Time to expand Oklahoma Memorial Stadium?

[ou48A]

Demand for tickets apparently isn’t nearly as great as many believe.
There is no need for a major OU stadium expansion.

[rcjunkie]

Demand for tickets apparently isn’t nearly as great as many believe.
There is no need for a major OU stadium expansion.

Wrong, there's over 10,000 on the season ticket waiting list

[ou48A]

Wrong, there's over 10,000 on the season ticket waiting list

Wrong,,,,,

10,000 who won’t pay anything above the cost of their season ticket does not justify a major expansion.

Perhaps a small cheap expansion could be justified but certainly not a major expansion.

[rcjunkie]

Wrong,,,,,

10,000 who won’t pay anything above the cost of their season ticket does not justify a major expansion.

Perhaps a small cheap expansion could be justified but certainly not a major expansion.

It's not wrong, check for yourself, the waiting list for people requesting season tickets is over 10,000.

[ou48A]

It's not wrong, check for yourself, the waiting list for people requesting season tickets is over 10,000.

I know the waiting list is something close to what you are saying but this by its self doesn’t justify a major expansion.

If they had several thousand requests for premium seating then a major expansion might be justifiable. But people who can’t afford a donation to the Sooner Club probably should think twice about buying a season ticket. There is a high attrition rate after the first year from people who do not donate.

A cheap expansion in one or both corners of the South end zone that would add 2000 to 3000 seats and that would fit into any future expansion plans may be the only justifiable way to expand at this time.

[rcjunkie]

I know the waiting list is something close to what you are saying but this by its self doesn’t justify a major expansion.

If they had several thousand requests for premium seating then a major expansion might be justifiable. But people who can’t afford a donation to the Sooner Club probably should think twice about buying a season ticket. There is a high attrition rate after the first year from people who do not donate.

A cheap expansion in one or both corners of the South end zone that would add 2000 to 3000 seats and that would fit into any future expansion plans may be the only justifiable way to expand at this time.

I never said this justifies a major expansion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, but some have said the demand for tickets isn't there when it definately is.

[ou48A]

I never said this justifies a major expansion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, but some have said the demand for tickets isn't there when it definately is.

But some have said that the demand justifies a significant expansion.
When you can buy a decent ticket outside the stadium for $10 or $20 for nearly every game the true demand isn’t what some think it is.

[Just the facts]

I am not sure where you are buying $10 or $20 tickets but I haven't seen them. Are those the ticket prices at the end of the first quarter?

[jmarkross]

I am not sure where you are buying $10 or $20 tickets but I haven't seen them. Are those the ticket prices at the end of the first quarter?

I remember when tickets were $4, and high school students could get end-zone tickets for $1--or just wait for a crowd of guys to build and rush the chain link fence and all climb at once as the "guards" just laughed and let you go...Owen Field has a thousand memories for me and I sure saw some fabulous games there in the 50's, 60's amd 70's...scatter my ashes right there...

[ou48A]

I am not sure where you are buying $10 or $20 tickets but I haven't seen them. Are those the ticket prices at the end of the first quarter?

I buy season tickets from OU but I know several fans who buy tickets outside the stadium to nearly every home game and rarely pay over $20 a ticket before the game kicks off.
No matter who OU is playing the toughest ticket is often the first home game of the year.
Most of the cheaper tickets seem to be found just north of the stadium or along Jenkins St near the stadium. The west side is not as good of location to find tickets.
During the season there are always several threads on various OU message boards about this topic

[ljbab728]

I am not sure where you are buying $10 or $20 tickets but I haven't seen them. Are those the ticket prices at the end of the first quarter?

I have, on occasion, had a extra ticket to sell when I go to a game. Sometimes I couldn't sell it for any price unless I wanted to wait outside the stadium until after the game started which I would never do.

[ou48A]

Who would help OU pay for a major stadium expansion?

[dankrutka]

It is very easy to get cheap tickets outside of the stadium. My friends all do it for every home game and pay between $5 and $40, but most games a ticket is about $20.

[kevinpate]

it seems odd to me for tickets to roll out in any noticeable level at 20 and less. why is something so desired also so devalued? anyone?

[ljbab728]

it seems odd to me for tickets to roll out in any noticeable level at 20 and less. why is something so desired also so devalued? anyone?

I think that, at least in part, it is connected to the fact that every game is on television. Many people go to Norman on game days just to party. If they can't get a cheap ticket they can watch the game on television at many venues.

[Bunty]

OU stadium won't have too much competiton from OSU's. I've heard due to high ticket pricing they have yet to fill their new 60,000 seat stadium.

[rcjunkie]

OU stadium won't have too much competiton from OSU's. I've heard due to high ticket pricing they have yet to fill their new 60,000 seat stadium.

What ?,
The fans that attend OSU football have nothing to do with the fans that attend OU football, so of course there's no competition.

[SoonerDave]

As a long-time Sooner fan, previous season ticket holder, and current get-them-at-the-gate ticket buyer, let me address/dispel some OU football ticket myths.

The waiting list is over 10,000!!

The waiting list is one of the biggest urban myths surrounding OU football. Is there a list? Yes. Are there about 10,000 names on it? Last time I heard, yes. But what's reality?

Reality is that some families have entered multiple names on the list over multiple years. Reality is that, over the years, when names get come up on the list, many decline the tickets because they've been on the list for years and don't want them anymore, or have other means of getting them. Some economic conditions change, some marital situations change, some family situations change, but the final reality is that list of 10,000 people doesn't represent 10,000 additional bodies waiting to go into the stadium. Others don't realize that getting season tickets doesn't guarantee (at all) getting Texas tickets, or that the tickets available are endzone.

Another part of the ticket list is that Sooner Club tickets (as already noted in this thread) are available if you're willing to donate to the Sooner Club. I haven't checked lately, but last I heard was that $200 ($100 per seat) would get you the option on a pair of home season tickets almost immediately.

So, yeah, there's a list. But there's no way you can leverage that list into a rationalization to bump OMS' capacity by another 15K.

Next myth: Tickets are hard to come by.

My family used to have season tickets back in the 80's. My mom lost interest in attending, and they were lousy seats, so she had me try to sell them each gameday - and I discovered then that no one wanted them. After repeatedly getting lucky to sell them for $10, my mom turned in the tickets. Since that time, I've never been on any season ticket list, and I've never missed a home OU game for lack of a ticket. I can cherry pick the best seats and generally get a pair wherever I want for $30-$40 - and, yes, that included "big" games like Texas Tech in '08. Exceptions? One comes to mind - I did pay $70 for a single to the 2000 OU-Nebraska game.

I tell people this and they look at me like I'm looney, but I've been doing it now for close to 30 years...did it solo when I was single (really easy to do because scalpers hate to get stuck with singles), and now I get tickets this way for my son and me. And the difference I've saved over face value has more than helped me pick up tickets for Texas.

As far as stadium expansion goes, Joe C has stated within the last three years (as I recall) that press box renovation is the next item on the list. The OMS pressbox, a luxury, top-notch facility when it opened in 1974, is now one of the pits in the conference due to its age. The idea is to build an entirely new box with suites that will run the entire length of the west upper deck, but the cost will be inflated due to the logistical issues in not having a site for cranes - parking garage to the west, stadium interior to the east. Plans were apparently working toward that goal back when the economy crashed, and all the funds dried up.

Joe C has also repeatedly stated that the best "investment" seats are for those "between the 20's" (his words). I don't see OU embarking on any project to bowl the corners or build a north endzone deck anytime soon, as those are precisely the seats that aren't seen as the best investment - especially when people can barely give away those tickets on game day. Its hard to convince a big time donor to invest a portion into an eight or nine-figure project less-than-premium seating.

All this expansion talk should be balanced against the master plan OU devised for the stadium some years ago, and most of which has been realized - the exterior redesign/brickwork, east expansion, scoreboards, and the like - and press box renovation is on that very list. So long as Joe C. is the OU AD, I think that will remain the next, smartest priority.

[MikeLucky]

As a long-time Sooner fan, previous season ticket holder, and current get-them-at-the-gate ticket buyer, let me address/dispel some OU football ticket myths.

The waiting list is over 10,000!!

The waiting list is one of the biggest urban myths surrounding OU football. Is there a list? Yes. Are there about 10,000 names on it? Last time I heard, yes. But what's reality?

Reality is that some families have entered multiple names on the list over multiple years. Reality is that, over the years, when names get come up on the list, many decline the tickets because they've been on the list for years and don't want them anymore, or have other means of getting them. Some economic conditions change, some marital situations change, some family situations change, but the final reality is that list of 10,000 people doesn't represent 10,000 additional bodies waiting to go into the stadium. Others don't realize that getting season tickets doesn't guarantee (at all) getting Texas tickets, or that the tickets available are endzone.

Another part of the ticket list is that Sooner Club tickets (as already noted in this thread) are available if you're willing to donate to the Sooner Club. I haven't checked lately, but last I heard was that $200 ($100 per seat) would get you the option on a pair of home season tickets almost immediately.

So, yeah, there's a list. But there's no way you can leverage that list into a rationalization to bump OMS' capacity by another 15K.

Next myth: Tickets are hard to come by.

My family used to have season tickets back in the 80's. My mom lost interest in attending, and they were lousy seats, so she had me try to sell them each gameday - and I discovered then that no one wanted them. After repeatedly getting lucky to sell them for $10, my mom turned in the tickets. Since that time, I've never been on any season ticket list, and I've never missed a home OU game for lack of a ticket. I can cherry pick the best seats and generally get a pair wherever I want for $30-$40 - and, yes, that included "big" games like Texas Tech in '08. Exceptions? One comes to mind - I did pay $70 for a single to the 2000 OU-Nebraska game.

I tell people this and they look at me like I'm looney, but I've been doing it now for close to 30 years...did it solo when I was single (really easy to do because scalpers hate to get stuck with singles), and now I get tickets this way for my son and me. And the difference I've saved over face value has more than helped me pick up tickets for Texas.

As far as stadium expansion goes, Joe C has stated within the last three years (as I recall) that press box renovation is the next item on the list. The OMS pressbox, a luxury, top-notch facility when it opened in 1974, is now one of the pits in the conference due to its age. The idea is to build an entirely new box with suites that will run the entire length of the west upper deck, but the cost will be inflated due to the logistical issues in not having a site for cranes - parking garage to the west, stadium interior to the east. Plans were apparently working toward that goal back when the economy crashed, and all the funds dried up.

Joe C has also repeatedly stated that the best "investment" seats are for those "between the 20's" (his words). I don't see OU embarking on any project to bowl the corners or build a north endzone deck anytime soon, as those are precisely the seats that aren't seen as the best investment - especially when people can barely give away those tickets on game day. Its hard to convince a big time donor to invest a portion into an eight or nine-figure project less-than-premium seating.

All this expansion talk should be balanced against the master plan OU devised for the stadium some years ago, and most of which has been realized - the exterior redesign/brickwork, east expansion, scoreboards, and the like - and press box renovation is on that very list. So long as Joe C. is the OU AD, I think that will remain the next, smartest priority.

End. Of. Thread.

[ou48A]

As a long-time Sooner fan, previous season ticket holder, and current get-them-at-the-gate ticket buyer, let me address/dispel some OU football ticket myths.

The waiting list is over 10,000!!

The waiting list is one of the biggest urban myths surrounding OU football. Is there a list? Yes. Are there about 10,000 names on it? Last time I heard, yes. But what's reality?

Reality is that some families have entered multiple names on the list over multiple years. Reality is that, over the years, when names get come up on the list, many decline the tickets because they've been on the list for years and don't want them anymore, or have other means of getting them. Some economic conditions change, some marital situations change, some family situations change, but the final reality is that list of 10,000 people doesn't represent 10,000 additional bodies waiting to go into the stadium. Others don't realize that getting season tickets doesn't guarantee (at all) getting Texas tickets, or that the tickets available are endzone.

Another part of the ticket list is that Sooner Club tickets (as already noted in this thread) are available if you're willing to donate to the Sooner Club. I haven't checked lately, but last I heard was that $200 ($100 per seat) would get you the option on a pair of home season tickets almost immediately.

So, yeah, there's a list. But there's no way you can leverage that list into a rationalization to bump OMS' capacity by another 15K.

Next myth: Tickets are hard to come by.

My family used to have season tickets back in the 80's. My mom lost interest in attending, and they were lousy seats, so she had me try to sell them each gameday - and I discovered then that no one wanted them. After repeatedly getting lucky to sell them for $10, my mom turned in the tickets. Since that time, I've never been on any season ticket list, and I've never missed a home OU game for lack of a ticket. I can cherry pick the best seats and generally get a pair wherever I want for $30-$40 - and, yes, that included "big" games like Texas Tech in '08. Exceptions? One comes to mind - I did pay $70 for a single to the 2000 OU-Nebraska game.

I tell people this and they look at me like I'm looney, but I've been doing it now for close to 30 years...did it solo when I was single (really easy to do because scalpers hate to get stuck with singles), and now I get tickets this way for my son and me. And the difference I've saved over face value has more than helped me pick up tickets for Texas.

As far as stadium expansion goes, Joe C has stated within the last three years (as I recall) that press box renovation is the next item on the list. The OMS pressbox, a luxury, top-notch facility when it opened in 1974, is now one of the pits in the conference due to its age. The idea is to build an entirely new box with suites that will run the entire length of the west upper deck, but the cost will be inflated due to the logistical issues in not having a site for cranes - parking garage to the west, stadium interior to the east. Plans were apparently working toward that goal back when the economy crashed, and all the funds dried up.

Joe C has also repeatedly stated that the best "investment" seats are for those "between the 20's" (his words). I don't see OU embarking on any project to bowl the corners or build a north endzone deck anytime soon, as those are precisely the seats that aren't seen as the best investment - especially when people can barely give away those tickets on game day. Its hard to convince a big time donor to invest a portion into an eight or nine-figure project less-than-premium seating.

All this expansion talk should be balanced against the master plan OU devised for the stadium some years ago, and most of which has been realized - the exterior redesign/brickwork, east expansion, scoreboards, and the like - and press box renovation is on that very list. So long as Joe C. is the OU AD, I think that will remain the next, smartest priority.

SoonerDave you make many good points that I agree with.

The latest information that I have heard from Joe C was given in a KREF radio interview just a few months ago. In that interview Joe C. said that OU would build a south end zone project before it built a new press box.
The press box would cost more because of the location of the garage but it’s still a doable project.
IMHO A crane could be placed on top of the parking garage. Large cranes could be used at both ends of the stadium. Some material could be driven up the garage ramps to the top then hoisted with a crane to were its needed

[SoonerDave]

SoonerDave you make many good points that I agree with.

The latest information that I have heard from Joe C was given in a KREF radio interview just a few months ago. In that interview Joe C. said that OU would build a south end zone project before it built a new press box.
The press box would cost more because of the location of the garage but it’s still a doable project.
IMHO A crane could be placed on top of the parking garage. Large cranes could be used at both ends of the stadium. Some material could be driven up the garage ramps to the top then hoisted with a crane to were its needed

Hmm...just so I understand, you personally heard Joe C say this on KREF? If so, it sounds like Joe C. has changed his mind on stadium priorities, or perhaps someone has aimed some $$$ to the Athletic Department earmarked for a south endzone project. I heard an interview with him on the Animal where Al Eschbach asked him what was next for the football stadium, and he specifically stated the next stadium project would be the press box renovation. I don't even think a south endzone project is even in the stadium master plan, and that's been Joe C's guidance through all the stadium updates.

I know there has been a lot of sentimental interest in bowling the corners, and the practical difficulties with such a project due to the fact that the existing south stands are not built at the same rake angle as the rest of the stadium - making such a project a technical and financial challenge -- all for less-than-optimal seating.

I know Joe C is not an advocate of additional endzone seating, so what he said on KREF is very, very surprising, as it contradicts what he had made as a pretty plain objective on three fronts - the desire to build seats between the 20's, the desire to balance seats with ticket demand, and that the press box project was part of the stadium master plan.

I'm going to see if I can send Joe C an email and set us all straight. I figure the worst he can do is ignore me


EDIT: I have sent an email to the Athletics Department at OU asking them to clarify this issue. I'll post here when and if they reply. Not meaning to doubt what you heard, OU48A, it's just that what was said contradicts so much of what he's said in the past about stadium upgrades...also, the press box crane issue clearly can be resolved, but doing so is more expensive than in what would be a more conventional construction venue.

[earlywinegareth]

I think it's likely they have architectural plans that give them them options of a massive expansion or a scaled-down one. I think it's most likely that they'll tear down the old pressbox and build a structure spanning the entire west side that includes suites. Closing in the south endzone with an upper deck would take megabucks!

[ou48A]

Hmm...just so I understand, you personally heard Joe C say this on KREF? If so, it sounds like Joe C. has changed his mind on stadium priorities, or perhaps someone has aimed some $$$ to the Athletic Department earmarked for a south endzone project. I heard an interview with him on the Animal where Al Eschbach asked him what was next for the football stadium, and he specifically stated the next stadium project would be the press box renovation. I don't even think a south endzone project is even in the stadium master plan, and that's been Joe C's guidance through all the stadium updates.

I know there has been a lot of sentimental interest in bowling the corners, and the practical difficulties with such a project due to the fact that the existing south stands are not built at the same rake angle as the rest of the stadium - making such a project a technical and financial challenge -- all for less-than-optimal seating.

I know Joe C is not an advocate of additional endzone seating, so what he said on KREF is very, very surprising, as it contradicts what he had made as a pretty plain objective on three fronts - the desire to build seats between the 20's, the desire to balance seats with ticket demand, and that the press box project was part of the stadium master plan.

I'm going to see if I can send Joe C an email and set us all straight. I figure the worst he can do is ignore me

Joe C. is very good at responding to correspondence. Please let us know what he says.
You said that you heard him about 3 years ago. What I heard on KREF was about 6 months ago. Joe C indicated that neither would be built until funding was identified (donations).

About the south end zone project, the rake angel can be accounted for. Joe C explained that they would remove the existing stadium decking and leave the existing super structure in place. They would add to the super structure to meet the desired rake angel then put the deck and seats back on. They would build 2 levels of decks. While the sets in the corners are not the most desirable because they would require fewer materials they are by far the cheapest to build. These could be sold to visiting fans or discounted. I also know that there is a desire to have more covered parking for coaches and staff during non-game days. This could be accomplished with a south end zone project. I’m not sure how this would affect OU athletic projects but OU’s bond rating was dropped several months ago. This makes it more expensive to borrow money.

Over the years I have heard various things said about planed OU projects only to see them changed both in time and scope. So it’s entirely possible that what either of us heard could be different from the current line of thinking. It’s also possible that Joe C was over ruled. It’s happened before.

[SoonerDave]

Joe C. is very good at responding to correspondence. Please let us know what he says.

I certainly will!

Now, this is purely speculation on my part, but I've heard expansion talk stirring here and there, which makes me wonder if something is in the works, perhaps in the more serious planning stages. Obviously no time to do anything for this year, but perhaps next. If nothing else, an answer from Joe C would settle things.

Interesting discussion on how they would address the rake issue. That's the first time I've heard anything substantive about how they would approach it, (removal of the seats and decking, retain and modify superstructure, then restore seats and decking. That suggests to me that, at a minimum, more than just casual architectural discussions have been undertaken on the details of such a project.

Will relay what I hear from Joe C when/if he answers.

-David

[Bunty]

What ?,
The fans that attend OSU football have nothing to do with the fans that attend OU football, so of course there's no competition.

As they say at OSU there's always next year.