Does Neyland Stadium Actually Hold 102,455 People?...Maybe

#27
#27
And I always get the 350 lb guy sitting behind me. Joking aside, I am 6'4". I always apologize to the poor sap that has to sit in from of me as my knees are in their back and to the person behind me as I am blocking their view.

You could always just go up to PP and stand up on the top row. :)
 
#29
#29
The largest crowd ever recorded at Neyland Stadium was 109,061 on September 18, 2004, when Tennessee defeated Florida, 30–28. SRO counts, bubala...
 
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#30
#30
The largest crowd ever recorded at Neyland Stadium was 109,061 on September 18, 2004, when Tennessee defeated Florida, 30–28. SRO counts, bubala...

That was the announced crowd back when they over-inflated the figures....as do most schools. Were there even SRO's in 2004? I remember them when I was a student in the early 90's.
 
#31
#31
This little HS stadium in Allen Texas isn't bad either.It's nicer than MTSU IMO. Don't know how many it seats!

HS Footbal Texas.jpg
 
#33
#33
Don't care how many people can be seated in the stands just as long as we are known as the loudest fans on the planet! GBO!!
 
#35
#35
I would like to see the capacity bumped up to 110,000 without adding any additional seats. I like to pack as much people up close as possible and even make the entire lower bowl standing only.
 
#38
#38
Fawcett (Tom Benson) is the home stadium for Canton McKinley High School in Ohio. It holds 22,400 but I don’t know if you can count it because it is a shared use stadium.

Hard to believe Allen only holds 18,000.

1591790583408.jpeg
 
#39
#39
Anyone that is stuck on neyland being a 100k seat stadium is crazy. I'm young and I cant go to games I cant stand to sit on that little slab of metal. I think it's a very dated stadium. Needs chairbacks. More leg room. And honestly unless your in a corner elevated its really hard to see the field. I use to just look up at the jumbotron to see what's going on. Phillip needs to really upgrade neyland but idk how much you can really do it in reality. If you look at ours its straight up while most new stadiums lean back
 
#40
#40
Anyone that is stuck on neyland being a 100k seat stadium is crazy. I'm young and I cant go to games I cant stand to sit on that little slab of metal. I think it's a very dated stadium. Needs chairbacks. More leg room. And honestly unless your in a corner elevated its really hard to see the field. I use to just look up at the jumbotron to see what's going on. Phillip needs to really upgrade neyland but idk how much you can really do it in reality. If you look at ours its straight up while most new stadiums lean back

Damn Playa! You're talking about Neyland Stadium!

I get it. It's not perfect, but it's still a cathedral for college football.
 
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#41
#41
How are you getting tickets?

Ask the Oklahoma fans who visited a few years back...

And yes...I've been to Norman, and will be going again this year. There are High School Stadiums in Texas that are close to Norman's size...
 
#42
#42
Being one of the crazier off-seasons (actually THE craziest) and having some extra time on my hands I was thinking of an interview or conversation I heard on SportsTalk (with John & Jimmy) where they were discussing with Coach Fulmer about he stadium renovations. One of the comments Jimmy made to Coach Fulmer was that many fans don't want to see capacity dip below 100K as that is a special thing to a lot of Vol fans (myself included). Fulmer said (and I'm paraphrasing) that 102,455 is just a number...making me think it wasn't necessarily accurate.

After Fulmer's comments, I decided to see how many seats are in Neyland Stadium. A couple of disclaimers:

1. All data was compiled using this link: https://map.3ddigitalvenue.com/tennessee-volunteers-football
2. I have no way of calculating how many fans the skyboxes can hold.
3. There may be other areas counted in the 102,455 figure that aren't on the map in addition to the skyboxes
4. Not all rows start with seat (1), so I tried to account for that
5. The WC areas in the N. Upper Level allow for 2 persons

Lower Level Capacity:
East Sideline (A-F): 11,912
S. Endzone (G-Q): 21,044
West Sideline (R-W): 10,476
N. Endzone (X1-Z15): 19,376

Total Lower Level: 62,808

Upper Level Capacity (Including Club & Terrace):
East Sideline (AA-FF): 4637
S. Endzone (GG-QQ): 16,746
West Sideline: 2260
N. Endzone (XX1-ZZ15): 9703

Total Upper Level: 33,346

Total Lower & Upper Level Capacity: 96,154

So it's quite possible that between the skyboxes, press box, and other areas in the stadium not factored in that Neyland can hold 102,455. Even if that's "just a number" I have no doubt the capacity is above 100K.

You're pretty close. The maximum number of tickets sold is right at 96,500. Staff, teams, media and stadium employees can push the number as high as 102,455, which is the maximum building capacity it is allowed to have.
 
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#43
#43
There are certainly fewer than 100k seats, but my understanding is that schools count concession employees/security/coaching staffs/ushers (anyone physically in the stadium, possibly including players) as part of their attendance figure. I agree with you as there's no doubt in my mind either that there are 100k+ people in the stadium when, for example, a Top 10 Tennessee plays a Top 10 SEC opponent.

Yesterday, @dobre_shunka shared a very interesting article (Tennessee football: Actual attendance shows dip in 2019 for UT Vols) which discusses the true attendance seen at games last year. I'm floored by the ~12k discrepancy between announced attendance and fans in seats, since I can't believe there are that many free "spectators" in the stadium and accordingly suppose that the delta implies either a general fudging of numbers or counting every sold ticket as someone in attendance, but ultimately believe the accuracy of the public records request.

Announced attendance, which is the standard that the NCAA uses to certify programs' ability to stay in FBS, is arrived at by this formula: Tickets sold + team/staff roster + "Event Management Number" (a pre-determined number based on security and event staff, concessions, credentialed media). Every school in the country is required to report that number to the NCAA for every game at the end of the year. Because of that, it is the number that schools announce as official at every game.

Until the ticket scanners came along a decade ago, UT and most other schools had absolutely no idea how many people were physically in the stadium. They would weigh ticket stubs collected to estimate, but that is inaccurate for a variety of reasons. Schools wanted the scanners to calculate the number, but also to run data on exactly who is attending games.

Would it surprise you to find out that there are a more than a hundred season tickets that are purchased that haven't been used in more than three years? Another 400+ that have been used less than 5 times over the last three years? It happens. It happens at a lot of places. And that's why the NCAA makes schools count the way they do.
 
#44
#44
Thanks for jumping in DP. I appreciate your info. Do you know when the last time UT handed out SRO tickets?
 
#45
#45
Thanks for jumping in DP. I appreciate your info. Do you know when the last time UT handed out SRO tickets?

I believe it was 2004 or 2005. When they started the renovation on the North end, they added two rows at the top of the bowl that took up space that was previously approved standing area.
 
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#48
#48
I think 2 games in 2004, 1 for sure being Florida.
Yeah, probably, but there is no way 109K were in Neyland Stadium that night. They didn't give out 5-6K SRO tickets. That's the amount of several sections in the stadium.

Back then then, a number was made up and announced. It's "official" and that's all that matters because the official number couldn't be questioned back then.
 
#49
#49
The largest crowd ever recorded at Neyland Stadium was 109,061 on September 18, 2004, when Tennessee defeated Florida, 30–28. SRO counts, bubala...
That total included vendors, security (a lot that day), ushers, ticket takers, etc. Everybody there was counted. I don't have a problem with that if it helps sell the University.
 
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