Some Alabama State pics....Definitely a resemblance to Aggie Stadium in many ways.
When the Press Box add is built, the view over the campus and water tower is going to be nice (like the 3rd ASU pic).

Like it

I hope we build up, not back, so you feel closer to the action. Better acoustics too?

...and some added shade in August/September

Yes to both.

...and some added shade in August/September — AggieFinn

Shade, in any form, is absolutely critical and should be right up there with the top priorities. We all know that Aggie Stadium is an oven when the weather is hot and most of us have experienced how uncomfortable it can be. Aggie fans chase every bit of shade they can find including crowding together in the shadow of the scoreboard.

I can't even imagine how miserable it must be for the students sitting on the east side before the sun sets. Not only are they getting broiled but the sun is directly in their eyes. I'm not sure what can be done to help shade the east side though. Perhaps a second deck on the west side would help.

There needs to be more shade structures and trees outside the stadium also so fans can find shaded areas to tailgate.

Why can’t we just schedule night games for august and September? I think we have started to do this. A lot cheaper than some have proposed.

we’ve been playing at night in September for several years. Even then, thst setting sun at 6:45 can be tough on the east bleachers. Same big it’s a warm 4:00 October kickoff

7:30 start time possible? I doubt the kids would mind that much.

Alabama state is exactly what I expect UC Davis health stadium to look like after renovations except Davis will have press boxes on the home side.

Doesn't seem like we would be able to add more seating on top of the box seating area we are building. The additional seating to get to 30,000 I believe what is needed for FCS level would likely come from putting seats in one of the grassy berm areas. Not sure if that gets us there or not. If we need more not sure if they would use the other grassy berm or go up on the visitor side. Seems like we would be more like the Salukis photos or if we go up on the visitor side then might look like the Utah St photos.

I’m pretty sure there is no longer an attendance minimum requirement anymore. .

no longer an attendance or seating minimum from the NCAA. The Mountain West may have their own internal parameters though. I think an Aggie stadium with a berm filled and some addition seating to get to 18-20k would be a good size for our types of attendance, price and overall feel of the stadium in addition to the new suites area

We just hired a former Lehigh football player at work and he steered me wrong with the 30K minimum!! I know our original long-term designs allowed for up to 30,000 seats to be built. Looks like there was 15,000 seat minimum for FBS schools but it was eliminated in 2023, so you are right Dr. Mike. I googled Mountain West and they have no strict policy but at roughly 11,000 seats we would be the lowest. My guess is the grassy area is not counted in the 11,000, so we can hold more than that.

UNLV - 65,000
UTEP - 52,000
Air Force - 39,000
New Mexico - 39,000
Wyoming - 31,000
Nevada - 27,000
Northern Illinois - 24,000
San Jose St - 22,000
North Dakota St - 19,000
Hawaii - 17,000 - new stadium underway for 23,000 (year 2029!!). A prior stadium held 50,000

When we move to FBS I see our capacity at 22k with one grass berm in front of expanded video board, then later add additional suites/premium seats next to and above bob foster team center. This will leave us space to expand to 25k in future if ever necessary by filling in other grass berm. 30k will never happen and isn’t necessary in modern college football in CA. 22-25k with more luxury/premium seats is the way to go!