Update on Memorial Stadium upgrades from A.D Troy Dannen

[Frozone]

Going from the fact that the original stadium had a capacity of 31,000 which included the current east and west stadium lower stands and second tiers (which the west second tier has already be converted to chairbacks).but lets just assume 31,000 seats would be converted to chairbacks while also assuming 4 seats would be lost for every 24 a reduction of approximately 17% which would equate to a loss of about 5,100 seats. Obviously it should be a little less than this, given the west second tier already has chairbacks.

That would be acceptable. Don’t want to drop below 80,000 in a conference where the big boys have 100,000 plus.

 

[jflores]

That would be acceptable. Don’t want to drop below 80,000 in a conference where the big boys have 100,000 plus.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Iowa has played with the big boys for years with various strong teams and they fill out about 70K. Of all the bonehead games they've dropped over the years, they've never lost because they spotted the other team 20K fans.

The true test of whether Nebraska will be a big boy is seeing how much and how often a state of 2 million people can be squeezed to keep up with the cost of doing business.

 

[Frozone]

I don't think this is necessarily true. Iowa has played with the big boys for years with various strong teams and they fill out about 70K. Of all the bonehead games they've dropped over the years, they've never lost because they spotted the other team 20K fans.

The true test of whether Nebraska will be a big boy is seeing how much and how often a state of 2 million people can be squeezed to keep up with the cost of doing business.

I hear what you’re saying. But I would argue that Iowa is not now—nor have they ever been—a big player within the conference or the college football landscape. Their program has a hard ceiling, and they’ve reached it.

Nebraska, on the other hand, has higher aspirations. And even though we’ve been nowhere close to achieving them since Mike Riley was hired, I think we sell ourselves short by decreasing stadium capacity (something we’ll have to live with for decades) when we’re right smack in the middle of our all-time low as program. Fan support in Nebraska is unprecedented; better to make a decision about capacity when we’re winning 9 or so games a year again. Then we’ll have a more accurate barometer of season ticket demand.

 

[HuskerHusaria]

West and South both need to be brought into the 21st century. But, South moreso. Ridiculous over there.

 

[huskerfan66]

I don't think this is necessarily true. Iowa has played with the big boys for years with various strong teams and they fill out about 70K. Of all the bonehead games they've dropped over the years, they've never lost because they spotted the other team 20K fans.

The true test of whether Nebraska will be a big boy is seeing how much and how often a state of 2 million people can be squeezed to keep up with the cost of doing business.

I don't care about iowa anything

 

[jflores]

I hear what you’re saying. But I would argue that Iowa is not now—nor have they ever been—a big player within the conference or the college football landscape. Their program has a hard ceiling, and they’ve reached it.

Nebraska, on the other hand, has higher aspirations. And even though we’ve been nowhere close to achieving them since Mike Riley was hired, I think we sell ourselves short by decreasing stadium capacity (something we’ll have to live with for decades) when we’re right smack in the middle of our all-time low as program. Fan support in Nebraska is unprecedented; better to make a decision about capacity when we’re winning 9 or so games a year again. Then we’ll have a more accurate barometer of season ticket demand.

I’m no fan of Iowa and they have tended to be a five hundred ish team historically. But they’ve given some high end teams a run for their money.

If seats could deliver aspirations we wouldn’t have been lost for the last 20 years.

I think if I were the ad I’d have to look at the trade off between the lost revenue from seating and any expected drop in the live fan attendance in the next couple decades. Nebraska does enjoy substantial fan support but for the last 20 years has papered over the loss in fan interest by having rich boomer die hards buy up tickets and inflate actual demand.

Folks in the millennial and gen z generation are not attending games like their boomer forebears. I’m one of the oldest millennials at 42 and you get a few years younger than me and the only heyday they remember is crouch getting run off the field by Colorado and Miami.

Nebraska needs to avoid a situation where it’s house poor. Make the best in game experience but realistically size it for a generation that has 65” tvs in their bedroom. Maybe that’s 70k maybe it’s 90k. When they squeeze the fan base they need to pay coaches and players at an inflated rate over the long term.