Big House Capacity
I recently picked up the major preseason prediction magazines for the upcoming college football season and saw that the capacity for Michigan Stadium still sits at 106k and change. I looked around on the internet and could not find the new official capacity of Michigan Stadium with the obvious new additions. I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction or had any information on any new capacity numbers.
As an employee of the Athletic Department (I'm an usher at the Big House), we've been told that there will be around 110,000 seats for this season... That number will decrease to just over 108,000 when the seats and aisles have been widened in a year or two. In the end, we'll still be the biggest, and by more than before.
On an interesting note, there will likely be a long-standing record set for attendance this year. We routinely pack 5,000 more into the Stadium than there are seats for, which means there will probably be something like 115,000 in attendance for the bigger games this year.
115,000 people is crazy. I was at the 2003 game against OSU when we had 112,000 and I remember thinking it was probably some kind of fire code violation with people literally sitting in the aisles.
"if you are flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit".
haven't heard one of those in a while, good ol' hedberg... I miss him
I realize that all the attendance leaders in the NCAA report average attendance at over 100%, but how exactly does that work? Do we count all the concession workers? I guess even with how many places there are to get a quarter-pizza, that still doesn't add up to several thousand.
Many more field passes given out, many more people in the press box. This can add a sizable amount for a big rivalry game.
Narrwald can probably give you a more definitive answer, but I believe the official attendance figure includes every person inside the stadium gates. This would include people in the press box, security/ushers, concessions, television crew, and maybe even the teams, trainers, coaching staff, etc (pure guess). For big games, Michigan will also typically sell the seats reserved for the MMB and move the Band onto the sidelines.
The Athletic Department no longer puts the MMB on the field now that there is a permanent section for them in the student section. So that's a swing of 400 seats in the capacity count that will never be there again.
that they counted everyone inside the gates on football saturday. so bands + press box guys + consessions + security + ushers, etc. not sure how we get a few thousand out of that though
Players, coaches, volunteers, on-field guests, and press box reporters/guests. Big games can draw a couple thousand people in the press box alone.
Otherwise, with all of Ohio State's Quality Control personnel, it might have gotten close to 150,000.
What does anybody suppose will be our biggest sellout this year? UConn/Dedication? Michigan State? Iowa/HC? Wisconsin/Sr. Day?
I think if we start 5-0, the MSU game will be the biggest. But if we lose the opener to UConn, I fear the crowds will dwindle quickly. MSU could still end up being bigger, but as a result of a disgusting green tint to the crowd (not unlike the redness of last year's OSU game). Gross.
At a meeting of my local Alumni Club a while back, a high-ranking member of the Athletic Department told the audience that the announced attendance is actually determined at a staff meeting a few days before each game. While they do take into account the demand for tickets, media requests, whether or not the opposing team's band will be there, etc., the specific attendance number is just an estimate based upon those considerations.
I really wasn't shocked to hear that, because I can't imagine someone actually taking the time to count vendors, the exact number in the opposing band, etc., etc.
This. I've heard from someone in the press box that got to pick the attendance's "one's" digit right before they announced it.
At some point it becomes an estimate.
That is all.
Every ticket sold is counted, whether they end up coming or not. (Although as you can probably guess after being to a game or two, everyone does come...) We are all counted, the hundreds of Athletic Department employees. The teams are counted, adding 150-200 more. The bands are counted, adding another 200-ish. The concession workers are counted, the people in the press box are counted, the tv network employees are counted, the photographers are counted, the emergency staff are counted, the snipers on the roof are counted. I think that might be it.
A fire would just have to wait for that one.
Seems to me it would be good for PR purposes to announce the new official capacity so we are once again No. 1.
edit: nothing new to say
Now if we could only sound like 115,000 people. What is the point of having the #1 attendance if we don't sound anywhere near it. too many people unwilling to get off their asses and make some noise. Maybe we need to handout noisemakers or something.
I have been to too many games where I have been surrounded by virtually silent people. I know this has been discussed before and I don't intend on turning the thread into something different from the original post. I just need a quick vent, and now I feel better.
that wants you to sit down, but instead of yelling at you, they just silently wave their arms at you. Grah!
Those old folks sure are dedicated.
Acoustics are part of it, but we also just don't have particularly loud fans. There have been times when the stadium has absolutely rocked (like the end of PSU 2005, or ND last year). I you get 110,000 people together, they'll make noise if they really want to. It's just hard to get everyone to do so.
and copius amonts of marijuana
make it approximately twice as loud on the field as it previously was. The thing to remember is that the stadium is megaphone shaped. It's actually probably really really loud about 300 feet right above midfield.
it actually got pretty damn loud during the Notre Dame game. I was on the field and my ears hurt when we scored the game winning TD.
At 58, I hope I live long enough to see an upper deck at the Big House, and a capacity between 130K and 140K. It would be nice to see the Big House become the Big-Beyond-All-Comaprison House.
An upper deck! Sounds great. We'll need to create a bus terminal for everybody. I know that I'd really enjoy being in the shade, under some gigantic steel pillars. Just what I always wanted. As a matter of fact, they'll be able to hand gigantic loudspeakers from those pillars, to play Iron Maiden or Journey. The complete NFL experience.
Well, the good and bad comes from building up the luxury boxes on each side. The water table prevents us from digging any lower and the luxury boxes prevent us from building any higher to maintain the bowl shape. Thus, the next step if we want to make our stadium bigger is the upper deck.
I believe the plan, and what I'd like to see, is to build the seats on each end up and back until they meet with the back of the luxury boxes. That adds about 20,000 right there.
Think about it, plan it, talk amongst yourselves. Knock yourself out. It ain't happening, at at least not anytime in the foreseeable future.
That would be awful. Can you imagine how far from the field you would be in the top row of endzone seats if they did that?
Could this summer be any longer??? I really just want to fast forward to packing for the opener and driving up there. The crowd will be the biggest ever in the Big House, and I want to be there to be a part of that record. Go Blue!!!
There are still too many weekends of margaritas and grilling in the backyard that I want to enjoy before then. Once I've had my fill (or one too many tequila shots) then I'll join you in your wish to skip past the rest of summer.
94 days. 94 days. 94 days. 94 days.
as a student, you could say you lost your student tickets (or were not delievered to you) and you'd get an additional set. Then you have two tickets to your one seat.
I may have done this for a season or three... but obvioulsy, even if me and a buddy went with both tix, they would only be counting me.
I was at the 2003 game and every one of my friends pulled this two ticket tactic. Gotta think the attendance was "unofficially a bit higher" then what was officially noted.
It's your fault I have to stand sideways and can barely scream because I'm being squeezed to death at OSU games!
Burn the heretic at the stake!
Seriously, is this even possible now that they electronically scan them? I gotta think that either your original set would be invalidated or that each set would be valid until one of them is used, which invalidates the other.
If two people went through at the exact same moment.
Veracity - Adherence to the truth; truthfulness
Voracity - Consuming or eager to consume great amounts of food; ravenous
When Brian speaks of "unverified voracity," it's an in-joke (mocking a writer who didn't know the difference between the two).
...he was in on the in joke?
It's flown over a lot of posters' heads here.