Michigan Stadium thoughts and theories

Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on

It's been on my mind quite often lately and I can't be the only one.

Is there a possibility with the massive boxes added on both sides of Michigan Stadium and the two very large score boards on each endzone, that Michigan Stadium could somehow expand capacity?

I found this article long ago by former over lord slave ruler Dave Brandon http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/29601474

Also out of curiousity, what did people on the board think about the expansions being added back in the time they were being added? What kinds of discussions were going on here?

Also, if anyone else finds anything regarding the issue I'm highly interested.

MGoBoard

pbmd

December 19th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^

As we saw prior to this year, demand quickly decreases as the teams struggle. College football attendance overall is down. Local economy likely predicts no major increase in population in SE Michigan. And no more demand for high priced suites. Lastly, the quality of viewing from high up is poor and would have to compete with TV. I would be surprised if other stadiums expand beyond 110k,all schools face the same reality as Michigan. Scarcity, better served by increase revenue by increasing price not capacity. Previous renovation was more about improving then enlarging.

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StephenRKass

December 19th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

I'd largely agree with you. The only way I would do expansion would be:

  1. Prepaid contracts for luxury suites in the south end zone for the long term. If individuals, groups, or businesses were willing to commit to a suite in the end zone for 10 years, and prepay a year, that would go a long way to paying for improvement, and would protect UofM.
  2. Cheaper bleacher seats high up in the end zone. I personally don't like being in the end zone. I like it even less high up. However, to be honest, if demand is high, the cost of going to a game is too much for many fans. If the end zone bleachers were discounted over the rest of the stadium, it would allow kids and folks with very limited resources to go to a game, to experience game day, without breaking the bank. And a block of these cheap seats could regularly be given as a donation to Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, YMCA's, etc. It builds good will, without costing UofM much. Oh, and they could still be sold at a pretty penny to OSU and MSU when they visit.

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BTB grad

December 19th, 2015 at 5:51 PM ^

Remember how we barely managed 100,000 in a few games during the 2014 season (visually, it certainly didn't look like 100,000 at all). I'm not sure if expanding is the way to go...

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drzoidburg

December 19th, 2015 at 6:56 PM ^

If by demand you mean a full stadium every game, even against unlv then yeah, we can't expand and in fact need to gut a few thousand more seats. The other option would be to schedule 2 SEC teams and notre dame every year. That might get us to 150,000 Or we could expand to 150,000 just for events like UTL, and tolerate huge swaths of empty seats against unlv... I mean there will always be demand for expansion one way or another, whether it means $2 tickets or special event/big opponent, or both (this is how the hockey game sold out). It's just a question of the AD being willing to make it happen

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