new softball field, and the football stadium is pretty adequate for several years and is quite nice right now. We're supposed to have a pretty good men's team next year, and we know what the women have done, so it seems like it might be time.

Do we even need any upgrades? The only other SEC basketball arena that I've been is at Georgia, and it's not overly impressive.

[preachermatt83]

There are some upgrades in the works. More preimier stuff.

[MStateDawg]

After the new Dude is completed, the next major construction project is going to be an indoor tennis facility. Beyond that, the Hump and the east side of DWS are being eyed for updates.

[RocketDawg]

After the new Dude is completed, the next major construction project is going to be an indoor tennis facility. Beyond that, the Hump and the east side of DWS are being eyed for updates.

An indoor tennis facility will be almost a totally sunk cost. It probably produces no revenue at all, and loses money because of scholarships (presumably they have tennis scholarships). Do they really need to do that? I've never heard of anybody going to a tennis match.

[MStateDawg]

An indoor tennis facility will be almost a totally sunk cost. It probably produces no revenue at all, and loses money because of scholarships (presumably they have tennis scholarships). Do they really need to do that? I've never heard of anybody going to a tennis match.
It's not about generating revenue. It's about providing competitive facilities for all our student athletes. We are the only school in the Southeastern Conference that doesn't have an indoor facility.

[mstatefan91]

Need to update the bathrooms and concessions. Create a better security check area since we are all in with the metal detectors and such. Don’t know how they’d add any premium seating other than two tiny locations at the top on each side which wouldn’t be worth it.

[Bully13]

do the cups at DWS still smell like ass?

[msbulldog]

do the cups at DWS still smell like ass?

The $10 cokes in the souvenir mugs I bought at the Hump 2 weekends ago smelled fine***.

[Pit Bull]

HUMP was built for 6 million in 1975. Pretty good investment considering nowadays. It originally seated 9,500 and later expanded to 10,500. The quality of seats everywhere in it are good. When built, it was way ahead of it's time. And now is very comparable to most other SEC schools arenas. Maybe a bit outdated with the column look on the outside, but the arena itself is very functional and adequate for the type crowds we are having. I think with some modest improvements it can easily serve us another 10 years minimum. BAMA still has it's original arena, although considerably larger capacity at 15,000. UGA still has it's original and is almost identical to the HUMP. Florida just upgraded their old McConnell Arena around 12,000....much nicer now. LSU still has the old Maravich arena at about 14,000. Ole Miss had no choice but a brand new facility.....and it is pretty nice at 9,500. The Sad Pad had no hope at all but demolish it or use it for something else. Auburn has a brand new facility very similar to Ole Miss, but they had a decent venue in the old Baird-Eaves which was similar to the HUMP also. I just think our HUMP is good enough to compete in the SEC for a while until our enrollment exceeds about 25K. Then maybe take a look at it more intensely.

[Bulldog1]

We desperately need to change the seating arrangements.

[louisvilledawg]

We desperately need to change the seating arrangements.

We need to take out seats and make the remaing seats have more leg room. My big ass is cramped in that joint.

[Cooterpoot]

Saving that money to hire McDonnell.***

[Count Istvan Teleky]

Great topic. To me, the Hump is still a great venue. When it is filled, it can be an extremely difficult place to play. Recent years have taught us that a winning team will still draw and a losing team doesn't. No news there.

The building seems in great shape structurally, but it is in need of updating. In the last several years we added the practice facility and recreated the entrance on that side of the building. It's nice and it is a multi-million dollar addition that needs to be considered. . The Campus Master Plan that came out a few years ago had some extensive information about the planned renovations at the Hump. Of course, it came out about the time the Men's program was imploding so any urgency we had about improving the facility fell victim to that slide. The plan called for us to somehow kick out the walls of the Hump, either by adding walls outside the current structure (likely) or actually removing them and then shifting all services to the outside of a widened concourse. There's already a restroom on the Sanderson Center side, but that was stop-gap some years ago. If you could widen the concourses (take out the walls) and move the services to the exterior rather than the interior (as shown in the master plan and modelled with the above bathroom move) then you could use the area where the services are (bathrooms and concessions) to put in a sort of suite that extends through from the concourse to the arena with a couple of rows of seats immediately in front of the suite for seating.

Whether this could be done or not is not something I know, but I'm glad that somebody at one time was thinking along these lines. Now that Men's BBK is back, this is something I feel sure they will tackle but I don't know the time frame. The other projects mentioned (indoor tennis, etc.) are probably needed in their own ways as well. Surely the smart guys architects will come up with many other things that would re-invent the Hump for another 45 years.

It took us close to 40 years to realize that we didn't need all that empty space behind the scorer's tables and benches to sit idle. Besides looking horrible on TV, it was a waste. Scott solved that (I think it was him) and it looks better. Seating all the way down to the court. Something I'd like to see us do is change the white/off-white paint of the interior walls to something dark - maroon, say - so that when you see a view of it it doesn't have that white ring around the middle of it. Reminds me of that massive wall in the old Dudy Noble right behind home plate. It just looks like somebody with no taste designed it.

Finally, one pet peeve which has been discussed on here many times is the re-seating. It really pisses me off to see the geezers (I'm one - was a Freshman when the Hump opened in '75) sitting there with their arms folded and their faces frozen in frowns, regardless of what is going on in the game. Thumbs up their asses ... thumbs up their asses.

Let the students have those seats.

[starkvegasdawg]

There are some upgrades in the works. More preimier stuff.

Will it still look like a poundcake?

[crackerjax]

Not an architect, but seems like the best plan long term would be to:
(1) Knock out the current outer walls;
(2) Tear out the current upper deck;
(3) Build out an expanded, open concourse, with a club level and loge seating where some of the concession stands currently sit;
(4) Redo the upper deck to flow with the rest of the arena, allowing views of the court from certain parts of the concourse;
(5) Install ribbon boards between upper and lower levels.

Would create a more modern feel with more places to put the major donors than simply court-side.

[HaggardDawg]

I know we are upgrading the lighting before next season. I know the guy who won the bid and he said it will look a million times better.

[HoopsDawg]

The exterior of the Hump is an eyesore.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Great topic. To me, the Hump is still a great venue. When it is filled, it can be an extremely difficult place to play. Recent years have taught us that a winning team will still draw and a losing team doesn't. No news there.

The building seems in great shape structurally, but it is in need of updating. In the last several years we added the practice facility and recreated the entrance on that side of the building. It's nice and it is a multi-million dollar addition that needs to be considered. . The Campus Master Plan that came out a few years ago had some extensive information about the planned renovations at the Hump. Of course, it came out about the time the Men's program was imploding so any urgency we had about improving the facility fell victim to that slide. The plan called for us to somehow kick out the walls of the Hump, either by adding walls outside the current structure (likely) or actually removing them and then shifting all services to the outside of a widened concourse. There's already a restroom on the Sanderson Center side, but that was stop-gap some years ago. If you could widen the concourses (take out the walls) and move the services to the exterior rather than the interior (as shown in the master plan and modelled with the above bathroom move) then you could use the area where the services are (bathrooms and concessions) to put in a sort of suite that extends through from the concourse to the arena with a couple of rows of seats immediately in front of the suite for seating.

Whether this could be done or not is not something I know, but I'm glad that somebody at one time was thinking along these lines. Now that Men's BBK is back, this is something I feel sure they will tackle but I don't know the time frame. The other projects mentioned (indoor tennis, etc.) are probably needed in their own ways as well. Surely the smart guys architects will come up with many other things that would re-invent the Hump for another 45 years.

It took us close to 40 years to realize that we didn't need all that empty space behind the scorer's tables and benches to sit idle. Besides looking horrible on TV, it was a waste. Scott solved that (I think it was him) and it looks better. Seating all the way down to the court. Something I'd like to see us do is change the white/off-white paint of the interior walls to something dark - maroon, say - so that when you see a view of it it doesn't have that white ring around the middle of it. Reminds me of that massive wall in the old Dudy Noble right behind home plate. It just looks like somebody with no taste designed it.

Finally, one pet peeve which has been discussed on here many times is the re-seating. It really pisses me off to see the geezers (I'm one - was a Freshman when the Hump opened in '75) sitting there with their arms folded and their faces frozen in frowns, regardless of what is going on in the game. Thumbs up their asses ... thumbs up their asses.

Let the students have those seats.

I would give the first 15 rows to the students around the entire floor. At the start of the game, free for all.

[RocketDawg]

Not an architect, but seems like the best plan long term would be to:
(1) Knock out the current outer walls;
(2) Tear out the current upper deck;
(3) Build out an expanded, open concourse, with a club level and loge seating where some of the concession stands currently sit;
(4) Redo the upper deck to flow with the rest of the arena, allowing views of the court from certain parts of the concourse;
(5) Install ribbon boards between upper and lower levels.

Would create a more modern feel with more places to put the major donors than simply court-side.

Wouldn't that likely cost just as much as building a brand new one?

[Pit Bull]

Wouldn't that likely cost just as much as building a brand new one?

That's what I'm thinking too.......Might as well build the Giant Comma as shown in the campus master plan if we do this kind of rebuild. I would make sure that whatever we do.....that the foundation and supporting structure would allow easy expanding later on if we needed too. Maybe start with a 12,000 seat arena than can be expanded to say....15,000 w/o much effort.

[RocketDawg]

I asked the original question, but I don't have any problem with the Hump as it is ... was just curious to see if there were any plans. I suppose some fairly minor upgrades could be done on the inside, but basically it's just fine in my opinion. The only question is, as I get older ... why'd they have to put it on top of the darn hill where every walk to it is uphill? **

One thing I've noticed on television, since I've gotten older ... younger folks would bever even think of this: They've added handrails in the walkways up to and down from the seats. Most older folks probably go UP steps pretty well, but when you're going down you need something to hold on to, else you're liable to take a tumble. Adding those was a very good, inexpensive modification and probably helps the place with ADA certification. As I said ... youngsters would never think about it, but will when they age some ... unless they kill themselves smoking weed before they get old. **

[Pit Bull]

Will it still look like a poundcake?

Stop that!!!.....I love poundcakes.....making me hungry!

[Pit Bull]

We need to take out seats and make the remaing seats have more leg room. My big ass is cramped in that joint.

Wow....I'm 6'4"/240 and fit into the present seats just fine....don't worry......not going to ask you.

[mstatefan91]

I asked the original question, but I don't have any problem with the Hump as it is ... was just curious to see if there were any plans. I suppose some fairly minor upgrades could be done on the inside, but basically it's just fine in my opinion. The only question is, as I get older ... why'd they have to put it on top of the darn hill where every walk to it is uphill? **

One thing I've noticed on television, since I've gotten older ... younger folks would bever even think of this: They've added handrails in the walkways up to and down from the seats. Most older folks probably go UP steps pretty well, but when you're going down you need something to hold on to, else you're liable to take a tumble. Adding those was a very good, inexpensive modification and probably helps the place with ADA certification. As I said ... youngsters would never think about it, but will when they age some ... unless they kill themselves smoking weed before they get old. **

My guess is bathrooms and concessions. How they go about this is the mystery.. Might take a few years of making the NCAAT in Men's before they consider anything major.. but I'm not in the know on these things so.. take that with a grain of salt

[Homedawg]

I would give the first 15 rows to the students around the entire floor. At the start of the game, free for all.

Couple of problems with this-1) ton of lost revenue 2)who would even pay for a lower level seat when you have a student standing in front of you the entire game? The hump isnt built for your plan to work, at all. It's amazing how everyone says our atmosphere sucks because if the seating arrangement, yet, we ha an electric atmosphere in the women's ncaa games and had basically zero students there. Now I'm not advocating that we get rid of students, they are important, i"m just saying that atmosphere will improve when an now that we have put a better product on the court.

[jacksondawg]

Can someone post a link to the campus master plan? I somehow failed to see it.

[BrunswickDawg]

I really don't think you need to change much in the way of the arena.
Here's what I would do:
1) Split the lower bowl between the students and season ticket holders.
2) widen the concourses and move restrooms and concessions to the exterior
3) reduce seating overall by a few 100 and add premium theater seating with concession service (order/delivery from your seat) for the high dollar seats in the lower bowl (eliminates the need on expensive skyboxes) and possibly some areas of the upper bowl
4) Add a premium locker/lounge area accessible from the lower bowl where the big spenders can get their concessions and keep booze like in suites.

None of that is huge dollars.

[Rejlector84sports]

My father is an architect (got an Auburn degree when MSU didn't have a school). One day I asked him about adding more seats to the Hump. He said it is not likely to include the present facility. The entire Coliseum was built to hold what it does now. Blowing out the walls would require redoing the entire structure unless you want columns in the upper area. Also the entire roof system would have to be re-engineered in order for the wider span. Since this is a public building built with public funds it is not likely that the construction was done with possible expansion (unlike the new DWS end zone), so probably the foundation would have to be re-engineered also. A expansion would likely cost as much or more than a new facility built from the ground up. Of course, you could put on a fabric roof like the Georgia Dome and use the existing structure...

[Liverpooldawg]

If you wanted to add boxes I would think it would be pretty easy to utilize the space currently occupied by the rest rooms and the concession stands. Just add onto the outside wall of the concourse to house those. We don't need, and likely never will need, extra capacity.

[Dawgpile]

If you wanted to add boxes I would think it would be pretty easy to utilize the space currently occupied by the rest rooms and the concession stands. Just add onto the outside wall of the concourse to house those. We don't need, and likely never will need, extra capacity.

It's not online anymore, but there were detailed renderings of a renovation of the coliseum in Jackson by Beir-Warner. They basically created expanded concourses on the exterior and re-purposed the vacated areas on the interior like you propose. If you could create an upper level concourse and eliminate the stairs to the upper bowl, it could work.

[Bulldog1]

Couple of problems with this-1) ton of lost revenue 2)who would even pay for a lower level seat when you have a student standing in front of you the entire game? The hump isnt built for your plan to work, at all. It's amazing how everyone says our atmosphere sucks because if the seating arrangement, yet, we ha an electric atmosphere in the women's ncaa games and had basically zero students there. Now I'm not advocating that we get rid of students, they are important, i"m just saying that atmosphere will improve when an now that we have put a better product on the court.

The Students should not be shoved in the upper deck no matter what. And it looks awful on tv with the present seating format.

[Liverpooldawg]

The Students should not be shoved in the upper deck no matter what. And it looks awful on tv with the present seating format.

The student section has always been half upper deck, since the building opened. It started out being from half court to the corner on one side. It stayed there till that idiot, sometimes erroneously known as the ninja, who SHOULD be known as the Hump Killer, decided to split the student section up behind both ends. Besides kicking out the locals in favor of corporates and big donors who gave their tickets away to whoever or only showed up for two games a year, it was THE move that killed fan support at the Hump. It started before the collapse on the court. I detest most of what Dawg61 says on anything, but he is right about his GA idea for the Hump. Men's basketball doesn't even break even now. Who cares what the big dawgs think when it comes to basketball. Make a REDUCED student section,and make it GA, along with the whole building. If you went to even ONE women's game, a decent one, this year you saw the difference in the crowds. My guess is we will do the opposite, and kill the fantastic crowds we have for women's games.

[Bulldog1]

The student section has always been half upper deck, since the building opened. It started out being from half court to the corner on one side. It stayed there till that idiot, sometimes erroneously known as the ninja, who SHOULD be known as the Hump Killer, decided to split the student section up behind both ends. Besides kicking out the locals in favor of corporates and big donors who gave their tickets away to whoever or only showed up for two games a year, it was THE move that killed fan support at the Hump. It started before the collapse on the court. I detest most of what Dawg61 says on anything, but he is right about his GA idea for the Hump. Men's basketball doesn't even break even now. Who cares what the big dawgs think when it comes to basketball. Make a REDUCED student section,and make it GA, along with the whole building. If you went to even ONE women's game, a decent one, this year you saw the difference in the crowds. My guess is we will do the opposite, and kill the fantastic crowds we have for women's games.

I like the GA idea, but I will be shocked if that ever happens for the Men’s basketball games.

[tcdog70]

All the HUMP needs is Asses in the seats.

[Count Istvan Teleky]

https://www.opdca.msstate.edu/master_plan/

Click on this link. The Campus-wide plan is I and Athletics is II.

Worth your time. In II, scroll to basketball to get some insights on the things discussed here.

Also interesting to note how DNF turned out because this plan preceded the rebuild by several years.

[Ari Gold]

Here is an idea.
If your a season ticket holder in the lower level. Show the **** up to games..
if your not going to make but 2 games a year ( Umiss and Kentucky) dont Renew your season tickets. I’m sure you can find a couple in the lower bowl come Gameday .

[Homedawg]

The student section has always been half upper deck, since the building opened. It started out being from half court to the corner on one side. It stayed there till that idiot, sometimes erroneously known as the ninja, who SHOULD be known as the Hump Killer, decided to split the student section up behind both ends. Besides kicking out the locals in favor of corporates and big donors who gave their tickets away to whoever or only showed up for two games a year, it was THE move that killed fan support at the Hump. It started before the collapse on the court. I detest most of what Dawg61 says on anything, but he is right about his GA idea for the Hump. Men's basketball doesn't even break even now. Who cares what the big dawgs think when it comes to basketball. Make a REDUCED student section,and make it GA, along with the whole building. If you went to even ONE women's game, a decent one, this year you saw the difference in the crowds. My guess is we will do the opposite, and kill the fantastic crowds we have for women's games.

you are wrong about it not breaking even, it makes money. And by going ga it would never make money! Ever! All those lower level seats have purchase agreements and season tickets sold. that cant be made up by selling them to ga. Just think what would happen going w a ga plan in a year like we are having in baseball, we would lose our ass financially. Bottom line a bird in the hand is better than 2 in a bush, and in this case the bush only has one, at best.

[tcdog70]

Here is an idea.
If your a season ticket holder in the lower level. Show the **** up to games..
if your not going to make but 2 games a year ( Umiss and Kentucky) dont Renew your season tickets. I’m sure you can find a couple in the lower bowl come Gameday .

With the team that just won 25 coming back and adding two great legacy players the HUMP should be back to the rocking HUMP of old. Making the Hump one of the loudest arenas in the SEC would surely help our team. So Cohen needs to figure this shit out.

[shannondawg]

Got news for you ..3/4 of the girls seats are reserved, and oh no, they are based on priority.

I guess somebody is going to say they are sold out because of the ga?111

Attendance didn't start to go down until Stans last yr as the team slid, Ticket sales didn't go down until Rick Ray was hired.

[shannondawg]

And just to add, they have reseated Davis Wade and what? priority and premium seating, Is that why most games are sell outs.

And another point, we haven't always had the money that tv revenue gives us and donations to the BDC was what funded most sports along with ticket sales, with just a little help from the SEC, but not anything like it is now.

[Political Hack]

Heard several years ago that they had thought about turning the concession stands inside out and making those mid level suites. Then they add concessions on the outer wall of the walkway. They?d lose minimum seats, introduce premium seats, and be able to keep the students on the floor with that proposal.

[RocketDawg]

Heard several years ago that they had thought about turning the concession stands inside out and making those mid level suites. Then they add concessions on the outer wall of the walkway. They?d lose minimum seats, introduce premium seats, and be able to keep the students on the floor with that proposal.

Playing devil's advocate for a bit ... but do you really need premium seats for basketball? Current premium seats are on the floor, close to the action where a lot of people want to be. New ones would be at the top of the upper deck (I assume), or at the very least a ways away from the floor. Plus, games last a bit under 2 hours, and all spectators are inside where it's warm when it's cold outside, and cool when it's hot inside.

Football, on the other hand, might last 4 hours ... not to mention that many folks are there when the gates open 2 hours before game start. For cold games, you can go inside and warm up in the premium seats, or cool off when we have a noon game in September. And you have pretty good food that's included. I wouldn't think you'd have enough premium seats in basketball to bother catering food, and even if you did, as I said, games are less than 2 hours.

I sit in premium seats at football. If I bought season tickets for basketball, I think I'd want a regular seat where the action and noise are.

[Homedawg]

The Students should not be shoved in the upper deck no matter what. And it looks awful on tv with the present seating format.

So you want 3500 hundred student in the lower bowl? Which holds 4500 to 5 k tops?? You've lost your mind. Can't pay for shit. Nobody does that. Nobody. Nobody.

[Bulldog1]

So you want 3500 hundred student in the lower bowl? Which holds 4500 to 5 k tops?? You've lost your mind. Can't pay for shit. Nobody does that. Nobody. Nobody.

Does anyone else in the SEC have student section in the upper deck?

[Homedawg]

Does anyone else in the SEC have student section in the upper deck?

Yeah. Damn near all of em. Don't know about U.K. But they have a huge arena so and I know they don't give 35% of their tickets to students either. Your proposal doesn't pay one bill. Unfortunately, that's a requirement.

[Homedawg]

Name all the schools that have students sitting all the way around the Lower level.....go....get back to me when you find one..... one p5 that is. You won't.

[Bulldog1]

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2017-18/misc_non_event/tufbk-flat-map.pdf

[Homedawg]

Number 1 that's not all the way around the court Number 2 that's not 3500 seats. Number 3 them standing doesn't obstruct the view of a person that pays for a ticket. That's a new arena.
ETA- look what they charge for seats. Just the right to have em. Add the ticket cost. Yeah ga pays for shit.