Lindsey Nelson Stadium,

[HeavenUniversity]

With such an incredible transformation, it's an insult that there are no seats for the student section.

Hard to tell from the photos, but are those like long tables the students lean against so they have someplace to put hot dogs, sodas, pretzels, etc. I am about 75 minutes from the Phillies ballpark and that is what they have for standing room. They work out great for really cheap, uh I mean budget-aware, fans like me.

 

[WallyBalls]

With such an incredible transformation, it's an insult that there are no seats for the student section.

Insult is the right word. There is zero excuse or reason for it. ZERO. Giving them a stock pen to mill around is absolutely an insult.

Its hostile architecture and needs to be changed ASAP.

Unbolt the rails. Let them bring in chairs or those collapsible stools or something. Make it work.

 

[WallyBalls]

Hard to tell from the photos, but are those like long tables the students lean against so they have someplace to put hot dogs, sodas, pretzels, etc. I am about 75 minutes from the Phillies ballpark and that is what they have for standing room. They work out great for really cheap, uh I mean budget-aware, fans like me.

They are not.

They are just rails you'd normally use to form queues or something. No leaning, no table tops, no nothing. A crotch height rail.

Its pitiful.

 

[HeavenUniversity]

They are not.

They are just rails you'd normally use to form queues or something. No leaning, no table tops, no nothing. A crotch height rail.

Its pitiful.

Kind of odd. Maybe it is temporary with something else in mind down the road.

 

[@1RBFjr]

Kind of odd. Maybe it is temporary with something else in mind down the road.

They are not.

They are just rails you'd normally use to form queues or something. No leaning, no table tops, no nothing. A crotch height rail.

Its pitiful.

Not apologizing for anyone, but you can fit in more people with SRO versus fixed seating.

 

[whobethis16]

Insult is the right word. There is zero excuse or reason for it. ZERO. Giving them a stock pen to mill around is absolutely an insult.

Its hostile architecture and needs to be changed ASAP.

Unbolt the rails. Let them bring in chairs or those collapsible stools or something. Make it work.

I thought it was horrible for fans to sit, especially the students? We hear it for all the other sports.

 

[WallyBalls]

Not apologizing for anyone, but you can fit in more people with SRO versus fixed seating.

I thought it was horrible for fans to sit, especially the students? We hear it for all the other sports.

Both are fair points.

The annoyance around it for me stems from the fact its just that railing. You can't really stand comfortably, you can't really lean....just stand there with your hands in your pockets. I wouldn't hate it near as much if they'd at least put the drink rails like the SRO areas have going down the 3B line. Something to lean on, set a drink and a snack.

As it is, there's nothing to lean on, nothing to set a drink on...just rails.

 

[preacherman20]

I don't see the big deal. It would be nice but there are those of us who stand every game without a rail or anything and we are OLD. These are students. I would like to see them back beside the dugout but that will not happen.

 

[txbo]

I don't see the big deal. It would be nice but there are those of us who stand every game without a rail or anything and we are OLD. These are students. I would like to see them back beside the dugout but that will not happen.

You like to stand. Many don't. 20 year old me wouldn't go to a game that I had to stand the whole time.... and I was quite athletic. The message it sends to the student is you don't mean much to us.

 

[fryeguy93]

Will the plaza and main entry be completed by SEC play? Also, what work still remains to be done before next season? I thought I read that the project still will not be complete until then.

Don't get me wrong. This week they may have concrete and paving crews working 24/7.

I am saying it was a DUMB decision to redo the Haslam football fields for the 23rd time

You will also note, they do not want to run the equipment through they huge gate on the former Johnny Majors Drive. No! the insist on tearing a hole in the expensive fence and running the equipment through the baseball field site next door

Because
they
can

 

[Ritzwatch]

You like to stand. Many don't. 20 year old me wouldn't go to a game that I had to stand the whole time.... and I was quite athletic. The message it sends to the student is you don't mean much to us.

Even more, students may come and stand to watch wins, but if we are behind in the 6th on a cool, windy March game? I don’t know that they stay.

Then we get to hear how the students don’t support the team,

Bad enough that the students got the shaft by being moved as far out of the stadium as they could be moved, but no seats? Whoever allowed that aspect of the stadium design failed. The rest of the place seems fantastic. I am excited to see it in person.

 

[taylorvol]

You like to stand. Many don't. 20 year old me wouldn't go to a game that I had to stand the whole time.... and I was quite athletic. The message it sends to the student is you don't mean much to us.

What DW needs to learn is that although current students don’t contribute to the TN fund, many of their parents do. Plus, ticking off future alumni is not a great business plan for continued growth and future donations.

 

[Ritzwatch]

What DW needs to learn is that although current students don’t contribute to the TN fund, many of their parents do. Plus, ticking off future alumni is not a great business plan for continued growth and future donations.

I have never heard an alumnus or a booster of a college program say, "You know what, I used to be a fan, but they lost me when we became are too focused on making the gameday experience meaningful and fun for the students. "

 

[WallyBalls]

What DW needs to learn is that although current students don’t contribute to the TN fund, many of their parents do. Plus, ticking off future alumni is not a great business plan for continued growth and future donations.

The pessimistic side of me is just waiting for the eventual "Well...student baseball ticket utilization is down, guess we'll have turn this into the new Axel Logistics Bullpen Premium Zone" announcement in 2027...

I'm not against SRO. I love how newer stadiums incorporate it. Standing and walking around the ballpark is a fantastic feature in a lot of them. Just the way it is set up in LNS- for the students of all people- boggles my mind. The railing makes zero sense and makes it an awful experience.


Does any other school in the conference, or college baseball for that matter...have a set up like that? I'll gladly hush if they do. But I haven't seen it anywhere. At all.

I know multiple places in the SEC allow folding chairs, etc.

 

[@1RBFjr]

The pessimistic side of me is just waiting for the eventual "Well...student baseball ticket utilization is down, guess we'll have turn this into the new Axel Logistics Bullpen Premium Zone" announcement in 2027...

I'm not against SRO. I love how newer stadiums incorporate it. Standing and walking around the ballpark is a fantastic feature in a lot of them. Just the way it is set up in LNS- for the students of all people- boggles my mind. The railing makes zero sense and makes it an awful experience.


Does any other school in the conference, or college baseball for that matter...have a set up like that? I'll gladly hush if they do. But I haven't seen it anywhere. At all.

I know multiple places in the SEC allow folding chairs, etc.

I’ve used a folding chair at Dudy Noble on a terraced grass berm.

 

[fryeguy93]

The pessimistic side of me is just waiting for the eventual "Well...student baseball ticket utilization is down, guess we'll have turn this into the new Axel Logistics Bullpen Premium Zone" announcement in 2027...

I'm not against SRO. I love how newer stadiums incorporate it. Standing and walking around the ballpark is a fantastic feature in a lot of them. Just the way it is set up in LNS- for the students of all people- boggles my mind. The railing makes zero sense and makes it an awful experience.


Does any other school in the conference, or college baseball for that matter...have a set up like that? I'll gladly hush if they do. But I haven't seen it anywhere. At all.

I know multiple places in the SEC allow folding chairs, etc.

Most schools have students behind the outfield walls. I think this is where the students will eventually go.
The SRO in outfield facing the grandstands actually makes more sense and would be more hostile.

 

[fryeguy93]

I got an email this morning asking if I may be interested in rightfield 4Topps tickets.

Is the price of these seats the same as the left field?
Is the price for one seat or the entire table of 4 seats?

I see the attached map:

2026 Baseball Pricing Map - University of Tennessee Athletics

2026 Baseball Pricing Map

utsports.com

States the pricing is $4000 total PLUS 13.75 taxes PLUS 10% talent fee.

I assume that price is for all four seats but I may just be a pollyanna.

 

[whobethis16]

What DW needs to learn is that although current students don’t contribute to the TN fund, many of their parents do. Plus, ticking off future alumni is not a great business plan for continued growth and future donations.

I was in school for the 2007-10 seasons. Student seating was behind LF wall. Yes, there were seats, but the location is similar to what it is now. That seating has zero bearing on whether or not I donate.

 

[taylorvol]

I was in school for the 2007-10 seasons. Student seating was behind LF wall. Yes, there were seats, but the location is similar to what it is now. That seating has zero bearing on whether or not I donate.

Awesome. Students deserve seats—not a mosh pit.

 

[WallyBalls]

I got an email this morning asking if I may be interested in rightfield 4Topps tickets.

Is the price of these seats the same as the left field?
Is the price for one seat or the entire table of 4 seats?

I see the attached map:

2026 Baseball Pricing Map - University of Tennessee Athletics

2026 Baseball Pricing Map

utsports.com

States the pricing is $4000 total PLUS 13.75 taxes PLUS 10% talent fee.

I assume that price is for all four seats but I may just be a pollyanna.

When I went down that road with them the 4k covered the whole table. That was last year so I assume that still stands.

 

[fryeguy93]

When I went down that road with them the 4k covered the whole table. That was last year so I assume that still stands.

Now that I went to the website, it appears they may be selling them on a single game basis.

I hope they do that so they're actually used

 

[whobethis16]

Awesome. Students deserve seats—not a mosh pit.

As I said in another post, all we hear in the other sports is how terrible it is seeing students sit, they need to stand all game and make noise, etc. We saying student baseball fans are soft and need to sit when they're perfectly capable to stand for other sports?

 

[taylorvol]

As I said in another post, all we hear in the other sports is how terrible it is seeing students sit, they need to stand all game and make noise, etc. We saying student baseball fans are soft and need to sit when they're perfectly capable to stand for other sports?

Geez. Not at all. It’s pretty simple….The students have actual seats in every other sport. They have the option to sit down if they so choose. Baseball is the only one that doesn’t provide seats for students. Very few people want to stand the entire game (@preacherman20 is an outlier). He doesn’t even sit down during church.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

Can someone fill me in on how the student section is designed at other ballparks? I have only been to Lindsey Nelson. I have not been to other SEC parks. Are we really that different from other programs that it’s worth piling even more angst at Danny White?

I thought I remembered someone mentioning last year that LSU’s student section is fairly similar. Where are the Vandy students at and do even that many Vandy students come to the games? Just trying to understand if we’re really falling that far behind other programs.

 

[whobethis16]

Geez. Not at all. It’s pretty simple….The students have actual seats in every other sport. They have the option to sit down if they so choose. Baseball is the only one that doesn’t provide seats for students. Very few people want to stand the entire game (@preacherman20 is an outlier). He doesn’t even sit down during church.

Yeah? And we have posts on this very website crying about how people are sitting. Can't even agree on how to "fan".

But here they can sit on each level, just like the baseline student section at TBA. There's no seats in that section but students sit on the ground just fine during TOs.