Two comments: 1. The expense of very big and very high endzone upper decks, each of which would require closing a street, could not be covered by ticket sales without big surcharges. Expensive box seats would be what it would take to add an affordable deck, but it won't add huge capacity that way, for those who think there is some kind of prize for having the biggest pile of concrete. I'm not sure that there are a hell of a lot of people willing to pay $40,000 a year for the privilege of buying 20 full-price tickets for that poor a view of the field. 2. The student seating problem is twofold. There are not enough seats to hold the students when the Tigers are winning. It's a damn shame and always has been. But when the Tigers are not winning, the students don't show up in droves, arrive late and leave early leaving huge sections of empty seats tempt the AD to sell them to people who will show up.
I am completely supportive of this UNDER ONE circumstance. By creating more seats they ALLOW EVERY STUDENT to get tickets!
Really Penn State is bigger. My mistake, the Board at the game showed 110,000 people where at the UM game. I figured that had to be the biggest.
Michigan just had renovations that put them down to 106,201 Beaver Stadium is at 107,282 However, I'm pretty sure Michigan can still fit more people than Penn State. They regularly put 112,000+ for their big games there.
The North endzone will never be closed because the support structure would extend into the street between Tiger Stadium & the PMAC. That would destroy the master plan they have laid out for that area to become a pedestrian space. The South endzone will be closed in eventually. That was the whole reason they tore down & rebuilt the West upper deck. The pitch of the old West upper did not match the new East upper. The pitch of the new West uper matches the East uper perfectly. Also, look at an arial picture of the upper decks. The East & West were built in a way that they already begin to circle into the South endzone, but they do not extend into the North Endzone. Finally, closing in the South will not have an impact on the street or parking as that area is all green space anyway. The biggest possible loss would be the oak trees that are beneath the South endzone. And as far as the stadium not being full...LSU does not care if the stadium is packed to capacity or if it is half empty. All they care about is SELLING those seats. While Tiger Stadium was relatively empty for the Vandy game, the game still will go down as a sellout.
+1 to each. The upper decks WILL be connected on the south end. All box seats. The demand is there. None of the east side boxes are coming up for lease. There is the room without affecting the road. The upper supports will get rid of the parking spaces along the road, but South Stadium Dr. will be fine. The upper supports will form a concourse around 3/4 of the stadium, just like The Swamp at Florida. This is a project we looked at with the School of Architecture at LSU. Also, all of the windows on the dorms will be replaced soon. Joe has already sent people out to count all of the windows for the quote.
Is it really that hard for students to get tickets these days? I never had an issue when I went there, and my daughter has gotten them every year(including as a freshman). I know she buys them online. Does she just have a really good internet connection?? And most of her friends seem to sell their tickets to at least 1/2 the games anyway.
LSU could easily pay for stadium expansion if the Golden Girls would circulate through the crowd and offer $20 lap dances
I wouldn't want tickets in the upper deck on the 50 yard line, much less in the endzone. That was pretty dumb. Here's a tip for you - weather forecasts. If there is a 90% chance of rain all day with heavy downpours, chances are you are going to get wet. It was such a simple thing for me to throw 2 sets of dry clothes in the car. After getting wet all day I had a dry set for the game. After getting soaked at the game I had a dry set for the ride home. If I lived 3.5 hours away that would have been the first thing I packed.
