Neyland Stadium Renovation Update (Fulmer Updates Seating Capacity)

[Bert Rechichar]

this infuriates me. This program disappoints me more and more every year.

92,000 was where we were at in the early 90's before the closing of the north end zone. It was one of the loudest places on earth then.

 

[Bert Rechichar]

Those days you could only watch 3 or 4 games per year on TV and those were on little 25 inch squares. Tickets were cheap, salaries were practically nothing and people had nothing else to do on a weekend. Obesity was considered a bad thing. Times have changed.

If I'm going to a game. I don't want to be getting cooked, squeezed between thirteen 250 plus pounders on a row so that my seat area is down to 5 inches across, high priced concessions, listening to some rude drunk scream at another rude drunk, no back on my seat, etc. Yeah, I'll stay home, and enjoy most games in comfort.

You do know that these renovations aren't doing anything about the complaints you mentioned above, at all? The seats will still be 9 inches wide on a bleacher, unless you have a season ticket on the blue hair west sideline near the field. The only difference is there will only be 92,000 9 inch sets instead of what we have now.

 

[njvols]

Umm....we need to fill the ones we have before we talk about adding more.

exactly...in this day and age, even if we're winning, the second tier games w/ sparse attendance looks really bad on TV.

 

[Tennesseefan2019]

92,000 was where we were at in the early 90's before the closing of the north end zone. It was one of the loudest places on earth then.

The stadium capacity should be lowered back to 92,000

 

[Big Ugly Vol]

They have one video board that is about 40% covered with advertising. Why do another one? I know avocados are on sale this week. I don't need more advertisements. Use the board you already have.

 

[Kinglberry]

You do know that these renovations aren't doing anything about the complaints you mentioned above, at all? The seats will still be 9 inches wide on a bleacher, unless you have a season ticket on the blue hair west sideline near the field. The only difference is there will only be 92,000 9 inch sets instead of what we have now.

Yes and if you follow the message trail all the way back to the beginning you'll see

 

[RTVFL89]

View attachment 236872View attachment 236870
View attachment 236871

I'm really diggin the big screen and hangout area.

 

[dobre_shunka]

I'm really diggin the big screen and hangout area.

Dude, haven't you read the other posts in this thread? That second scoreboard is the tool of satan and will be the end of Tennessee football program

 

[RTVFL89]

Dude, haven't you read the other posts in this thread? That second scoreboard is the tool of satan and will be the end of Tennessee football program

Some people will complain about anything lol. It will certainly help a blind bat like me see better.

 

[Bert Rechichar]

Yes and if you follow the message trail all the way back to the beginning you'll see

Ain't nobody got time for that, Panky.

 

[Kinglberry]

Hi

Ain't nobody got time for that, Panky.

But you got time to comment and speak as if I didn't know I was in a thread about stadium renovations.

 

[Bert Rechichar]

Hi


But you got time to comment and speak as if I didn't know I was in a thread about stadium renovations.

You said it. If you want to defend yourself, go find your own damn quote and repost it. Until then, you are the guy whose bitching about smaller seats and applauding a renovation that keeps smaller seats.

 

[Vols All Day]

I'm really diggin the big screen and hangout area.

Yep, the guys hating on the jumbotron must have never sat on the southside of the stadium.

 

[Roustabout]

Yep, the guys hating on the jumbotron must have never sat on the southside of the stadium.

Guess again. Had seats in K for years before and during the Jumbotron.

 

[OrangeVolMan]

in addition to going to UT games I watch a lot of games on TV. You will never see colleges increasing stadiums to over 100,000 again. Even teams in the top 10 have tons of empty seats on game day. Yes, stadium will be full when UGA plays Auburn but look when they play out of conference or someone like Vandy. It’s not the same as it use to be. Stadiums will be smaller with more amenities. For example, beer sales was about more than just money. It was an added amenity.

 

[DeerPark12]

Did the university change the way they reference capacity? Before we were at 102455 we didn’t seem to have a set ‘capacity’. It seemed like we got two numbers, one that seemed to indicate actual seating or tickets sold and then the total number that seemed to include everyone there. I’m talking about all the attendance records we set when we generally would hear a number like 109071 that was easily understood as everyone present and not just seats, which I believe was around 104000.

I guess what I am asking is why doesn’t the University tell us what the actual seating capacity is? Are they paranoid that the fan base’s self-esteem will take a hit if it was known Neyland doesn’t actually have 100000 seats?

Yes.

That decision was made by people that don't work there anymore. But once you've established a "capacity" of 102,455, it's hard to walk back that number, even after people with fully functioning brains took back over.

To answer your other question, schools used to release "Attendance," which is tickets sold plus "the number"(teams, staff, media, security, etc) and "Turnstile," which is people actually present. In the late 1990s, the national standard became Attendance and everyone started releasing only that number.

 

[DeerPark12]

Whatever the math works out to is irrelevant. I was a season ticket holder when the admin shrunk the seat size. It was all about numbers then and now we’re hearing it’s not. If the UTAD is ok with lowering capacity then they should accommodate more butt room on the bleachers. The Jumbotron is unneeded and likely unwanted by many fans. I do t trust their research one bit. As a family who has been holding season tickets for over half a century they’ve not ONCE asked what we thought.

As a season ticket holder, you would have received a fan satisfaction survey via email at lest twice in the last six years. Apparently, you missed yours. I would encourage you to call your Tennessee Fund representative to share your thoughts. A name, email and phone number for your rep would have come with your donation paperwork this year.

Yelling at people on an anonymous message board isn't going to get your opinions heard by the UTAD. Despite popular theories, people that make decisions over there don't read message boards.

 

[I40flyer]

Because the team has sucked for 10yrs. Empty seats at TN is not because of TV's, it is the product on the fielf. This fanbase still puts a ton of butts in seats even after the past 10yrs. Win big again and it will go back to weekly sellouts.

Sometimes we have to use actual facts, real numbers, for example if for 10 years we averaged only 15000 empty seats/game (it is actually higher) and had only 8 games at Neyland/year (this year will be 9) that would be 120,000 tickets-if you use the very low $60/ticket (it is closer to $70) AVERAGE price, the is 72million dollars ($72,000,000) in lost revenue. If we use the more accurate number of 25,000/game, and $69/ticket (average) and 8 games/season we see 10x8x25,000x69=128 Million dollars ($128,000,000) in lost revenue.
If we gave up 15,000 seats (remember seating and capacity are not the same number) but had a sell out, we would be picking up 10,000 tickets/game. At $69/ticket (average)=$690,000/game, on an eight game (home games) season, 5,520,000 in increased revenue. Empty seats are expensive, they still need to be maintained etc.. Now- offsets from concerts (if they sell out those unused seats from football games) or other uses may change the revenue stream forecasts (I don't have any of those numbers). The fact remains, reducing seating cap, improve the seats, and the other improvements, if this resulted in near sell outs-every game, would be a big boost to the program.

 

[stevenrich2003]

This. If you can't fit into one space and you're not going to stop downing pizza, hot dogs, Twinkies, and soft drinks while never exercising, buy 2 tickets.

Man, I ran into this a few years ago. Got into a verbal altercation with a couple that were TN fans about seats. They were both morbidly obese and needed to purchase 4 tickets not 2. Im sorry that your life choices have led you to being that fat but I am going to enjoy the seat that I paid good money for. His wife stood in the stair way for about 1 quarter before they left for good. That was fine with me because we had 2 extra seats of room.

 

[Volank]

Sometimes we have to use actual facts, real numbers, for example if for 10 years we averaged only 15000 empty seats/game (it is actually higher) and had only 8 games at Neyland/year (this year will be 9) that would be 120,000 tickets-if you use the very low $60/ticket (it is closer to $70) AVERAGE price, the is 72million dollars ($72,000,000) in lost revenue. If we use the more accurate number of 25,000/game, and $69/ticket (average) and 8 games/season we see 10x8x25,000x69=128 Million dollars ($128,000,000) in lost revenue.
If we gave up 15,000 seats (remember seating and capacity are not the same number) but had a sell out, we would be picking up 10,000 tickets/game. At $69/ticket (average)=$690,000/game, on an eight game (home games) season, 5,520,000 in increased revenue. Empty seats are expensive, they still need to be maintained etc.. Now- offsets from concerts (if they sell out those unused seats from football games) or other uses may change the revenue stream forecasts (I don't have any of those numbers). The fact remains, reducing seating cap, improve the seats, and the other improvements, if this resulted in near sell outs-every game, would be a big boost to the program.

Lol. Your "real" numbers imply that reducing the numbers increases sales but you have no "real" numbers besides your arbitrary, made-up estimates to validate your claims and assumptions that these "improvements" are what will attract butts to the seats. The fact that the product on the field has been shat seems to be lost on you. But you're clearly a mid-level management type of guy who likes to use arbitrary numbers for your TPS reports but don't understand the bigger picture. Good thing you're not making the final decisions on The Hill.

And to argue that we have had 25,000 empty seats every home game for 10yrs is laughable...laughable.

This fanbase is hungry for a winner. The amount of people in the stands that continue to show-up after the past 10yrs while other schools in the top 25 can't sellout proves it. People will come. People want TN to win. I went to almost every home game for 17yrs but after the continued clown show refused to support the TN AD and their idiocy. With Fulmer on the Hill and a competent coach I will rethink my financial support in 2020 and am confident others will too. Win some football games, put a top 15-20 team on the field and enjoy a packed Neyland for 8 weekends a year. Then get our idiot Mayor to drop their entertainment tax, or whatever they want to call it, and use Neyland and TBA for concerts more often to generate additional revenues.

It's not rocket science kid.

 

[I40flyer]

Lol. Your "real" numbers imply that reducing the numbers increases sales but you have no "real" numbers besides your arbitrary, made-up estimates to validate your claims and assumptions that these "improvements" are what will attract butts to the seats. The fact that the product on the field has been shat seems to be lost on you. But you're clearly a mid-level management type of guy who likes to use arbitrary numbers for your TPS reports but don't understand the bigger picture. Good thing you're not making the final decisions on The Hill.

And to argue that we have had 25,000 empty seats every home game for 10yrs is laughable...laughable.

This fanbase is hungry for a winner. The amount of people in the stands that continue to show-up after the past 10yrs while other schools in the top 25 can't sellout proves it. People will come. People want TN to win. I went to almost every home game for 17yrs but after the continued clown show refused to support the TN AD and their idiocy. With Fulmer on the Hill and a competent coach I will rethink my financial support in 2020 and am confident others will too. Win some football games, put a top 15-20 team on the field and enjoy a packed Neyland for 8 weekends a year. Then get our idiot Mayor to drop their entertainment tax, or whatever they want to call it, and use Neyland and TBA for concerts more often to generate additional revenues.

It's not rocket science kid.

My numbers are neither arbitrary, nor are they made up. You clearly do not understand English very well, I guess you are a transplant from Iran-but the term Average has escaped your attention, most likely due to the fact English is your second language, please take a moment to look it up. I'm impressed you can speak English at all-God Bless you. Your assertion that I stated anything about 25,000 seats-every game is laughable … laughable, hahahahaha, you are a funnnneeee little fella. In Fact, anyone that reads and understands English, could count the number of times I used the word, AVERAGE. In fact, I capitalized the word in line two, and had already used it in line one!!! In one of your earlier posts, where you stated, "I've been bringing in a flask of Jack Daniels, to every home game, for over 10 years...." shows what kind of person you are. I didn't think Iranians drank liquor-but that is your business.

 

[Sara Clark]

Latest info, per Fulmer on number of seats.

Fulmer discusses Neyland renovations, six-figure capacity

 

[cgrish]

Maybe I’m overreacting but I don’t like it. I like having over 100K I don’t give a damn about a stupid ass new TV screen. Give me 100K and our old V O L S sign back

I agree, and when we are winning we will fill the stadium.

 

[Dumbledorange]

Perhaps something like Nebraska is going towards. Proper seats so the Obese don't squeeze into your space.

A proper seat is one that an obese person-pig can sit in comfortably? Oh, the irony!

 

[lukeneyland]

Well that's one way to solve declining attendance I guess. I would have preferred winning games but ... *shrug*

I remember when it seemed like the goal was to have the biggest and the best at everything. Feels like those days get further and further behind us with each passing year. If they drop Neyland to 92,000 we'll be smaller than LSU, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M in conference, and out of conference Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, and Penn State. Plus anyone else who is still on the tail end of expanding. I hate having a smaller stadium than the Bammers. Never cared about having more screens. Cared about having a towering mass of screaming Vols bearing down on people. Cared about being on equal footing with the other big names in the sport. Someone will happily tell me it's all about amenities and club seats and special access and all that; always seems to come down to that stuff now.

I hate what they've done to us.