Stadium upgrades-time to help the fan experience

[mk23]

The stadium upgrades over the last decade have been transformational, and I think it’s important to recognize all the good, thoughtful work that’s been done. But I think they really missed the mark on a few things, some more important than others, and have some obvious next steps for future work.

1) The different height and architectural styles of the North and South End has given me a permanent twitch every time I see the stadium. Just not as aesthetically harmonious as it could be. The NEZ got it right, the SEZ not so much.

2) They should have used SEZ construction to redistribute some seats. They could have eliminated all or a significant portion bench seating, replaced it with modern chair backs, and redistributed lost seating to a South End that maintained the same lines as the east side and NEZ. This would improve the fan experience nearly universally. Tough to undo now, but a good chunk of that bench seating needs to find a way to disappear to improve the fan experience for the average fan.

3) There’s opportunity for additional seating options ranging from bench, chair backs, premium, outdoor club, suite, etc. Other places are getting really creative to provide an experience you can’t get on TV and that isn’t uncomfortable and terrible. We need to do the same.

4) Obviously the press box and suites is in significant need of change. It should be much larger and offer several types of suites and clubs that are more high-end than what we have now. Our offerings are about 40 years out of date.

5) Not the stadium, but Mellencamp needs a renovation and/or a second indoor facility is needed.

Even with my gripes, the stadium is light years ahead of where it was not so long ago.

Could not agree more about the SEZ. It’s been almost universally praised around here (and is obviously better than before), but it looks like it doesn’t fit the space to me. How hard would it have been to make “the lines” meet? Totally looks like an add on, instead of seamless.

And while I’m bitching, let’s at least get the freaking goose poop cleaned up. Red seats covered in that would’ve looked worse than it already did. I just remember sitting near that area while watching the idiot president hobnobbing with Mitch in the end zone and wondering if they’d like to up and sit in that mess. Until someone in that administration actually proves they care about fans, I’ll not believe they give us any thought.

 

[Grateful Redbeard]

Probably right. I haven't been to a stadium yet that handles concessions well. Lucas Oil Stadium doesn't do badly, but college concessions aren't the greatest.

At the Gator Bowl, I didn't even attempt to get conessions - the ailes were narrow and the lines were insane. Not a big fan of that stadium, but it's not bad once you get to your seat.

I had club section seating at the Gator Bowl and concessions were a breeze all game long. Bathroom lines were never an issue either. No clue how the rest of the stadium was since the club section was isolated from the rest of the seats. Paying a little extra for the club seats was totally worth it. If anything I’d sit a little further back next time. We were 5th row on the 35 yard line and I’d have rather been higher up in the 20th row or so to get a better view of the field.

 

[DANC]

I swear most of that darned town acted like the game was an inconvenience to them. I felt like I almost had to beg to be served. Won’t go back, screw the Jaguars too.

Vitutally no local TV coverage, too. Inexplicable.

 

[DANC]

The stadium upgrades over the last decade have been transformational, and I think it’s important to recognize all the good, thoughtful work that’s been done. But I think they really missed the mark on a few things, some more important than others, and have some obvious next steps for future work.

1) The different height and architectural styles of the North and South End has given me a permanent twitch every time I see the stadium. Just not as aesthetically harmonious as it could be. The NEZ got it right, the SEZ not so much.

2) They should have used SEZ construction to redistribute some seats. They could have eliminated all or a significant portion bench seating, replaced it with modern chair backs, and redistributed lost seating to a South End that maintained the same lines as the east side and NEZ. This would improve the fan experience nearly universally. Tough to undo now, but a good chunk of that bench seating needs to find a way to disappear to improve the fan experience for the average fan.

3) There’s opportunity for additional seating options ranging from bench, chair backs, premium, outdoor club, suite, etc. Other places are getting really creative to provide an experience you can’t get on TV and that isn’t uncomfortable and terrible. We need to do the same.

4) Obviously the press box and suites is in significant need of change. It should be much larger and offer several types of suites and clubs that are more high-end than what we have now. Our offerings are about 40 years out of date.

5) Not the stadium, but Mellencamp needs a renovation and/or a second indoor facility is needed.

Even with my gripes, the stadium is light years ahead of where it was not so long ago.

Couldn't agree more on the SEZ. It's not in accordance with the rest of the stadium and the emphasis is more on office/medical space than fan asthetics. The slight openings on the east and west side of it just look odd.

 

[DANC]

I had club section seating at the Gator Bowl and concessions were a breeze all game long. Bathroom lines were never an issue either. No clue how the rest of the stadium was since the club section was isolated from the rest of the seats. Paying a little extra for the club seats was totally worth it. If anything I’d sit a little further back next time. We were 5th row on the 35 yard line and I’d have rather been higher up in the 20th row or so to get a better view of the field.

We had a group of 16, so we had to think of those who didn't care to shell out the extra cash. To me, concessions isn't that much of a big deal, but with a bad knee, i didn't care to go up the levels of walkway to get to my seat. And I wasn't in the top level.

If you were down there, why didn't you tell all the Tennessee fans around you to GTFO? I don't know if they were in row 5, but they damn sure were in between that row and the walkway where we came in. And I'm not talking about a sprinkling of UT fans - I'm talking GROUPS of fans, sitting together. In the IU section. I wish Fred would have noted who the 'fans' were who sold those tickets and taken away some VC points.

 

[oldcougar77]

The stadium upgrades over the last decade have been transformational, and I think it’s important to recognize all the good, thoughtful work that’s been done. But I think they really missed the mark on a few things, some more important than others, and have some obvious next steps for future work.

1) The different height and architectural styles of the North and South End has given me a permanent twitch every time I see the stadium. Just not as aesthetically harmonious as it could be. The NEZ got it right, the SEZ not so much.

2) They should have used SEZ construction to redistribute some seats. They could have eliminated all or a significant portion bench seating, replaced it with modern chair backs, and redistributed lost seating to a South End that maintained the same lines as the east side and NEZ. This would improve the fan experience nearly universally. Tough to undo now, but a good chunk of that bench seating needs to find a way to disappear to improve the fan experience for the average fan.

3) There’s opportunity for additional seating options ranging from bench, chair backs, premium, outdoor club, suite, etc. Other places are getting really creative to provide an experience you can’t get on TV and that isn’t uncomfortable and terrible. We need to do the same.

4) Obviously the press box and suites is in significant need of change. It should be much larger and offer several types of suites and clubs that are more high-end than what we have now. Our offerings are about 40 years out of date.

5) Not the stadium, but Mellencamp needs a renovation and/or a second indoor facility is needed.

Even with my gripes, the stadium is light years ahead of where it was not so long ago.

Serious question - is it even possible to put chairback seating in the original parts of the stadium ? Those pads are pretty narrow and chairbacks almost certainly would require more depth. There still needs to be room for people pass by while the seat occupant is standing in front. I'm not an architect or engineer but I wonder what kind of depth is required on each row to accommodate stadium seats.

 

[DANC]

Serious question - is it even possible to put chairback seating in the original parts of the stadium ? Those pads are pretty narrow and chairbacks almost certainly would require more depth. There still needs to be room for people pass by while the seat occupant is standing in front. I'm not an architect or engineer but I wonder what kind of depth is required on each row to accommodate stadium seats.

The seatbacks we sell are a PITA to get around. In fact, even without them, they're a PITA for people to walk through, for nomal sized humans.

.Kind of like Assembly Hall - very little leg room to maneuver.

 

[Hoosiers Rising]

Really need spring practice to start soon or we are going to end up with 10 page thread about urinals.

 

[Grateful Redbeard]

We had a group of 16, so we had to think of those who didn't care to shell out the extra cash. To me, concessions isn't that much of a big deal, but with a bad knee, i didn't care to go up the levels of walkway to get to my seat. And I wasn't in the top level.

If you were down there, why didn't you tell all the Tennessee fans around you to GTFO? I don't know if they were in row 5, but they damn sure were in between that row and the walkway where we came in. And I'm not talking about a sprinkling of UT fans - I'm talking GROUPS of fans, sitting together. In the IU section. I wish Fred would have noted who the 'fans' were who sold those tickets and taken away some VC points.

Yeah, there were some large UT groups down there. I didn’t like it, but I honestly blame IU fans for not ponying up for those seats and keeping them out. If those were IU’s tickets and they were sold by IU fans on the secondary market, then I agree that they should all lose their VC status for that garbage. I assumed there were just more UT fans willing to pay extra to be close, but if those were allotted to IU’s VC, then selling them to the opponent should not be allowed.

I’m a big soccer fan and follow Liverpool. For the Champion’s League final for each of the last 2 years, if a Liverpool fan was caught scalping their tickets then they lost their spot back at the stadium in England. On top of that, Liverpool would cancel the seats outright and resell them to someone on the waiting list. That happened even if they sold them to another Liverpool fan. Complete ban on scalping official seats that came from the club. I’m all for that!

 

[DANC]

Yeah, there were some large UT groups down there. I didn’t like it, but I honestly blame IU fans for not ponying up for those seats and keeping them out. If those were IU’s tickets and they were sold by IU fans on the secondary market, then I agree that they should all lose their VC status for that garbage. I assumed there were just more UT fans willing to pay extra to be close, but if those were allotted to IU’s VC, then selling them to the opponent should not be allowed.

I’m a big soccer fan and follow Liverpool. For the Champion’s League final for each of the last 2 years, if a Liverpool fan was caught scalping their tickets then they lost their spot back at the stadium in England. On top of that, Liverpool would cancel the seats outright and resell them to someone on the waiting list. That happened even if they sold them to another Liverpool fan. Complete ban on scalping official seats that came from the club. I’m all for that!

Yep, you have to practically be born into the team's soccer club before you can get a ticket for some of those teams.

I was thinking about going to see a UEFA European Championship match a few years ago with some English and Irish friends. They said to forget it, unless you're member of some team club.

 

[goody1986]

Serious question - is it even possible to put chairback seating in the original parts of the stadium ? Those pads are pretty narrow and chairbacks almost certainly would require more depth. There still needs to be room for people pass by while the seat occupant is standing in front. I'm not an architect or engineer but I wonder what kind of depth is required on each row to accommodate stadium seats.

It’s a good question. Maybe not everywhere, but there’s gotta be a way to do it in part. Other places with old stadiums have figured it out.

 

[destewart]

It’s a good question. Maybe not everywhere, but there’s gotta be a way to do it in part. Other places with old stadiums have figured it out.

In order to replace bench seats with chair backs the entire concrete infrastructure must be demolished and removed and new, larger risers and aisles must be constructed. Any old code violations must be eliminated and all new constructions must be done using modern codes and regulations related to handicapped seating. There is a significant loss of capacity because a chair back seat displaces a much smaller seating footprint.

 

[goody1986]

In order to replace bench seats with chair backs the entire concrete infrastructure must be demolished and removed and new, larger risers and aisles must be constructed. Any old code violations must be eliminated and all new constructions must be done using modern codes and regulations related to handicapped seating. There is a significant loss of capacity because a chair back seat displaces a much smaller seating footprint.

Got it. Definitely costly, but a better designed SEZ could have provided additional room for seating to get it back to capacity neutral and added at least a decent number of seat backs to the sidelines. I’ll die on this hill, lol

 

[secondasky]

Got it. Definitely costly, but a better designed SEZ could have provided additional room for seating to get it back to capacity neutral and added at least a decent number of seat backs to the sidelines. I’ll die on this hill, lol

And if you are watching the game in the SEZ the sun is to your back. All the more reason to have put seating in this area.

 

[welshman#]

The stadium upgrades over the last decade have been transformational, and I think it’s important to recognize all the good, thoughtful work that’s been done. But I think they really missed the mark on a few things, some more important than others, and have some obvious next steps for future work.

1) The different height and architectural styles of the North and South ends have given me a permanent twitch every time I see the stadium. Just not as aesthetically harmonious as it could be. The NEZ got it right, the SEZ not so much.

2) They should have used SEZ construction to redistribute some seats. They could have eliminated all or a significant portion bench seating, replaced it with modern chair backs, and redistributed lost seating to a SEZ that maintained the same lines as the east side and NEZ. This would improve the fan experience nearly universally. Tough to undo now, but a good chunk of that bench seating needs to find a way to disappear to improve the fan experience for the average fan.

3) There’s opportunity for additional seating options ranging from bench, chair backs, premium, outdoor club, suite, etc. Other places are getting really creative to provide an experience you can’t get on TV and that isn’t uncomfortable and terrible. We need to do the same.

4) Obviously the press box/suites is in significant need of change. It should be much larger and offer several types of suites and clubs that are more high-end than what we have now. Our offerings are about 40 years out of date.

5) Not the stadium, but Mellencamp needs a renovation and/or a second indoor facility is needed.

Even with my gripes, the stadium is light years ahead of where it was not so long ago.

3) There’s opportunity for additional seating options ranging from bench, chair backs, premium, outdoor club, suite, etc. Other places are getting really creative to provide an experience you can’t get on TV and that isn’t uncomfortable and terrible. We need to do the same.

4) Obviously the press box/suites is in significant need of change. It should be much larger and offer several types of suites and clubs that are more high-end than what we have now. Our offerings are about 40 years out of date.

5) Not the stadium, but Mellencamp needs a renovation and/or a second indoor facility is needed.

Even with my gripes, the stadium is light years ahead of where it was not so long ago.

definitely think mimicking the NEZ when they did the SEZ would've been the way to go, regardless of what was put inside the SEZ

also, maybe one day the East side could look something like this:

https://www.vividseats.com/venues/lane-stadium-/seat-views/upper-level-27

but they'll need to increase demand before that can happen

 

[IUgradman]

The restrooms were renovated recently and the athletics department has rightly been more focused on upgrading the player amenities inside the stadium.

 

[td75]

I'm the resident painter on this board and I can tell you that washing/priming/finish coating the bleachers in Memorial Stadium would be a substantial project. Of course when the Big Ten network feeds each school multimillion dollar checks, what's a 250k paint job??

Dark colored paints are prone to prematurely fading, so plan on giving it a maintenance coat on a somewhat routine basis. I have no idea how the paint would hold up. I would give it a fair chance at holding up if Sherwin Williams DTM was applied in two coats...the first as the primer, the second as the finish.

The crimson color would likely fade in a few years due to the nature of the bleachers essentially being open to the elements.

 

[UncleMark]

I'm the resident painter on this board and I can tell you that washing/priming/finish coating the bleachers in Memorial Stadium would be a substantial project.

Prolly cheaper long term to replace them with anodized aluminum.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

First let's recognize the amazing upgrades that have already happened. The place is beautiful, the video systems are amazing and the tailgate areas are very nice.

I see need for improvement in
concessions selections and concessions processes.
The lighting at the south end needs to be reworked as temps are brought in at night
Restrooms: be carefulwhat you wish for as lines have formed where troughs were removed.
New press box and suites on East side.
More Ws.

 

[mattndallas]

Both AH and MS need to rework seating to drop capacity but improve seating comfort.

You buy a coke at AH for a game....83.6% chance that effer will get kicked over before halftime. That percentage goes up to 97.4% if preloaded with Old Crow pre-tip. Seats/rows need to have more depth, but lacking that, make them wider.

Ditch the bleachers down low. We have Cook now for practice. Build perm seating there with primo, wide seats.

At Memorial, I overpay to sit high behind the goalposts simply for the room, and easy access to beer/bathroom. The rows are wide. There are drink holders. Seats work.

Do that to the entire stadium. Reduce capacity to 40k or whatever. You can charge more because the seats would actually be in demand, and fans would actually look at the game as comfortable fun...not a death march.

Gotta be a way to remold that concrete...but think long term.

If 40k is our Memorial typical attendance...build the stadium so that 40k loves the experience....they'll pay a premium....and actually go in the stadium....if you make it comfortable.

 

[mk23]

Both AH and MS need to rework seating to drop capacity but improve seating comfort.

You buy a coke at AH for a game....83.6% chance that effer will get kicked over before halftime. That percentage goes up to 97.4% if preloaded with Old Crow pre-tip. Seats/rows need to have more depth, but lacking that, make them wider.

Ditch the bleachers down low. We have Cook now for practice. Build perm seating there with primo, wide seats.

At Memorial, I overpay to sit high behind the goalposts simply for the room, and easy access to beer/bathroom. The rows are wide. There are drink holders. Seats work.

Do that to the entire stadium. Reduce capacity to 40k or whatever. You can charge more because the seats would actually be in demand, and fans would actually look at the game as comfortable fun...not a death march.

Gotta be a way to remold that concrete...but think long term.

If 40k is our Memorial typical attendance...build the stadium so that 40k loves the experience....they'll pay a premium....and actually go in the stadium....if you make it comfortable.

Old Crow additive! Lol!

 

[secondasky]

Both AH and MS need to rework seating to drop capacity but improve seating comfort.

You buy a coke at AH for a game....83.6% chance that effer will get kicked over before halftime. That percentage goes up to 97.4% if preloaded with Old Crow pre-tip. Seats/rows need to have more depth, but lacking that, make them wider.

Ditch the bleachers down low. We have Cook now for practice. Build perm seating there with primo, wide seats.

At Memorial, I overpay to sit high behind the goalposts simply for the room, and easy access to beer/bathroom. The rows are wide. There are drink holders. Seats work.

Do that to the entire stadium. Reduce capacity to 40k or whatever. You can charge more because the seats would actually be in demand, and fans would actually look at the game as comfortable fun...not a death march.

Gotta be a way to remold that concrete...but think long term.

If 40k is our Memorial typical attendance...build the stadium so that 40k loves the experience....they'll pay a premium....and actually go in the stadium....if you make it comfortable.

I completely understand the precentage increase if it gets spiked with Old Crow. You can always find an empty bottle of Old Crow under a downtown interstate bridge.

 

[UncleMark]

I completely understand the precentage increase if it gets spiked with Old Crow. You can always find an empty bottle of Old Crow under a downtown interstate bridge.

You must be some kind of elitist. All I ever see are T-bird and Mad Dog.

 

[secondasky]

You must be some kind of elitist. All I ever see are T-bird and Mad Dog.

I know T-Bird and MD2020 used to be big fraternity favorites too.

 

[SCOOTER59]

Most of the seating is brushed aluminum and is not painted. What difficulties do you see in preparing brushed aluminum for a coat of some sort of paint?

Probably more cost effective in the long run to vinyl cap the aluminum plank than to try to paint it.

 

[mouora]

Any changes in the stadium to bring in more fans is good. I do want to see the AD work harder with alumni groups to provide transportation to the game from areas around the state. Make them party buses so people want to ride them to the game - no worries about driving enjoying drinks, food, and televised games heading to the game, etc. IU needs to do more than just promote the games to get more butts in the seats.

100 Percent! I would buy season tickets if there was a bus from Fort Wayne! Its just a long haul to get all the way to bloomington for every home game!