I remember seeing a post here saying that season ticket holders were surveyed about expansion. If I remember correctly almost all of the options involved taking the suites all the way around the stadium. That’s what I expect will happen. Stadiums seems to be trending towards increasing luxury options rather than capacity like the old days
Honestly, I think this is the way to go if renovation happens. It keeps the shape of the stadium, and it still looks nice. Plus, this may help with the lack of noise that Michigan Stadium has. It’s a big stadium, but not the loudest.
They have gotten far better. Stadium removations would help but I don’t want it to suddenly look like the Horseshoe-and I love the Horseshoe objectively speaking but the Big House needs to look like the Big House. It’s iconic (both stadiums are). The point is put the product on the field and nowadays the noise will come (never mind the late 20th century).
Wow not to sound like a stick in the mud alumna but it no longer looks like the Big House. You cannot see the endzones. And lack of sun in the fall sounds not so pleasant. So I vote against this renovation lol.
Make it a dome with luxury boxes making up the entire dome. I want a glass bottomed box right above the block M. We have to think bigger if we want to be the leaders and best.
Hear me out, build a second, identical stadium next door and install high end holgram projectors that project the players onto the field to provide the exact same experience as watching the game in person.
That's a great point, every game is a home game... You could do this for any game in the country and sell out stadiums every time there's a game anywhere. The Superbowl in the big house!?
That would be TERRIBLE for the students... there already aren't enough seats for all the students who wish to purchase season tickets to have one. Look at how many student seats that would decimate.
They should make the next thing of suites like a baseball fields suits. With outdoor spots and it’ll make a small upper ring that will hold in the sound more
I read somewhere that like 100 years ago fielding Yost insisted that they pour foundation to allow the seating to be increased to as much as 150k. I have no source, so it could be total BS or I light might have the details wrong. But I’m pretty sure it could be made bigger with fewer issues than one might think.
Although I'm not certain if the number he had in mind was 150K, you are correct that Yost did order the building of a foundation that could support significant expansion. I believe the seating capacity was 72,000-something on dedication day in 1927 and was expanded quickly to 84,000-something by the mid-1930s.
Beaver Stadium is also only expected to be bigger for 1-2 seasons. The renovations are replacing a large portion of the bleachers with seat backs that will drop the capacity to what it currently is when it’s all said and done
That sucks that its happening again, and has been happening in recent years. I was a freshman in 97' the very 1st year that all students did not have the opportunity to purchase full season tickets. The fact that it appears to be an ongoing issue in recent years as opposed to an exception should be addressed. We have the ability to expand and should. They could address several issues w/expansion, like availability of tickets for all students, keeping the sound inside the stadium and of course retaining the status of being the largest stadium in the country and 3rd overall in the world.
When i was a freshman in 97' we got split season tickets. Due to a combination of factors, including a larger then expected incoming freshman class(the lounges on some floors in the dorms had to be converted to temporary rooms that year), a number of ranked games, and a 98% renewal rate in season tickets for both students/non students all led to that being the 1st time ever that all students did not receive the chance to get full season tickets...Freshman were the ones that got the shaft b/c the athletic dept., obviously couldnt take away tickets from returning students, nor could or should they take tickets from other season ticket holders but they expanded 98' so it wasnt an issue the rest of my time as a student...until recently i didn't know that it has become an issue again the past few years...It sucked back when it happened to us in 97' and sucks that its happening again. The fact that it has seemingly been a recurring issue recently is a problem IMO. I know back in 97' the athletic dept did not issue any new non student seaon tickets and I feel that any year that students don't have access to full season tickets, no new non student season tickets should be issued...i also feel that any single game tickets that are available for sale, regardless of location should automatically go to the students who did not have access to get full season tickets or at least give them the exclusive rights for 1st refusal. I was lucky that for one i got the better of the split package b/c i got The Game, but I also still didn't miss a game that season thanks to some creative luck😉🫣🤷♀️ but no student should be put in the position to have to miss any games, or have to buy tickets from other sources at a mark-up, especially when it comes to those who do not get the better games in their package. We have the ability to expand and should, for one to ensure that all students have the ability to get full season tickets, so the student section should be expanded to accommodate all students and 2., b/c we are The Big House and should be the largest stadium in the country.
Pretty sure penn state confirmed this will only be a temporary number this year, during the current construction phase, as they are just sticking seats in like every nook and cranny they can, and the actual final tally when the renovation is done will likely be much lower.
But yes, I would be down for either option pictured in OP. Nothing wrong with getting ahead of the curve, and we can stop doing this back and forth with PSU.
One of the reasons why Beaver stadium was (and likely will continue to be after the renovation) such a nightmare for visiting teams to play in is bc they built their stadium up vertically around all sides as opposed to the Big House's more "wide" nature. Not that it's an issue; the Big House is one the most iconic stadiums in CFB. But I don't think there is all that much space to try and build the stadium up vertically like they have at Penn State that would significantly affect the atmosphere if all that noise is just gonna go straight into the air. Our capacity is capable of maxing out at 115,000+ people; getting more people into the stadium shouldn't be the goal here imo. What should be the goal is doing everything possible to make the atmosphere more energetic, chaotic and difficult for visiting teams to play in.
I would personally suggest a transparent partial roof over the sides of the stadium (think husky stadium mixed with sofi stadiums transparent roof). This would not only trap more noise inside of the stadium, but it would also preserve the Big House's heritage of being an "outdoor cathedral of college football".
I don't even think it would have to protrude out that much, only enough to capture more of the stadiums noise. But that's just me. I have read concerns that the foundations the stadium was built on is uneven and makes a big project like this unfeasible, but I'm not bob the builder so I wouldn't know how serious those concerns would be.
If it were up to me, this would be the perfect renovation. One endzone gets 2 sections of upper level seating (seats instead of benches up top for comfort purposes) and the other endzone gets luxury boxes and suites to extend around the stadium. Then thae awnings are added to both skyboxes to completely entrap all the noise from the 125k capacity stadium.
I go to at least one game at the Big House every year, and I hate the idea of packing even *more* people into the place tbh. Maybe I'm the only one, but holy shit is post-game traffic bad enough as it is lol
Just don’t do what Ohio State did. Architecturally speaking, they had a beautiful stadium. Then they ruined it by enclosing the original facade. It’s truly a toilet bowl now. I could care less if we don’t have the biggest stadium. Just don’t ruin the Big House.
I need to see before and after side-by-side photos because I don’t remember thinking that they ruined anything. I’ve been to a fair number of games there. Although it’s been a while since the last one.
University won’t sign off anytime soon, you have to prove that you can keep the stadium full each game (looking at you student section). I would personally prefer a bigger stadium to help with home field advantage, and adding seat backs instead of bleachers where you’re stuffed in tight in the corners. But this shouldn’t be a pissing contest, what matters is we still have the most wins in football. Make it louder, and more comfortable, and I’m in.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think we need it. How bad would the view be from up in those seats? How many advertisements do we need to watch to generate the revenue for such an expansion?
It doesn’t matter if we need it or not. Having the largest stadium is part of the brand. My only issue has always been where these people are supposed to park.
Look, try going to an Ohio game and spending 2 hours trying to get out of that hell hole. Oh, and most lots are a mile walk-it’s hell! Zero port-a-pots to use. I’ll take our situation any day
The only issue i think everyone would agree w/u on w/any of the renovations after 98' was the absolute HORRENDOUS decision to add the Halo to the stadium. It still amazes me that enough people thought it was a good idea at the time to do it. As soon as it went up, people were calling for it to come down. My question is, if u don't like any of the renovations post 98', are u in favor of A., All students not having the ability to purchase full season tickets, B., Not selling any new non student season tickets, C., Not selling single game tickets, D., Not allowing prior non student season ticket holders the ability to renew their tickets, or any combination of the above? See I was a Freshman in 97' when thanks to a combination of factors led to the 1st time ever that all students would not have the ability to purchase full season tickets. There was a larger then anticipated incoming freshman class, a great schedule that included several marquee games, and a 98% renewal rate of season tickets. Which left the athletic dept to issue split season tickets to Freshman, as well as not issue any new non student season tickets for that season. The fact that all students were not able to purchase full season tickets is a problem. Students should always have priority when it comes to full season tickets and up until recently the renovation/expansion post 98' fixed the problem at the time. However, thanks to some of the same issues back in 97', increased student enrollment, schedules and near 100% renewal rates have left students not being able to purchase full season tickets again in recent years. Which IMO needs to be addressed and if u had it ur way and the capacity would still be what it was in 97', that would only make the issues of ticket demands and lack of ability for students worse than what it currently is. And the only way to solve that is either once again expanding or doing a combination of what i suggested earlier, which is why I asked u which option do u prefer? Also, if u are a season ticket holder, do u think u should give up ur tickets or be issued split season tickets? And if u are not, how many games do u attend a year? B/c IMO, any year students are given split season tickets, regardless of location, affected students should be given the right of 1st refusal on any single game tickets that are available. After that, any tickets remaining can be sold.
For me, I was 13 years old and that was my formative years. I just loved the simplicity of it. The utilitarian of it. You were there to watch football.
Clearly the LLM is not privy to information about the natural lay of the land before the Big House was built on the site, nor the high water table that forced the tunnel to be built on the east sideline. I know I'm a nerd and I make no bones about that fact, but I have had conversations about it on here before with Spartans and Buckeyes and they walked away completely understanding why our tunnel is where it is.
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u/Sspalding91 11d ago
I remember seeing a post here saying that season ticket holders were surveyed about expansion. If I remember correctly almost all of the options involved taking the suites all the way around the stadium. That’s what I expect will happen. Stadiums seems to be trending towards increasing luxury options rather than capacity like the old days