Northwestern to spend $800m on new football stadium
Going from 47,000 seats to 35,000. Already halfway there in the fundraising.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^
Odd choice to make it smaller, but the design is interesting!
September 28th, 2022 at 6:26 PM ^
Less away fans. Makes sense. The best give field advantage they can get is to eliminate spectators
September 28th, 2022 at 8:26 PM ^
Cuts revenue too though, but I guess that loss is tiny compared to growing media rights revenue sharing of the conference.
September 29th, 2022 at 2:58 AM ^
Without reading the link, it will not cut revenue. I am sure there will be suites/club seat equivalents, big room to host recruits/hold other events like at the Big House. Lots of wealthy NW alums. Good for them. Aside from they rarely sell out now - who needs empty seats? The Gophers' stadium seats fewer than where they used to play - although those sites were off campus.
Alabama removed seats a couple years ago.
September 29th, 2022 at 7:07 AM ^
They'll probably also charge more per seat, since supply will be decreased. Worse for fans but better for their bottom line, and maybe for the team, too (if it cuts down on visiting fans).
September 29th, 2022 at 7:52 AM ^
Which in some respects is fair...because they currently play in a DUMP. There is no way anyone would pay anything for that terrible experience. And they don't even offer premium spaces.
So yes, it'll price out fans...but that's also just because your seat and experience are that much better than it was before. It's not only just to recoup the lost revenue from fewer seats.
They have like 4 restrooms on each side of the stadium and the same number of concessions stands.
If you go to a game there, the only good thing about it is that you can get close to the action without breaking the bank. But eat, drink, and pee before you go.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:04 PM ^
I've made the trip there twice. I don't remember much about the restrooms or concessions but I did like that it was easy to get tickets as a visiting fan, and the crowd was probably 50% Michigan fans. That's going to be tougher to pull off in the future.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:57 PM ^
That's a lot of money to just remove a few seats
September 29th, 2022 at 9:59 AM ^
For a comparison, here's another renovation to make a venue smaller. The David Geffen Hall, the New York Philharmonic's home at Lincoln Center in New York City, is re-opening after a $550 million makeover that reduced seating. Here's the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/arts/music/david-geffen-hall-reopening-lincoln-center.html
... and the lede:
"The hall has shrunk and become warmer, more intimate. The audience now surrounds the stage, with some seats close enough to hear wind players breathe between phrases and watch beads of sweat form on the conductor’s brow. Banished from the lobby, the DMV-style ticket booths have been replaced by a hangout zone with a 50-foot-wide digital screen that will broadcast concerts live and free to anyone who cares to stop by. A garage door opens onto the plaza. A new Afro-Caribbean restaurant plans to put bodega-style chopped cheese sandwiches and braised oxtails on the menu."
September 28th, 2022 at 9:34 PM ^
On the other hand, they've only averaged over 40k fans once (2018) since 1998, so maybe not a huge loss in reducing capacity. They can now tout a lot more sellouts.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:22 AM ^
Better to be full at a smaller site than Miami at any site.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^
I can't be the first to ask: should they get a football team first?
September 28th, 2022 at 7:10 PM ^
They’ve played in more B1G championship games than most of the schools in the conference.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:28 PM ^
If they were in the BigTen East instead of Indiana they'd have played in zero BigTen championships.
September 28th, 2022 at 9:30 PM ^
And if grandma had balls she’d be grandpa… what’s your point?
September 29th, 2022 at 6:06 AM ^
That it isn't saying much to brag about winning the BigTen West a couple of times.
September 29th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
It’s enough to say “should they get a football team first?” isn’t a very good zinger. Which I think was the point of bringing up winning the Big Ten West.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
This just isn't true anymore. Someday there will be a lot of grandma's with balls. NTTAWWT
September 28th, 2022 at 9:39 PM ^
Yeah. Mine was a cheap shot but the team's done mostly very well for a few decades.
As the French (sorta) say, le bon mot plus lat mot juste.
Quel fromage.
September 29th, 2022 at 12:10 AM ^
"What cheese"? Whut?
September 29th, 2022 at 6:42 AM ^
which (quelle) cheese? is this a wisconsin thread now?
September 29th, 2022 at 7:04 AM ^
It is "quel" - "fromage" is a masculine noun.
September 29th, 2022 at 11:23 AM ^
Yikes. Youse guys is trés literal.
It's a semi-multi-lingual joke. Instead of Quel dommage.
Like the old joke of the American tourist trying to say "I am left behind" when missing the tour bus: "Je suis gauche derriere."
September 29th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^
It's too hard to say au revoir, so I'll just say hors d'oeuvres.
September 29th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
Rire out loud.
Now THAT's what je suis parler about.
September 29th, 2022 at 11:54 AM ^
(Hey, at least, there were no Koalas introduced into this collective stream of consciousness)
;-)
September 29th, 2022 at 6:18 PM ^
Um, . . . they play in the West.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:20 PM ^
Northwestern has a football team?? Get outta here!
September 28th, 2022 at 6:47 PM ^
They have uniforms and everything
September 28th, 2022 at 6:23 PM ^
Paywalled story. Oh well.
September 28th, 2022 at 7:02 PM ^
Non-paywalled article from NU's Athletics website:
https://nusports.com/splash.aspx?id=splash_1127
Very impressive plans.
I like their idea of going modern and classy rather than going large in a town where the focus will always be on the professional sports teams.
September 28th, 2022 at 8:30 PM ^
I'll be a bit disappointed with the much smaller stadium as it might be harder or more expensive to do a road trip game there now.
September 28th, 2022 at 9:11 PM ^
But on the flip side they can give it a catchier name like ours. The Tiny Home?
September 28th, 2022 at 9:45 PM ^
Smaller makes sense for a university of their size—and considering they often have low attendance. Plus, teams that travel well, like THE osu, Wisconsin & Nebraska, usually overwhelm NU supporters. With NU getting first crack at tickets, the disparity won't be so great.
I also like that they make a big deal about immediate and longterm benefit to the community. Many college cities have town-gown problems but it seems to be especially tough in Evanston. This should help.
September 28th, 2022 at 11:46 PM ^
You're right - the Evanston community is very different and separate from the Northwestern community. It's not like Ann Arbor at all. It doesn't have a thriving downtown. I notice new empty storefronts every day and don't see a ton of students around. I keep wondering where they spend their time outside of class.
September 29th, 2022 at 3:06 PM ^
They don't have much time out of class.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:23 PM ^
I am admittedly a big Cats fan (when not playing UMich) but I think it looks amazing and will be massive for the school. The program may still need additional help...
September 28th, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
Spending those Big Ten bucks
September 28th, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
I'm all for upgrading our home away from home.
Ryan Field becomes a Chicago Area Michigan Alumni Association meeting most of the times we play there.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:28 PM ^
Are they going to be able to fit them all in there??
September 28th, 2022 at 6:25 PM ^
Instead of being half empty it'll only be 1/3 empty.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:37 PM ^
Why??
September 28th, 2022 at 6:52 PM ^
Because usually their current stadium is runninonhalfempty mostofthetime.
September 28th, 2022 at 7:20 PM ^
Ryan Field at Jackson Browne Stadium.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:51 PM ^
Nice but why would you spend this money and not go bigger?
September 28th, 2022 at 6:54 PM ^
Apparently they want to host concerts and other non-Football events.
September 28th, 2022 at 9:48 PM ^
As I mentioned above —
Smaller makes sense for a university of their size—and considering they often have low attendance. Plus, teams that travel well, like THE osu, Wisconsin & Nebraska, usually overwhelm NU supporters. With NU getting first crack at tickets, the disparity won't be so great.
September 28th, 2022 at 6:53 PM ^
That looks like some La Liga stadium you'd see in a Champions League match - not a 35,000 seat CFB yard.
September 28th, 2022 at 11:10 PM ^
Man...would have been awesome to catch a Prince concert there.