Big News

[quietfan 233]

Wasn't there a problem just this past spring with finding the money for the stadium renovations already underway? ...Hard to imagine immediately announcing further stadium work if we're still paying the bill for the last improvements.

I, too, would rather have a full 90,000 seat arena than a partially empty 100,000 seat arena.

Whatever the news, though, I can wait a month. With the mass stampede of holiday shoppers, I probably won't get out of the stores 'til then anyway!

[AWK 0]

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a young student intern known only as "Simone" was quoted as saying, "My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Brandon pass-out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious."

Watch for future updates.

203974[/snapback]

I KNOW!!!! thats almost reliable as "uh huh, it has to be true, I read it on the Internet!" And by the way, I believe everything I read on the internet, That is why i only play on the computer at work with Aluminium foil wrapped around my head so "the man" ( and others such as TM) cant read my mind.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Speaking on conditions of anonymity,...

203974[/snapback]

My source trumps your source. MY source is the "Sausage KING of Chicago"!

203980[/snapback]

Forget your sources. I'm not European. I don't plan on being European. So, who gives a crap if they're Socialists? They could be fascist anarchists, it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Not that I condone facism; or any ism for that matter. Isms, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in 'Beatles', I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the Walrus. I could be the Walrus, I'd still have to bum rides off of people.

[AUTrey 0]

I agree 100% with DC WarEagle. We don't need extra seats right now. What we need is a new basketball arena like the one UAB has in B'ham. Jordan-Hare is big enough right now as it is.

203951[/snapback]

what do you think pays for all the other athletic needs , football.

Plus if this is indeed what the "news" is then it is a 3-5 year project

timetable. With the upgrades in scheduling that are coming and what looks

to be perennial top 10-15 program, yes we will need the seats.

will every game sell out no, but they don't at Neyland, the Big House, Happy Valley

or the Horseshoe either, but the majority will. Build for the future.

203954[/snapback]

Right on!!! Plus it's important that we call the bammers and raise them one

203956[/snapback]

I agree. I hope we expand JH to somewhere in the Mid 90's if for no other reason than the fact that we just let UAT expand Jordan Hare West. (We own the place...I assume they can't expand it without our permission.) Never before that I know of in the modern era has JHW been bigger than JH. I can't believe somebody fell asleep at the wheel and let it happen.

I would like to see something done about Beard Eaves though. Until basketball gets better facilities, I don't think we can ever aspire to be better than mediocre on the hardwood. Actually...I'd gladly accept being mediocre in basketball right now.

[Ryan Sanders 123]

Are they adding a huge titon-tron like Arkansas? I remember Tuberille saying something about it a few weeks back.

[swensks 0]

Wasn't there a problem just this past spring with finding the money for the stadium renovations already underway?  ...Hard to imagine immediately announcing further stadium work if we're still paying the bill for the last improvements.

203992[/snapback]

There was not an issue with coming up with the money. A sizeable portion of the money was state tax revenue. The stink arrose when the project went over budget and people started to question what was being done and who was in charge. The construction that was performed last off-season and is currently underway now is within budget and is of no concern.

The construction that you see now is a continuation of what went on dring the previous off-season. The main concourse is getting a face lift that will really make a difference in the atmosphere of the stadium. And as freebody so eliquently put it, they're adding seats...though they have holes in them and they don't provide a good view of the field (restrooms). I'm sure the ladies who attend the game won't complain about newer and more restrooms.

The parking deck that is being built now is at the south end of the stadium, not the north. Except for selling the spaces to alumni for football weekends, I don't think it really has anything to do with the athletic department at all. I have heard about plans for one at the north, however, I have not heard anything regarding a timetable. I believe it's on the University's wish list along with a million other things.

Are they adding a huge titon-tron like Arkansas? I remember Tuberille saying something about it a few weeks back.

204028[/snapback]

Don't count on it. There may be changes made to the north end zone scoreboard for the 2007 season, but I don't think you should expect to see anything like what Arkansas has. If the north end zone upper deck expansion is going to be a reality, there would be no point in adding anything fru-fru in the place of the existing scoreboard...it would just get taken down. My understanding is that CTT is pushing for something fru-fru and the University is saying "no thanks."

[mayonaise 0]

My relaible source is telling me that AU is gonna sign Borges to a 10yr deal. Coachs will come & go but the same OC will be there 10 yrs. Genius!!!!

[RadioWryn 0]

My reliable source has spellcheck.

[boddatiger99 5]

THE BIG NEWS is the "FLUSH" is moving back to where it used to be....

For those of you who remember the best ice cream out of a little old house...

203881[/snapback]

Man, I miss being in AUburn and enjoying that stuff. You just had to remember to close your eyes when the roaches walked by.

[Streyeder 0]

To all who are wanting a stadium expansion:

Wouldn't you have to first fill the one you have on a regular basis to consider that a needed option? From what I've heard about game attendance, it's been pretty poor, even for some of the SEC games.

That's just from friends who go to the games. I was at the GTech game and I was surprised at the number of seats I saw open when looking around.

[AUHansel 0]

as much as I'd like to see the bigger stadium, we wouldn't fill it up. The average for us last season was 83,085. You don't need to expand when you average 4,000 less fans than the stadium holds. I was dissapointed in those figures. I know we had some crappy games, but it was our best season ever! I got the stats from this link below. Pretty interesting stuff. Scroll down about a third of the way down the page to see the ranks.

NCAA Attendance

how about Notre Dame averaging a sellout...I wish we had that

[wareagle1985 0]

I don't entire buy those averages...por ejemplo, when they would say the attendance, it was always listed as capacity, even for games that were obviously oversold (ie people standing in the isles for as far as you could see), so I'd guess all those extra people weren't figured into the attendance average...

P.S. Auhansel, did by any chance your AIM have a virus that sent IM's to everybody the other day?

[AUTrey 0]

That's very odd to have the attendance down that much. I don't know what it's been like this year, only made it to the GT game (didn't know that first year of being an alumni sucked so bad...it's easy to take student tickets for granted). I think part of it in 04 could have had to do with just how good the team was. The normally uncompetitive games (Kentucky, etc) were massacres. Wouldn't surprise me if some people who would have come to the nobody games didn't come because of that. Still odd...every ranking I've ever seen from about 2000 to I guess 03 had us at a minimum 97-98% of capacity, and averaging 100% one year. Could be differences in how they measure attendance or something too...dunno.

GT did seem to be a slightly sparse crowd, but I think alot of that was due to the weather. It was right after Katrina, if you remember. There was alot of talk on here and on other boards about people, both AU and GT fans, not coming to the game because of gas prices, hotel availability, damage to their homes, etc. IF we were to expand, I don't think we would have any trouble filling anything within reason. I would think we would sell out a 95,000 seat stadium for the big games, or fill it to about the same percentage of capacity as we do now with 87k.

[AUTrey 0]

I don't entire buy those averages...por ejemplo, when they would say the attendance, it was always listed as capacity, even for games that were obviously oversold (ie people standing in the isles for as far as you could see), so I'd guess all those extra people weren't figured into the attendance average...

204099[/snapback]

I have always wondered about that...no matter who AU plays, or how packed it is, if it is a game that would be sold out, it is announced at 87,758 or whatever capacity is. It's amazing how 87,758 against Arkansas still allows you to breathe but 87,758 against UA, LSU, or UGA packs you in like a sardine. I would believe there is something against intentionally overselling, but UT, Michigan, and Penn St., just to name a few, routinely announce an attendance 3, 4, or 5 thousand over their official capacity.

[GalensGhost 0]

To all who are wanting a stadium expansion:

Wouldn't you have to first fill the one you have on a regular basis to consider that a needed option? From what I've heard about game attendance, it's been pretty poor, even for some of the SEC games.

That's just from friends who go to the games. I was at the GTech game and I was surprised at the number of seats I saw open when looking around.

204087[/snapback]

Strey, sometimes the bama fan comes out in you.

Unless you were looking at the seats when people stood up, looking at them half an hour before the game or looking at them half an hour after the game you most certainly did not see a "number of open seats". I was at that game -- and all the rest this season -- as well. There were no gaps. Sorry.

[AUHansel 0]

I don't entire buy those averages...por ejemplo, when they would say the attendance, it was always listed as capacity, even for games that were obviously oversold (ie people standing in the isles for as far as you could see), so I'd guess all those extra people weren't figured into the attendance average...

P.S. Auhansel, did by any chance your AIM have a virus that sent IM's to everybody the other day?

204099[/snapback]

yea...sorry. I'm not sure how I got it but I'm pretty sure I got rid of it

[hhilson 0]

i was at georgia tech and there were no gaps. I really dont know what ya'll are talking about. attendance is simply down a tad this year due to the schedule. I wish we could fill the stadium for teams such as ball state and western kentucky. I also believe that attendance was down because we played five straight home games. When the fifth week came this year, many people who had made the trip to auburn the previous 4 weeks simpy didn't feel it a necessity to watch a d1aa opponent.

[Streyeder 0]

To all who are wanting a stadium expansion:

Wouldn't you have to first fill the one you have on a regular basis to consider that a needed option? From what I've heard about game attendance, it's been pretty poor, even for some of the SEC games.

That's just from friends who go to the games. I was at the GTech game and I was surprised at the number of seats I saw open when looking around.

204087[/snapback]

Strey, sometimes the bama fan comes out in you.

Unless you were looking at the seats when people stood up, looking at them half an hour before the game or looking at them half an hour after the game you most certainly did not see a "number of open seats". I was at that game -- and all the rest this season -- as well. There were no gaps. Sorry.

204102[/snapback]

I guess you missed AUTrey's post above, I'm not the only one who noticed the empty seats. Actually, there was a nice long post earlier this year about stadium capacity and the problems AU has with filling the current stadium. Hell, I wasn't even the first in this thread to suggest so.

[AUTrey 0]

Strey,

From what I remember of the GT game, it wasn't so much the empty seats as much as just the announcement. Not positive, but I seem to recall them announcing something like 83 or 84k. I just remember being surprised at how low it was. Like I said, that was the only game I was able to go to this year, but from what I've gathered, you are right, attendance has been down. I can use the hurrican excuse for GT, the others, I have no idea. Maybe it was for the reasons that others before have said, or maybe it was just a down year.

[mcgufcm 4,101]

there were most definitely gaps in the corners of the upperdecks. very noticeable. and the crowd wasn't loud. i'd say that was the weakest big game crowd i've ever seen at auburn. it will always stick with me that we didn't sellout or get loud in that game. oh well. we did better as the season progressed.

i hope we don't overexpand. there is a major danger of doing just that.

[weaglewagon 1]

i for one, don't really care about expansion. i don't like seeing empty seats either. i admit i may have contributed to that a wee bit. i live in tennessee and didn't make it to 5 straight games, especially with the teams we played.... but i was able to sell all my extra tickets. my biggest concern is for basketball. i love AU b-ball and the coliseum is just a poor place to watch a game. all those brown wooden seats are hideous. luckily when i was in school they did replace the lower ones with the blue plastic ones, but it still isn't up to par with the rest of the SEC. i really can't think of an SEC venue worse. sorry.

[freebody 0]

This is kind of long, but bear with me...

Full-season tickets do sell out, and have for many years I believe. The empty seats in the outer corners of the upper decks are in the required 10,000 alotment for visiting teams in SEC play. If the visiting team sells their full alotment, then the game sells out. If they don't sell their tickets, then they can return the unsold ones a week before the game, like UK did last year and OM and MSU did this year. Similarly, many out-of-conference teams may not sell more than a couple of thousand seats (if that). I may be wrong, but I think that some of the games against SEC schools that don't travel well (UK,Vandy,OM,MSU) are packaged with the weak OOC games into mini-season books.

I think that the problem with Auburn right now is the lack of a strong walk-up crowd to get those available "extra" tickets for lower-echelon SEC games and weak non-conference teams. A lot of people may think that Auburn tickets aren't available, due to the season books being sold out. Some folks may just not have the time to dedicate, since going to Auburn for a game is more of a day-trip thing. (If you go, you want to spend all day there, whereas several uat fans I know just hop in the car and drive down I-59, go to the game, and immediately jump back in the car and get out of there).

As for the published attendance figures, there are only two games I know of in the past twenty years that had published attendance higher than the stated capacity - the 89 "first time ever", and the 93 florida game. I think it is just an Auburn policy not to claim overflow crowds. (I doubt it is a fire ordinance, since the campus is under the state fire marshall's jurisdiction - bama is as well, but they claim overflows).

The thing that will drive the expansion is not a need for more general seating - it is the additional premium seating that will fund the debt service.

[mcgufcm 4,101]

free, you are dead on about the reason for the expansion. rich folks want to sit in rich folk seats.

however, i disagree with the cop-out excuse that the gaps in seating in the upper deck is solely due to a lack of walk-up purchases and visitor attendance. we put visiting teams in one corner of the upper deck... not all four. and there were obvious holes in all four corners. there is no way there were more than 82-83 thousand people actually physically at that game. and that's the kind of low number that shows up when you look into the stands. i don't recall the holes being as obvious even for the msu game.

i hope it was just due to the unforseen circumstances this fall, but i'd rather stand pat where we are and sellout consistently, then build if necessary. i know some folks say "build for the future," but i'm more of a "don't look like a jackass in present" kind of guy when it comes to this kind of thing

[weaglewagon 1]

good post Freebody. expansion for premium seating is all fine & dandy with me. i forget about the other teams in the SEC that don't travel like our mighty Tigers! but from my seats in the South EZ, i can't see the West upper deck so i have no idea what the crowds look like up there. i can see the visitors on the East side though.

would expansion in the North EZ include club-level type seats?