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Memorial Stadium renovations coming?

You gotta love insurance companies. They sell us something at an exorbitant price that we hope we never have to use. What a racket!
Insurance is a no win situation…when you don’t need it, you have too much. When you do finally need it, no matter how much you have, you kick yourself for not having more.

There’s a reason the tallest buildings of many cities house insurance companies. It’s because more people have too much of what they don’t need, than people needing what they think they don’t have enough of.

It pays to be a glad-handed, personable and gregarious insurance agent who regularly shows his face in place within the first three pews of the largest church in town. The same can be said for real estate agents.
 
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You wouldn't want to tear down your only indoor practice location before you had a new one ready.
That's true. But if the location for Mellencamp is 100% the best location, then I think you either tear it down and figure out the logistics fo that...or as has been mentioned, just build up around it and then tear it down when the new roof is on or something.

These new football practice facilities are an interesting dynamic. In many ways, they go largely unnoticed by most of the fans. But in many ways, they're THE most important building for the players, coaches, recruits, etc...

Notre Dames new practice facility is absolutely insane. Its incredible. But I'm guessing the casual fans have no clue where it is, what it looks like, etc... Its all about Notre Dame stadium. I guarantee Freeman and his staff, the players, and potential recruits, the practice facility is 90% of their time and focus.

So...if the geography in that area is clear that Mellencamp's physical location is the best...tear it down or build around it. Because that will become the most important building in ALL of IU Athletics.
 
That's true. But if the location for Mellencamp is 100% the best location, then I think you either tear it down and figure out the logistics fo that...or as has been mentioned, just build up around it and then tear it down when the new roof is on or something.

These new football practice facilities are an interesting dynamic. In many ways, they go largely unnoticed by most of the fans. But in many ways, they're THE most important building for the players, coaches, recruits, etc...

Notre Dames new practice facility is absolutely insane. Its incredible. But I'm guessing the casual fans have no clue where it is, what it looks like, etc... Its all about Notre Dame stadium. I guarantee Freeman and his staff, the players, and potential recruits, the practice facility is 90% of their time and focus.

So...if the geography in that area is clear that Mellencamp's physical location is the best...tear it down or build around it. Because that will become the most important building in ALL of IU Athletics.
And look. It’s all football. Everything is separate. Every p4 worth its salt has similar setups. Not IU though. We got buzzing 1980s lights on pro day. New turf and a quarter mile walk to the training table. Hey but….we are easily 17th or 18th in facilities in the B1G.
 
And look. It’s all football. Everything is separate. Every p4 worth its salt has similar setups. Not IU though. We got buzzing 1980s lights on pro day. New turf and a quarter mile walk to the training table. Hey but….we are easily 17th or 18th in facilities in the B1G.
For sure. I think our mentality is finally changing though. I just hope they have the donor support, and the gumption, to "go big" Northwestern style, and that they realize THE most important building, for the entire University, is probably the football practice facility. If they need to muli purpose it, to get support for a monster project, so be it. Put some class rooms in there somehow, put some retail stuff, whatever. But the football part needs to be an NFL ++ caliber indoor practice facility. World Class medical, world class nutrition, world class strength and conditioning, obviously great field considerations, world class lounges, locker rooms, meeting rooms.

Repurpose Memorial Stadium to be all those things for the retail public. But if we're gonna reinvest a crap ton of money, a really big bulk of that needs to be in the everyday team facilities.
 
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For sure. I think our mentality is finally changing though. I just hope they have the donor support, and the gumption, to "go big" Northwestern style, and that they realize THE most important building, for the entire University, is probably the football practice facility. If they need to muli purpose it, to get support for a monster project, so be it. Put some class rooms in there somehow, put some retail stuff, whatever. But the football part needs to be an NFL ++ caliber indoor practice facility. World Class medical, world class nutrition, world class strength and conditioning, obviously great field considerations, world class lounges, locker rooms, meeting rooms.

Repurpose Memorial Stadium to be all those things for the retail public. But if we're gonna reinvest a crap ton of money, a really big bulk of that needs to be in the everyday team facilities.
Nooooo. Do not multi purpose it. Thats a mistake and a pretty big one. That facility will be so important for this time of year. Especially if we are playoff caliber. This thing should be a big priority. Hell even urban myer said facilities is a major tipping point in recruiting.
 
Nooooo. Do not multi purpose it. Thats a mistake and a pretty big one. That facility will be so important for this time of year. Especially if we are playoff caliber. This thing should be a big priority. Hell even urban myer said facilities is a major tipping point in recruiting.
I'm basically just thinking if they built a MONSTROUS structure, that had almost an entire Academic Building, attached to a big football facility. The academic area could be schools that have tie ins with the football program...sports medicine maybe, sports management, kinesiology, physical therepy, whatever...

But for sure, nothing should encroach or short change the Football specific parts. And those areas should ONLY be accessible by football players and staff. We don't need some douchey English prof strolling through the football area smirking and bad mouthing how fancy it all is...
 
That's true. But if the location for Mellencamp is 100% the best location, then I think you either tear it down and figure out the logistics fo that...or as has been mentioned, just build up around it and then tear it down when the new roof is on or something.

These new football practice facilities are an interesting dynamic. In many ways, they go largely unnoticed by most of the fans. But in many ways, they're THE most important building for the players, coaches, recruits, etc...

Notre Dames new practice facility is absolutely insane. Its incredible. But I'm guessing the casual fans have no clue where it is, what it looks like, etc... Its all about Notre Dame stadium. I guarantee Freeman and his staff, the players, and potential recruits, the practice facility is 90% of their time and focus.

So...if the geography in that area is clear that Mellencamp's physical location is the best...tear it down or build around it. Because that will become the most important building in ALL of IU Athletics.
If there is a way to build around Mellencamp and keep it open during the construction then great. I just feel like the overall size would require it to be built on the practice fields or in between MS and AH. I expect the non practice field portion of the building to be at least 3 levels and 75,000 SF minimum. That's not a small footprint, but again, if they could incorporate Mellencamp into the new construction that would all them more flexibility with the remining area for the practice fields. It HAS to be football specific as well.
 
If there is a way to build around Mellencamp and keep it open during the construction then great. I just feel like the overall size would require it to be built on the practice fields or in between MS and AH. I expect the non practice field portion of the building to be at least 3 levels and 75,000 SF minimum. That's not a small footprint, but again, if they could incorporate Mellencamp into the new construction that would all them more flexibility with the remining area for the practice fields. It HAS to be football specific as well.
I get that sentiment...but I just think there's got to be something there with tying in some of IU's world class schools, that would have crossover and tie in, with the football program. Could become a positive recruiting tool, for both the football program, AND for bright young minds AND faculty, to be a part of the Sports Medicine, Sports Management, Sports Media, etc... schools. Out of the box thinking that could check a number of more boxes, and maybe get more funding thrown in.

Northwestern, if many of the articles are to be believed, are changing conventional thought around what a college football specific stadium should be. Maybe IU could do the same with a practice facility. Universities have such an incredible wealth of knowledge and resources, that seem to always be at odds with the athletic programs. Why? Incorporate all of them.

I've advocated that IU should provide actual curriculum that tailors to athletes that want to play and/or coach professionally after college. Finance, Public speaking, marketing, nutrition, social media...etc.. Imagine what an IU basketball coach could do with a "pitch" that not only would the basketball program be preparing them for the NBA, or for professional basketball on the court, but so would IU's specific 1 year, 2 year, etc...academic program.

I hate underutilized talent and resources. As you can see.
 
If there is a way to build around Mellencamp and keep it open during the construction then great. I just feel like the overall size would require it to be built on the practice fields or in between MS and AH. I expect the non practice field portion of the building to be at least 3 levels and 75,000 SF minimum. That's not a small footprint, but again, if they could incorporate Mellencamp into the new construction that would all them more flexibility with the remining area for the practice fields. It HAS to be football specific as well.
There is plenty of space on the athletics campus. It's primarily parking lot right now. Easiest big space to build new is between Mellancamp, Memorial Stadium, and the Tennis Center. Building isomething there would allow Mellencamp to continue to function in the interim and be ready for renovation for other sports/uses after a new football building is completed. It could also be connected to the new building. Looking at the aerial view, you could fit a building twice the size of Mellencamp in that gap and only lose a few dozen parking spaces.
 
There is plenty of space on the athletics campus. It's primarily parking lot right now. Easiest big space to build new is between Mellancamp, Memorial Stadium, and the Tennis Center. Building isomething there would allow Mellencamp to continue to function in the interim and be ready for renovation for other sports/uses after a new football building is completed. It could also be connected to the new building. Looking at the aerial view, you could fit a building twice the size of Mellencamp in that gap and only lose a few dozen parking spaces.
Good info. Obviously once the project would be done, Mellencamp could be repurposed... Maybe indoor soccer training, pickleball courts, a big space like that could provide a lot of value.
 
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I get that sentiment...but I just think there's got to be something there with tying in some of IU's world class schools, that would have crossover and tie in, with the football program. Could become a positive recruiting tool, for both the football program, AND for bright young minds AND faculty, to be a part of the Sports Medicine, Sports Management, Sports Media, etc... schools. Out of the box thinking that could check a number of more boxes, and maybe get more funding thrown in.

Northwestern, if many of the articles are to be believed, are changing conventional thought around what a college football specific stadium should be. Maybe IU could do the same with a practice facility. Universities have such an incredible wealth of knowledge and resources, that seem to always be at odds with the athletic programs. Why? Incorporate all of them.

I've advocated that IU should provide actual curriculum that tailors to athletes that want to play and/or coach professionally after college. Finance, Public speaking, marketing, nutrition, social media...etc.. Imagine what an IU basketball coach could do with a "pitch" that not only would the basketball program be preparing them for the NBA, or for professional basketball on the court, but so would IU's specific 1 year, 2 year, etc...academic program.

I hate underutilized talent and resources. As you can see.

I both understand and would ordinarily agree but in this case Football only is the way to go if we want to actually follow thru on our "world class" approach to the Football program... It's "go Big or go home" time...
 
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Good info. Obviously once the project would be done, Mellencamp could be repurposed... Maybe indoor soccer training, pickleball courts, a big space like that could provide a lot of value.

Keep it within the Football program for enhanced speed training, etc... With 105 guys going thru Winter, Spring and even some Summer workouts the additional space will still be needed (in my opinion)... Just another pice of the "world class" program puzzle... 😎

Example: 1st & 2nd Teams plus Special Teams Skill guys workout in the new facility; 3rd and 4th Teams workout in Mellencamp...
 
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Keep it within the Football program for enhanced speed training, etc... With 105 guys going thru Winter, Spring and even some Summer workouts the additional space will still be needed (in my opinion)... Just another pice of the "world class" program puzzle... 😎

Example: 1st & 2nd Teams plus Special Teams Skill guys workout in the new facility; 3rd and 4th Teams workout in Mellencamp...
Definitely...I have no perspective of what the time management side would look like in the winter, for a football team. I would strive to include all those capabilities in THE Facility to end all facilities. But maybe that's too ambitious for one building?
 
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I'm both understand and would ordinarily agree but in this case Football only is the way to go if we want to actually follow thru on our "world class" approach to the Football program... It's "go Big or go home" time...
Oh I'm not advocating not going big...in fact, I'm theorizing that including some of the major schools into it, might add a layer of funding to it that could unlock more and more possibilities for the football side of things.

A very abstract example, maybe the scales are way off, maybe they're not... but maybe funding for a football only facility ends up in the 300 million area. Add some connected Sports Medicine facilities(pick your whale IU med donors), Sports Media (Cuban maybe?)...and all of a sudden the budget balloons up to 700 million. 200 million for the academic center portion of the facility, 500 million for the football and any direct "crossover" areas. Medical imaging facilties maybe, sports recovery research areas, absolute top of the line, state of the art, puts ESPN to shame, audio visual areas, etc...

I think its narrow minded to just say "football only". But that's how it usually works, I get it.
 
That's true. But if the location for Mellencamp is 100% the best location, then I think you either tear it down and figure out the logistics fo that...or as has been mentioned, just build up around it and then tear it down when the new roof is on or something.

These new football practice facilities are an interesting dynamic. In many ways, they go largely unnoticed by most of the fans. But in many ways, they're THE most important building for the players, coaches, recruits, etc...

Notre Dames new practice facility is absolutely insane. Its incredible. But I'm guessing the casual fans have no clue where it is, what it looks like, etc... Its all about Notre Dame stadium. I guarantee Freeman and his staff, the players, and potential recruits, the practice facility is 90% of their time and focus.

So...if the geography in that area is clear that Mellencamp's physical location is the best...tear it down or build around it. Because that will become the most important building in ALL of IU Athletics.
Precisely! Make progress as painless as possible.
 
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An indoor facility is a nice to have, but it is definitely not an essential facility in my opinion. It is used primarily for winter conditioning and in rare situations of severe weather, practice can be moved there. The college game is played outdoors and the vast majority of coaches want practices to be held in the elements.

The Mellencamp is a serviceable indoor practice facility. The old coaching staff used to whine about it because they felt that it didn't stack up to our rivals for recruiting purposes. That may be the case, but the bigger problem for the old regime was that they didn't have a winning program to sell to recruits. Cignetti has changed the narrative, and I seriously doubt we will be losing recruits because of the indoor facility.

In my opinion we need to address fan-related issues with the stadium first. Once that is complete and we can find somebody to write a $150 million check, then by all means, go ahead and build a new one.
 
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An indoor facility is a nice to have, but it is definitely not an essential facility in my opinion. It is used primarily for winter conditioning and in rare situations of severe weather, practice can be moved there. The college game is played outdoors and the vast majority of coaches want practices to be held in the elements.

The Mellencamp is a serviceable indoor practice facility. The old coaching staff used to whine about it because they felt that it didn't stack up to our rivals for recruiting purposes. That may be the case, but the bigger problem for the old regime was that they didn't have a winning program to sell to recruits. Cignetti has changed the narrative, and I seriously doubt we will be losing recruits because of the indoor facility.

In my opinion we need to address fan-related issues with the stadium first. Once that is complete and we can find somebody to write a $150 million check, then by all means, go ahead and build a new one.
We literally have the worst facilities in the B1G. We aren’t talking about just an indoor facility. It’s a football only training facility. Yes the stadium needs things but that’s small potatoes. Urban Meyer did a whole segment on this and pointed specifically to this. Go big and get with the rest of the P4.
 
We literally have the worst facilities in the B1G. We aren’t talking about just an indoor facility. It’s a football only training facility. Yes the stadium needs things but that’s small potatoes. Urban Meyer did a whole segment on this and pointed specifically to this. Go big and get with the rest of the P4.

But Urban never had to deal with NIL. I wonder how much that has changed the priorities of recruits?
Obviously, programs that have a billion dollars to spend on plush new facilities probably have an A game NIL but speculation about Lewis was he was shopping the best NIL check. Did facilities play any part in his decision? Is he an outlier or the new face for five star athletes?
I want IU to be in the game but Northwestern spending the biggest part of a BILLION dollars seems insane to me.
 
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But Urban never had to deal with NIL. I wonder how much that has changed the priorities of recruits?
Obviously, programs that have a billion dollars to spend on plush new facilities probably have an A game NIL but speculation about Lewis was he was shopping the best NIL check. Did facilities play any part in his decision? Is he an outlier or the new face for five star athletes?
I want IU to be in the game but Northwestern spending the biggest part of a BILLION dollars seems insane to me.
He’s not the only one who says this. Why is everyone in p4 upgrading football facilities? Why spend over a billion doing it? Like NW. kids want to see the product and we don’t have it yet. NW knows the value. It’s just one thing they can check off and not have to brush off to a recruit. It matters.
 
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What if NIL changes the feelings of fans enough, or for other reasons, CTE, changing conferences, streaming, the popularity or monetary worth, or distribution of media funds of college football declines? Plus Indiana has to answer to public officials to a greater degree than Northwestern. This is mostly an OT aside I know, but I doubt if it's just 'football will be a gravy train, forever! Compete!'
 
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What if NIL changes the feelings of fans enough, or for other reasons, CTE, changing conferences, streaming, the popularity or monetary worth, or distribution of media funds of college football declines? Plus Indiana has to answer to public officials to a greater degree than Northwestern. This is mostly an OT aside I know, but I doubt if it's just 'football will be a gravy train, forever! Compete!'
The gravy train will be around through at least 2030, which is how far the B1G media rights deal goes. Over the next four years, our B1G media rights are going to increase another $20M/yr. The CFB Playoff media rights are going increase B1G schools media rights another $16M/yr. Rev share will be a new expense, but the media rights increases seem to cover that, at least for financially well run departments in the big two conferences like ours.

We're in year four of NIL and it hasn't impacted interest. People don't seem to care.

CFB could decline someday, but the tribalism that comes with it is strong and it's tough to see what would materially chip away at that in the next ten years.
 
He’s not the only one who says this. Why is everyone in p4 upgrading football facilities? Why spend over a billion doing it? Like NW. kids want to see the product and we don’t have it yet. NW knows the value. It’s just one thing they can check off and not have to brush off to a recruit. It matters.

NW's plans for that facility had to start WAY before NIL.
IMO, NIL has totally changed the landscape of college sports. Many are still thinking in terms of recruiting from the past.
Do you think Ballo, Rice and Carlyle came to IU for the facilities?
It would be nice to see an article where they actually talk to recruits and what they prioritize.
 
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What if NIL changes the feelings of fans enough, or for other reasons, CTE, changing conferences, streaming, the popularity or monetary worth, or distribution of media funds of college football declines? Plus Indiana has to answer to public officials to a greater degree than Northwestern. This is mostly an OT aside I know, but I doubt if it's just 'football will be a gravy train, forever! Compete!'

IU wouldn't have to answer to public officials if the $$$ came from private sources.
IIRC, the athletic department at IU does not use any tax dollars.
 
A savvy coach, which I think CCC certainly is, would approach NIL from the perspective of getting the 'best bang for your buck'.

Looking at what Cignetti assembled in year one and without knowing concrete numbers, I'd still say that Cignetti was EXCELLENT at value shopping/bargain hunting....

If you've got a money tree I guess this theory doesn't apply. Michigan apparently has a money tree because they gave a 5* QB like 12 million dollars yesterday!! It's out of control and caps need to be in place.
 
NW's plans for that facility had to start WAY before NIL.
IMO, NIL has totally changed the landscape of college sports. Many are still thinking in terms of recruiting from the past.
Do you think Ballo, Rice and Carlyle came to IU for the facilities?
It would be nice to see an article where they actually talk to recruits and what they prioritize.
Doesn’t matter? The problem is IU is so far behind. Like not even top 50. It does matter and I’m going to say this will be addressed very soon.
 
A savvy coach, which I think CCC certainly is, would approach NIL from the perspective of getting the 'best bang for your buck'.

Looking at what Cignetti assembled in year one and without knowing concrete numbers, I'd still say that Cignetti was EXCELLENT at value shopping/bargain hunting....

If you've got a money tree I guess this theory doesn't apply. Michigan apparently has a money tree because they gave a 5* QB like 12 million dollars yesterday!! It's out of control and caps need to be in place.
Who did Michigan flip? TIA. Edit: I took Coach Cignetti's advice & googled Bryce Underwood, #1 player in the 2025 class & a QB.
 
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I think its narrow minded to just say "football only". But that's how it usually works, I get it.
I can't speak for others, but I know when I say football only, I mean no other sports use the facility. If we are talking about what you're advocating, medical and academic, then I'm totally onboard with that. It's still on campus and students should be able to get some use out of an investment that significant.
 
An indoor facility is a nice to have, but it is definitely not an essential facility in my opinion. It is used primarily for winter conditioning and in rare situations of severe weather, practice can be moved there. The college game is played outdoors and the vast majority of coaches want practices to be held in the elements.

The Mellencamp is a serviceable indoor practice facility. The old coaching staff used to whine about it because they felt that it didn't stack up to our rivals for recruiting purposes. That may be the case, but the bigger problem for the old regime was that they didn't have a winning program to sell to recruits. Cignetti has changed the narrative, and I seriously doubt we will be losing recruits because of the indoor facility.

In my opinion we need to address fan-related issues with the stadium first. Once that is complete and we can find somebody to write a $150 million check, then by all means, go ahead and build a new one.
Urban Meyer disagrees with you. He talked about facilities, recruiting etc this week on BTN ... Facility upgrades were his number one thing. "It is the first thing the recruits see on their visits and they compare that to what they have seen to other visits at UM, OSU, PSU etc" ... not an exact quote but content is correct.
 
I can't speak for others, but I know when I say football only, I mean no other sports use the facility. If we are talking about what you're advocating, medical and academic, then I'm totally onboard with that. It's still on campus and students should be able to get some use out of an investment that significant.
For sure agree with you then. Football should be the only team that can use it. If the time management side warrants it, allow the rest of the athletic department to utilize Mellencamp, if necessary, once the new facility would be built. But they have to get over any mindsets that have any sort of need for equality in them. If you're gonna spend multiple hundreds of millions of dollars on something, be realistic about it, and make damn sure you're getting as much ROI as you can. Allowing the women's volleyball team to use the weight room, or whatever might happen, is absolutely absurd.

There are hundreds of high schools across the country that football specific training facilities, weight rooms, etc...
 
But Urban never had to deal with NIL. I wonder how much that has changed the priorities of recruits?
Obviously, programs that have a billion dollars to spend on plush new facilities probably have an A game NIL but speculation about Lewis was he was shopping the best NIL check. Did facilities play any part in his decision? Is he an outlier or the new face for five star athletes?
I want IU to be in the game but Northwestern spending the biggest part of a BILLION dollars seems insane to me.
That NW cost was donated by one family.
 
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Doesn’t matter? The problem is IU is so far behind. Like not even top 50. It does matter and I’m going to say this will be addressed very soon.

Never said that it didn't matter.
In this day and age of NIL, where are facilities on the priority lists of recruits?

In other words, is it better to spend 200 mil on better facilities or put that 200 mil in NIL?
 
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I think a practice facility/football complex is the most important facility upgrade needed. I'm going to look like I'm a UC Bearcat fan, but they are very close to us geographically, in stadium size, and are in a P4 conference. I believe that IU is a much better job, mostly due to being in the B10, but UC is kicking our ass with their stadium and practice facilities. They are way ahead of us, but the $$ is there if we keep winning and selling out MS. I guarantee that the most optimistic budget ever made by the athletic dept for 2024 has been absolutely blown out of the water already, and we still have 1 more home game left. We are talking going from like a $30,000,000 projection to a $60,000,000 haul from football. That's program changing $$ that will get reinvested in facilities and coaches salaries. While the price tag on UC's practice facility was like $130,000,000, Penn St is about to start a $700,000,000 stadium renovation. We can join the facilities arms race if we sellout all our home games every fall.

https://ipf.gobearcats.com/

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Have you ever been to Nippert? It's a nice stadium and all, but entering at the top and walking down to your seats is a BITCH, especially for us old guys. I've never seen stairs that steep.

The top area is nice, but I prefer our entrances, where you can take ramps to the top level or go in at mid-level for lower level seats.

When we played UC last, I had no desire to take those stairs to even go to the bathroom.
 
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They have done a lot to MS the past 20 years but they need to do a lot more. Essentially more of everything. They could double the amount of bathrooms and concessions and that may still not be enough. More seats and add luxury seats for sure. 100% need football player and staff only facilities.

Take a look at what Northwestern of all places is building. It's pretty awesome honestly.

Yeah, with about a 30k seating capacity
 
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