WT New Stadium

[Techster88]

Re: WT New Stadium

Correction PVAM is average to slightly better than average got them confused with Texas Southern who is just lousy.

[BuffaloChip]

Re: WT New Stadium

Wow, that is a huge decrease in seating

8,500 plus seating on the grassy knoll (can handle another 1000 or so). None of the SOTA amenities or tech stuff has been cut. Stadium is configured to easily add additional seating. Better join the Buffalo Club if you want first dibs on season ticket reserved seating. Expect ticket prices to creep up a few bucks per seat. Hey, it's called supply and demand. If the team comes along and we get back in the top tier competing for an LSC championship demand will far outstrip supply. I'm told if that happens, the stadium will be expanded with revenue bond financing. I fully expect to see a 10,000-11,000 seat stadium within 5 years.

The most recent 3D drawings/video show a terrific looking facility.

[Buff Fan 05]

Re: WT New Stadium

8,500 plus seating on the grassy knoll (can handle another 1000 or so). None of the SOTA amenities or tech stuff has been cut. Stadium is configured to easily add additional seating. Better join the Buffalo Club if you want first dibs on season ticket reserved seating. Expect ticket prices to creep up a few bucks per seat. Hey, it's called supply and demand. If the team comes along and we get back in the top tier competing for an LSC championship demand will far outstrip supply. I'm told if that happens, the stadium will be expanded with revenue bond financing. I fully expect to see a 10,000-11,000 seat stadium within 5 years.

The most recent 3D drawings/video show a terrific looking facility.

Thanks for the info. Looking forward to seeing all the updated plans when released

[BuffTough]

Re: WT New Stadium

8,500 plus seating on the grassy knoll (can handle another 1000 or so). None of the SOTA amenities or tech stuff has been cut. Stadium is configured to easily add additional seating. Better join the Buffalo Club if you want first dibs on season ticket reserved seating. Expect ticket prices to creep up a few bucks per seat. Hey, it's called supply and demand. If the team comes along and we get back in the top tier competing for an LSC championship demand will far outstrip supply. I'm told if that happens, the stadium will be expanded with revenue bond financing. I fully expect to see a 10,000-11,000 seat stadium within 5 years.

The most recent 3D drawings/video show a terrific looking facility.

It's extremely disappointing to hear the size decreased again. At this point we won't even be able to make a decent homecoming crowd. Even with our lowered attendance over the past few years homecoming still brought more than 12k. Hard to bring more people on campus for the games when there is no where for them to sit. I am a fan of the new stadium project just hope the end product is worth it. At this rate we will have one of the smallest stadiums in the conference! Even if attendance does increase there will be nowhere for them to sit. Hard to convince people to come out to a product when they have to sit on the grass. Hope this doesn't come back to bite WT.

[WT_ALUM08]

Re: WT New Stadium

It's extremely disappointing to hear the size decreased again. At this point we won't even be able to make a decent homecoming crowd. Even with our lowered attendance over the past few years homecoming still brought more than 12k. Hard to bring more people on campus for the games when there is no where for them to sit. I am a fan of the new stadium project just hope the end product is worth it. At this rate we will have one of the smallest stadiums in the conference! Even if attendance does increase there will be nowhere for them to sit. Hard to convince people to come out to a product when they have to sit on the grass. Hope this doesn't come back to bite WT.

We wouldnt have even filled the 8,500 last year. Even once. So not sure why this is such a big deal. Why have a big stadium for one game a year that you might can get 10,000 and then it feel super empty every other game of the season?....

As Chip mentioned, if demand requires more seats, then WT has plans to expand. But why build hoping that it needs it until demand shows that it does?

[WT_ALUM08]

Re: WT New Stadium

8,500 plus seating on the grassy knoll (can handle another 1000 or so). None of the SOTA amenities or tech stuff has been cut. Stadium is configured to easily add additional seating. Better join the Buffalo Club if you want first dibs on season ticket reserved seating. Expect ticket prices to creep up a few bucks per seat. Hey, it's called supply and demand. If the team comes along and we get back in the top tier competing for an LSC championship demand will far outstrip supply. I'm told if that happens, the stadium will be expanded with revenue bond financing. I fully expect to see a 10,000-11,000 seat stadium within 5 years.

The most recent 3D drawings/video show a terrific looking facility.

When will seating be made available to Buffalo Club members? This is something I have been thinking about so that I can ensure I have good seats reserved.

[Buff Fan 05]

Re: WT New Stadium

8,500 plus seating on the grassy knoll (can handle another 1000 or so). None of the SOTA amenities or tech stuff has been cut. Stadium is configured to easily add additional seating. Better join the Buffalo Club if you want first dibs on season ticket reserved seating. Expect ticket prices to creep up a few bucks per seat. Hey, it's called supply and demand. If the team comes along and we get back in the top tier competing for an LSC championship demand will far outstrip supply. I'm told if that happens, the stadium will be expanded with revenue bond financing. I fully expect to see a 10,000-11,000 seat stadium within 5 years.

The most recent 3D drawings/video show a terrific looking facility.

How much is the most recent price tag? I'm assuming the budget will have decreased considerably with a 1/3 of the seating eliminated

[BuffTough]

Re: WT New Stadium

So you assume that a 1 year sample size is enough to determine a multi-million dollar project? 7 games out of hundreds? And you miss the point. Yes it can expand, everyone understands that but what happens when you miss the opportunity to increase a fan base because there is not enough of the product to supply the demand? If WT waits to build more seating until it is necessary they will lose all momentum the program would have built. I am a huge fan of the new stadium, been behind it before the stadium was even announced to the public. Don't take my criticism as being against the stadium. In my opinion it is a massive misstep to underestimate the demand for seating. In the long term it will hamper the momentum for the football program that it was designed to increase.

[WT_ALUM08]

Re: WT New Stadium

So you assume that a 1 year sample size is enough to determine a multi-million dollar project? 7 games out of hundreds? And you miss the point. Yes it can expand, everyone understands that but what happens when you miss the opportunity to increase a fan base because there is not enough of the product to supply the demand? If WT waits to build more seating until it is necessary they will lose all momentum the program would have built. I am a huge fan of the new stadium, been behind it before the stadium was even announced to the public. Don't take my criticism as being against the stadium. In my opinion it is a massive misstep to underestimate the demand for seating. In the long run it will hamper the momentum for the football program that it was designed to increase.

Going back to 2011, there were 8 games out of 38 that would have exceeded the 9,500 capacity (8,500 + 1000 on grass). Those games were either Homecoming or in a season when we only had 4 home games. The average attendance over that span was only 6,928. And that includes two of the most successful years in WT history. Some years there were no games above that mark. And add to the fact of how many of those seats were filled by folks that only showed up because they got a free ticket. I think it would be a tremendous waste of resources right now to put that money into extra seating when you could put it towards bells and whistles. Then when attendance is demanding more seating, you can expand at that time. But the last 8 years has shown that pouring that much money into extra seating for basically 1 game a year is an extreme waste.

[WT_TKW]

Re: WT New Stadium

So you assume that a 1 year sample size is enough to determine a multi-million dollar project? 7 games out of hundreds? And you miss the point. Yes it can expand, everyone understands that but what happens when you miss the opportunity to increase a fan base because there is not enough of the product to supply the demand? If WT waits to build more seating until it is necessary they will lose all momentum the program would have built. I am a huge fan of the new stadium, been behind before it was even announced to the public. Don't take my criticism as being against the stadium. In my opinion it is a massive misstep to underestimate the demand for seating. In the long run it will hamper the momentum for the football program that it was designed to increase.

You are right. Last year the team had the worst record since Ronnie Jones was the coach, there is no question that it affected attendance. However, I think Hughes is a good hire and the team will improve rapidly.

The last year we had a good football team was 2013 - Nesbitt's "caretaker" year. We had 3 home games where attendance was over 11K, including homecoming, which was almost 14K.

When asking the students to vote for the new stadium, the administration pointed out it was to offer more than saving the students a painful 5 minute drive 5 times a year. "Other proposed uses include outdoor commencement ceremonies each May (one commencement instead of three), outdoor concerts, Buff Branding activities and midnight pep rallies." Now the famed concerts and pep rallies, will be much more limited; the full student body can't even go. http://www.wtamu.edu/about/student-s...m-and-faq.aspx

I thought Dr Wendler did the right thing by rechecking the facts and figures. Yes the new stadium will cost no more than renovating Kimbrough they said - but they didn't mention it would be less than half the size. The new location seems better and supposedly saved money, but the train has gone off the track anyway. I wonder how many students would have voted for a such a small stadium? The referendum barely passed as it was.

[WT_ALUM08]

Re: WT New Stadium

The last year we had a good football team was 2013 - Nesbitt's "caretaker" year. We had 3 home games where attendance was over 11K, including homecoming, which was almost 14K.

Not true. Attendance in 2013.

9/21/13 - Commerce - 11,126
10/5/13 - Central State - 13,876
10/19/13 - Angelo State - 5,487
11/02/13 - Eastern NM - 7,167
11/09/13 - West Georgia - 6,178

[WT_TKW]

Re: WT New Stadium

Not true. Attendance in 2013.

9/21/13 - Commerce - 11,126
10/5/13 - Central State - 13,876
10/19/13 - Angelo State - 5,487
11/02/13 - Eastern NM - 7,167
11/09/13 - West Georgia - 6,178

I did incorrectly include the Kingsville road game in the list. Even so, 2 home games that year were way past the capacity of the new stadium.

http://www.gobuffsgo.com/custompages...3/TEAMCUME.HTM

[WT_ALUM08]

Re: WT New Stadium

I did incorrectly include the Kingsville road game in the list. Even so, 2 home games that year were way past the capacity of the new stadium.

http://www.gobuffsgo.com/custompages...3/TEAMCUME.HTM

While the average is within the capacity.

[BuffaloChip]

Re: WT New Stadium

When will seating be made available to Buffalo Club members? This is something I have been thinking about so that I can ensure I have good seats reserved.

I imagine 3 or 4 months before the first game, season ticket sales will be offered first to existing Buffalo Club season ticket holders, Buffalo Club members who do not hold season tickets, existing season ticket holders, and then to everyone else.

[BuffTough]

Re: WT New Stadium

The average wouldn't have been that high without those games above 8.5k.