exactly! Bigger footprint for our team too :) especially with the rise last season!

hahaah!! I get it! I’m up in Marin so it seems like we have some similarity in mountain bike trail type and access stuff… as well as being just close enough to Davis to be reminded of the sports constantly haha

yeah i think a more structured parking system will be needed, which i think is totally possible. We have so much parking by the vet center and in the garages… just have to organize it for sure

thank you for all the highlights and stats you’ve been posting! Really awesome :)

I thought that’s what it was! Some great riding around most of the schools in the MW. I’d love to get some Colorado riding in, or even Albuquerque seems like they could have some cool desert riding. Getting an excuse to go on a Wyoming road trip is always a good one ;). Are you local to NorCal or somewhere else? I could talk on a thread about bikes and access for ages haha. The general public can go to Air Force games obviously huh? I’m sure it’s an interesting environment!

thanks man! I do have to say as an Aggie fan I have a lot of respect for you guys. I love the stadium renovation btw, you guys really do a great job imo with the online podcasts and such too :) looking forward to the game! Thank you for the well wishes, if you ever come to Davis I’m sure this forum could help you out for some recommendations around here.

+1. I think Gary May’s whole comment about athletics being the doormat to a university (probably butchered that paraphrase), especially considering we are already a d1 program, truly would be echoed with an FBS move. For me, it’s just wild that we have a school with 310,000+ living alumni, and live in a metro of 20 million, and barely anyone sees our games, or even know we have a football team because they never see them on television, never see clips posted online by major sports accounts (partially because of that television thing), and don’t really get the UC Davis football brand spread through clothing, regional advertising, etc. I think Davis being scheduled against cal every other year, but then getting butchered, or having to explain that we would never regularly play, or face the likes of Stanford, unlv, Nevada, cal in the post season is not only confusing, but also deflates how excited people get. when I was telling friends we could be playing southeastern Missouri state or Illinois state in the playoffs, they were so freakin confused as average fans of not only who those teams were (considering again the FCS just doesn’t get national coverage very often), but honestly seemed less interested in the game itself then. Also, I know scouts can grab players from any level, but recruiting and pro prospects obviously are boosted by fbs membership and being shown on the national stage, as well as being impressed by new facilities.

I did a little digging into attendance numbers for other teams, and could see our trajectory (again all hypothetical but in a good case), be something like that of coastal coastal Carolina that averaged 8,900 fans in 2014 as FCS members, but since transitioning in 2016, are averaging 18,000 fans post renovation and joining the SunBelt. Just something I was curious about.

also, unless I am doing my math wrong, we averaged 11,266 per game this regular season, which is above the official capacity of the stadium. While I agree butts in seats may not be always be filling that number, I also think realistically the benefit of jumping to MW for football, would increase interest both in the stadium and on tv. I can’t image the MW allowing us to keep our current stadium capacity in joining, especially since we should even in the stadiums current forum upgrade food, bathroom, and fan experience things (like a fan shop), all of which could be housed under or in conjunction with addition rows of seating. I’d image mw teams have better traveling fans, and more alumni locally and regionally. I also think moving to FBS makes UC Davis the FBS team of the north valley/nor cal region. The grass berms make it seem less full at times, as well as people standing on the concourse (which would be possibly smaller with seat additions), but having space for potentially larger matchups, increased local support, and events seems potentially advantageous, especially if we are going to move to a larger conference. I think at the minimum increasing our fan experience through facility upgrades and limited seating additions would be a benefit, both for people at the games, but also recruits visiting, potential students, and university appearance.

I’m curious what the distribution will be when/if we join without football as well. I guess it’s hard to place numbers on costs and investments before they happen, especially since it’s what, 2 years before we join? Idk interesting to think through and I’m sure stuff will be more clear in the coming months. With football, I think balancing success/$/and school exposure/fan experience would be hard to gauge since what expanding/renovating the stadium would look like, the team player and coaching wise, and fan support is impossible to totally understand (especially since it would be moving up to a different level of the sport with different competitors, opposing fan bases, and potentially different regional/non-davis student or alum interest in the team).

Now that the Niners are most likely out of the playoff picture… Ags all the way!!

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?

they have the welcome rally at the football stadium with the basketball team dancing at it, and then they have going to the first game on the orientations schedule.

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.

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

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.

If I remember correctly we had a pep rally at silo last year or 2 years ago? Was rad with the band and all!! I do think just basically saying “look free football game with good food, music, and venue every Saturday this fall” plastered all over social media and on campus through pep rallys, coach riding in golf cart saying free tickets, etc would help.

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.

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!

hey another student! exactly my experience, and like the 15 people I reached out to about the game...