Stadium Renovation hopes, fears, expectations

ucdboyd

Thoughts on possible Aggie Stadium renovations if/when the football team moves to FBS.

Easiest add is filling in one end zone. And I say one because I hope one end zone remains grass for kids to play, families to picnic and because it just looks cool. Maybe fill in the north end zone and keep the south end zone grass.

Add seats and possibly boxes/indoor space to the east sideline. And please don't make it a drab grey structure, at least add colors (blue/gold) like we did to the buildings already there on the east side.

One random thought is to make a big redwood grove on the south side of the stadium. There are already a few redwood trees there. But I don't know what's going on there, a few seem healthy, a few seem stunted. Didn't there used to be more? Were they neglected? It would take some work to establish the trees during hot Davis summers but I think it would be beautiful and perhaps a focal point of the stadium. The redwood grove near Wyatt Theater was one of my favorite spots on campus when I was a student, let's have another right next to the Stadium.

Other ideas? Thoughts? Hopes?

Jdur

↪ucdboyd

this is a great thread. Personally, I would be a huge fan of building up on the sidelines and leaving the grass berms. Another level of seating on the student side and a second row with a few luxury boxes and press box on the home side would be my biggest suggestion. Adding some more foliage behind one of the grass berms would be super rad too! I think building up on the sides will help lock in fan noise too, even better since the field is kinda a lower bowl now. Would love to hear other perspectives!

Sailorgabe

I would keep both sides grass. It makes the stadium unique. You could build up another level on the home and away sides that would create enough seats for the move. One aspect that really needs to be fixed is the cell tower coverage. More cell towers or even a couple hot spots for fans to connect to the internet is sorely needed. There should also be a UC Davis store in the stadium. Food options also need to increase. I really like bar top corner with the stand or elevated seats. Let's look at getting a sponsor like Mondavi or another wine maker to sponsor the "wine corner" - remind viewers and visitors we are the #1 viticulture program in the world.

Jdur

↪Sailorgabe

I think your point about food, wine and the store are super worth thinking about. A few Montana state fans were asking on their forum if Mondavi had like a tasting room or something, that would be so cool! A merch store would be worthwhile too, my family whenever they come up always wish they could buy football gear. Food options beyond cold pizza and food trucks would be awesome too, maybe even leave some of the food trucks to be in tailgate areas… in connection to cell service and such, I think having bigger tvs at food stands and such would be great. Also, lean into the freakin ag/cow/historical aspects of the school. I’m talking a mural of toomey, really centering the steam engine touchdown awesomeness, and make cowbells just a thing at games. I think we also need bigger bathroom facilities which like everything else, could be included in an expansion of decks on the sidelines.

AggieFinn

Expanding the stadium, with seats nobody is sitting in.

I love the wine corner idea, no reason why we shouldn't have a wine station/bar (with view of field) in the stadium. Sudwerk should be more prominent in the gameday experience, how they don't have a big Neon Sign somewhere in the stadium is beyond me.

Walk in merch store - ABSOLUTE MUST going forward when the Ags make the move. I think the berms will eventually have to go but we'll see.

Sailorgabe

I didn't even think about a tasting room! That is an even better idea! Imagine a tasting room with the latest wine from local farms...add in some great cheese and vegetable trays...man that would be nice. Another thought would be to put a playground at one of the end zones. Make a grass slide down the hill for the kids. Nothing too big but classy and fun.

MTBAggie

I think what I'd like to see regardless of an upgrade is better messaging. I took my son to the EWU game a few years ago, and I just bought the most expensive tickets, which were in the Team Aggie section. We started wondering why we didn't have lanyards and name tags. Nobody cared, but it wasn't clear when we bought tickets. Same with tailgating and parking. There seem to be special perks for season ticket holders and Team Aggie members, but anybody can buy those options through the ticketing website. Also, why are there different tailgating sections that are so spread out? Last weekend, we met up with Dwight and Brock at the APP tailgate. So, there is dedicated tailgating on La Rue, Lot 56, and Lot 53. Then there was a grassy area with an alumni association setup, but I had no idea what was going on in that area.

And, I don't think I need to beat a dead horse any more about getting the word out about the free tickets to both students and general admission.

dlmusgrove

For years I've thought they should add speakers inside the bathrooms so you don't miss the game. Golden 1 Center and Sutter Health Park do it and it couldn't be too expensive to add.

blueforce

One of the biggest issues is that you feel so far from the game. The stands are soooo set back from the field and the seating is gradually sloped. We should demolish the sideline seating (at least on one side), move the stands closer to the field, and go steeper. It's a better experience for the fans & the players.

ucdtim17

I have to assume/hope right now the administration is spending a little money on some architectural ideas and renderings to try to grease the skids for new money to support a near future move up. Please do not bring back that 20 year old rendering.

agalum

Athletics have been very tight lipped about anything related to a fbs move and stadium expansion. I’ve asked a couple of times. And i get it. Once info is leaked, it can spread and they lose control of how and when the message is officially released. My hunch is when the time is right, we will be pleasantly surprised.

fugawe09

↪dlmusgrove

when the stadium opened it did have speakers in the bathrooms with the KHTK radio broadcast. So if it doesn’t anymore it’s either broken or forgotten.

AggieFinn

↪fugawe09

↪blueforce

Good poimt.I remember that. It was great

movielover

Stadium Capacity / Recent Average attendance

Air Force Academy - 46,700 / 29,500
Hawaii: Ching Stadium (temp), 17,000 / 11,200
Hawaii: Aloha Stadium (planned) - 25,000+
Nevada - 30,000 / 17,000
New Mexico - 39,000 / 15,000
San Jose State - 39,500 / 16,800
UC Davis - 14,500+ w SRO / 10,500
UTEP - 46,000 / 18,000
UNLV - 65,000 / 24,000
Wyoming - 29,200 / 23,000

The NCAA / FBS removed the attendance requirement but added a $5 Million application fee.

Edit: some numbers from 2023, some 2024.

Jdur

↪movielover

Pretty sure SJSU is more like 20k after the renovation they did… don’t see why Davis expanding to 20-25k seats playing mw teams wouldn’t get a good 17k or more averaging per game.. especially with the better fan experience with the upgrades everyone seems to talk about, and increased relevenacy in the sac/nor cal area. I don’t even think a huge increase (but it would be bigger) amount of student support would stop us from getting more consistently big crowds… something Wyoming size seems reasonable.

AggieFinn

↪movielover

These averages are horrendous - I am not sure Davis would do any better...depends on the game I guess.

Jdur

↪movielover

I feel like from just tv revenue we could substantially make that up (the 5 mil) possibly

Jdur

↪AggieFinn

I would be interested to see tv metrics too… attendances across the west are on average lower % to full than Midwest or southern schools I feel. Big sky attendances in general scare me even more honestly, especially considering we don’t get much tv viewership.

ucdtim17

Not the full story but I'm a little surprised how close we are to the median on that list. Not great for those schools that our underachieving at a level below almost fits in fine on that list. It seems like with little other program investment, if we just moved up as is we could get a bump to get into the mid tier there based on better opponents and bigger visiting crowds.

DrMike

↪MTBAggie

the lanyards for Team Aggie give you access to pregame hospitality (if you donate at the $1200 level) and to that and halftime hospitality (if you donate at the $3000 level). they aren't just the game tickets.

MTBAggie

↪DrMike

Got it. But are sections 121-123 only for season ticket holders? Or are they also available to the general public? In some places those sections are called Team Aggie seating, others Premium Reserved.

Jdur

I’m aware this is an older image apparently, but seeing as it was the last image shared by our ad, what do we think about this design?

SochorField

We need a Team Store in the stadium. This needs to be open every game.....and in the future it should be open most days to the public for walk-ins and for folks who want a peek inside the stadium.

We are walking billboards!
I can't understand the lack of football merch (the crap in the bookstores is just that- nobody wants that stuff)

DrMike

↪MTBAggie

to get season tickets there, you have to have a certain TA level. But anyone can buy single game there

fugawe09

The rendering is close to NM State’s stadium (also an Aggie Stadium)

1. Shade—whether canopies, trees, covered concourses, etc. FBS kickoffs time influenced by TV aren’t always good for fans, example late-August 1pm.
2. Acoustic engineering—is there anything practical that can boost the crowd noise like what the Seahawks did.
3. Keep one grass berm for families but I would suggest Aggie Pack back to an end zone. At Toomey it made the coin toss more interesting because a visiting team didn’t want to be going north in the 4th quarter.
4. Cabana section. At my local stadium they made a section with seat backs and its own bar, snack stand, and restrooms not accessible to other sections. Priced a little higher than a reserved seat but less than the donor level seats. Very popular with the 28-40 crowd.
5. Improved foodservice. Trend is toward people wanting more meal options beyond snacks. A lot goes into this but especially if there are going to be private suites an onsite commissary kitchen needs to be part of it. Cannot maintain quality at this volume trying to hotbox it in from the Silo or Segundo.

movielover

If we cement in an end zone - do we go from 500 capacity to 1200? Not much of a bump.

I hope they solicit fans for input (educated survey). Going too big w typically empty seats isn't a good look either.

SoCalAggie

I haven’t been to Aggie stadium since I graduated (2013) so I’ll leave the real Reno’s to all of you but here is my list.

- keep the grass it adds character
- a MASSIVE cowbell should be built that we ring every touchdown or for every point (6 or 3 rings depending on score) and a victory ring! Maybe gun rock rings it during the game and a player rings it upon victory?
- Mondavi wine garden
- beer garden or speakeasy
- general food upgrades
- VIP boxes/areas
- Aggie football museum housing cool objects and memorabilia from our programs history.
- state of the art screen and sound system (maybe even lights for a light show)

Stadium Renovation hopes, fears, expectations

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