Times change. My first UT game was early 70’s and you could sit on the hill outside of the stadium. Many people were upset when they finished the north end zone. Now people want amenities to go to games. Some people will be upset if seating capacity goes down but it is a new era. People can sit at home and watch every game on an 80 inch screen. You have to compete with that. I know people who won’t go to UT games now because the cell service is so bad inside you can’t send a text or get on the internet
Dude, times change. There are tons of games on TV each week and you can have the best seat in the house watching on your 70" big screen at a perfect 72 degrees with no rain, wind or snow. 100,000 seat stadiums will be the thing of the past because of empty seats. If you're a season ticket holder, good for you for supporting the Large Orange.It’s stupid. I get that you want amenities, but once upon a time when we actually mattered on the national landscape, the size of Neyland was a great selling point to recruits and it was once considered on par with LSU as the toughest place to play in college football.
Idiot Mike Hamilton was the one who started shrinking it. When Peyton and Tee were the QB, we were at 104,079 and even today would be the largest stadium in the SEC, and the loudest in the country had Hamilton not decided he wanted to shrink the stadium to match his shrinking Johnson.
It doesn’t help the Vols to be around conference average just so lil’ Haslam can entertain his cronies.
Bottom line is Tennessee can still pack Neyland when they are winning and especially the big games. I have no problem with the stadium being around or close to a hundred thousand with a little better seating. Having said that is would be stupid to go crazy and cut it too much. Our fan base will still put 95-100 thousand easy on the sec games especially when were winning. Big games will pack out. I expect a small downsize but we will always be a big house with a big draw. GBO!!!!
They have and I do tend to prefer not dealing with the hassle but nothing replaces that smell of the hotdogs, roar of the crowd, feel of the brisk wind and cold rain, and the absolute thunder rumbling and stadium bouncing when Stoerner fumbles, Wilhoit kicks a 51-yard game winner, or many other memories that are made so much better in person. Again, I’m more of a stay home person these days but it still isn’t the same at all. I’m sure you agree but it’s definitely a tough sell. Even movie theaters are trying to make it seem more like you’re at home.Dude, times change. There are tons of games on TV each week and you can have the best seat in the house watching on your 70" big screen at a perfect 72 degrees with no rain, wind or snow. 100,000 seat stadiums will be the thing of the past because of empty seats. If you're a season ticket holder, good for you for supporting the Large Orange.
Not when you price out the working class people that are actually bothered to stand and yell.I'm willing to trade 15,000 seats for some nicer concourses, bathrooms, and concessions/bar areas. Michigan Stadium holds the most people, but it's nowhere close to being the loudest. Neyland's coliseum-like design will keep it louder than many even with less seats.
It used to be a big deal to me when everybody else was sitting around 85k. Now, most big school stadiums have a large seating capacity. It wouldn’t bother me if Neyland went for comfort and put in individual seating with cup holders so you didn’t have to sit hip to hip with people you don’t know.I'm not sure what the renovations call for in regards to capacity, but Saturday could be the last time we have the opportunity to put over 100,000 in Neyland. Let's fill it up!
I’d stay home and watch on tv before I’d ever waste an entire day to climb five story to watch football… this is the case for almost all of America and is why all large sporting venues are looking for ways to better the game day experience. I can guarantee one thing it won’t include building higher (which cost more money) or further away from the field.Do this, add another level, and we’re good to go! Why have 80K when you can have 120K!?
So you’re saying add 2 more layers. I’m picking up what you’re laying down.I’d stay home and watch on tv before I’d ever waste an entire day to climb five story to watch football… this is the case for almost all of America and is why all large sporting venues are looking for ways to better the game day experience. I can guarantee one thing it won’t include building higher (which cost more money) or further away from the field.
NASCAR has reduced their seats by several thousand at many of their big tracks. Talladega took out the entire back stretch because nobody would pay for those seats. The racing world will never be the same due to apathy. Big money ruined it.In regards to college football the desire is fading. Same teams in a four team playoff every year and player loyalty gone. I watch the Vols play but could care less for any other team. Been going to Neyland since 1968 when it was fun. Now it’s just an expensive hassle.The stadium has about 30,000 seats that nobody will buy in the current season ticket configuration, that's why White Danny has them down without much of a contribution going forward, it's reality, in the 60s and 70s, Tennessee football averaged one regular season TV appearance and a bowl game appearance, this year every Tennessee game is televised such that many fans have opted out of the declining game day experience, long lines, expensive parking, cramped seats, long lines to the pizzer, ever longer lines to the beer stand, it is a workout in an older facility like Neyland, that has been cobbled togather since the mid 60s, adding seats and amenities that the moneyed crowd are willing to finance.
The upper decks on the north and south ends need to come out and bring the capacity down to 75,000, such that campus parking becomes doable again, the game day experience becomes desired again, beyond the 2 or 3 conference games each year where demand for seating is elevated, the game needs to be a college game, not a replicated NFL game, since Neyland is a tired, inaccessible, antiquated but trusty old venue, not a $2 billion monument to a big corporation, shining with the latest fan amenities and creature comforts.
The college athletic economics are shifting away from the business need for 100,000 seats at the venue, there are many other ways to make money now, the TV contract is generous in dollars, but costs the university millions in unsold and undemanded seats, amplified when the program has been mismanaged since 2010, but there are too many other options for observing Tennessee football now, the least desirable being hunkered down in section OO or PP with a 30 minute line for a lightly chilled beer and a 20 minute wait for the pizzer and thousands of season ticket holders have said no thanks, the den will do just fine.
So it’s good for players who will drop our school like a dime if they don’t get their way. Kids today are self centered with no team loyalty. Who cares if they like loud stadiums or not. College football is now semi pro football.Well it’s still a big deal to recruits the stadium and how loud it is. The Mississippi game was very loud and that type atmosphere is important to players and we still have a great setting and tremendous fan support. If you cut the capacity back to 80k and the Vols start rolling you would be losing thousands of dollars and fans every game who wouldn’t get in. I get making some room and cutting back a little but the folks saying they would like a 80k stadium the ticket prices would really jump to make up for the losses. Better to cut little at a time than all at once and realize you went way to far. I think we can stay in the 94k-95k range and make some more room. I wouldn’t never want to go under 92k especially when we are on the uprise and can fill that capacity. GBO!
Its shocking to reflect back on Mike Hamilton and really realize the legacy of destruction he left behind.It’s stupid. I get that you want amenities, but once upon a time when we actually mattered on the national landscape, the size of Neyland was a great selling point to recruits and it was once considered on par with LSU as the toughest place to play in college football.
Idiot Mike Hamilton was the one who started shrinking it. When Peyton and Tee were the QB, we were at 104,079 and even today would be the largest stadium in the SEC, and the loudest in the country had Hamilton not decided he wanted to shrink the stadium to match his shrinking Johnson.
It doesn’t help the Vols to be around conference average just so lil’ Haslam can entertain his cronies.
Ummm, whatever. Good teams have no problem filling 100k+ seats. We just haven't been good in about 15 years til this year. Reducing capacity so the 1% crowd can have a better game day experience.... yeah, that's the Vol Nation way.The stadium has about 30,000 seats that nobody will buy in the current season ticket configuration, that's why White Danny has them down without much of a contribution going forward, it's reality, in the 60s and 70s, Tennessee football averaged one regular season TV appearance and a bowl game appearance, this year every Tennessee game is televised such that many fans have opted out of the declining game day experience, long lines, expensive parking, cramped seats, long lines to the pizzer, ever longer lines to the beer stand, it is a workout in an older facility like Neyland, that has been cobbled togather since the mid 60s, adding seats and amenities that the moneyed crowd are willing to finance.
The upper decks on the north and south ends need to come out and bring the capacity down to 75,000, such that campus parking becomes doable again, the game day experience becomes desired again, beyond the 2 or 3 conference games each year where demand for seating is elevated, the game needs to be a college game, not a replicated NFL game, since Neyland is a tired, inaccessible, antiquated but trusty old venue, not a $2 billion monument to a big corporation, shining with the latest fan amenities and creature comforts.
The college athletic economics are shifting away from the business need for 100,000 seats at the venue, there are many other ways to make money now, the TV contract is generous in dollars, but costs the university millions in unsold and undemanded seats, amplified when the program has been mismanaged since 2010, but there are too many other options for observing Tennessee football now, the least desirable being hunkered down in section OO or PP with a 30 minute line for a lightly chilled beer and a 20 minute wait for the pizzer and thousands of season ticket holders have said no thanks, the den will do just fine.