Houston and SMU moving up/ford stadium info

[Pony81]

Ummm... Sorry Cargo but the new stadium is to replace a stadium built for high school football and to increase revenue through suites. Not to mention show a commitment to D1 when recruiting.
Survival and revenue enhancement is the goal.
Same with BB, as a native Houstonian - I've been to Hofeinz arena and - while it was great back in the day- it's now dated and needs a facelift. Kudos to UH for stepping and modernizing the facilities. But again, this is done to enhance revenue and recruiting ie: for survival.
Neither SMU nor UH can deliver their respective TV markets to a P5 league. Thus the motivation to include them will be ancillary - recruiting , academics, and the funding to demonstrate a commitment to be athletically relevant.

[RGV Pony]

Agree for the most part w Pony81...at the same time id be interested to hear thoughts on this: TCU Houston Tulane were once behind us w regard to stadia...now w remodeled AGC and the new Houston and Tulane digs we are prob 4th out of 4...agree/disagree?

[smupony94]

Tulane seats 25,000 and can't be expanded

[sbsmith]

Tulane seats 25,000 and can't be expanded

But it's newer so it's automatically better right

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Tulane seats 25,000 and can't be expanded

Wow. That's pretty bad.

[Pony81]

I'd say Amon Carter is #1 in the SMU, UH, TULANE group.
But SMU is #2 with the UH stadium close behind.
Given the impact of TV ( attendance is down at most college stadiums) I'm not too worried about absolute size but rather stadium amenities. I'm hopeful that SMU tricks out Ford - better WiFi, scoreboard, beer/ wine sales, and convert the south end zone to an area where adults can eat and drink in a boulevard type social setting - so to sell it out and increase per ticket monetary yield.

[NTXCoog]

I'd say Amon Carter is #1 in the SMU, UH, TULANE group.
But SMU is #2 with the UH stadium close behind.
Given the impact of TV ( attendance is down at most college stadiums) I'm not too worried about absolute size but rather stadium amenities. I'm hopeful that SMU tricks out Ford - better WiFi, scoreboard, beer/ wine sales, and convert the south end zone to an area where adults can eat and drink in a boulevard type social setting - so to sell it out and increase per ticket monetary yield.

Obviously UH's new stadium has the size advantage. So I assume you think Ford stadium is better due to amenities. But I believe UH's stadium has more suites, more club seats, and loge boxes. The premium seats are also much closer to the field which would increase demand and revenue. Bigger scoreboard. Lots of experience already with alcohol sales. Family Fun Zone. Four party decks.

Ford is a great stadium. I'm just not sure how it can be better especially with you preference for revenue. More and better premium seats and more total seats generally generates more revenue.

Amenities details at http://houstonfootballstadium.com/home/about/

[fifty]

Yeah but do you have a grassy knoll where 100 6 year olds can use a cardboard box as a tobaggan for 3hours?

[Rayburn]

Officials from multiple P5 conferences have met with our administration and have told us what needs to be done in order to go P5. Do you honestly think we built a new stadium, are practically building a new basketball arena, adding more facilities, getting elevated to Tier one status and getting our season ticket number to 20,000 just to stay in the AAC.

Bullcrap.

Also, UH has very little local support as well.

[Digetydog]

For academic reasons, UH has no shot at the Pac12 and no shot at the B10. That is a fact.

If UH wants to move up, they need to convince the ACC to add SMU and UH as a "Western Wing" in big TV markets.

Alternatively, UH needs to hope that the B12 need an "extra" team for some reason (B12 Title Game). If that happens, UH has the advantage over SMU b/c the B12 already has a team in the DFW area.

That's where you're wrong.

Officials from multiple P5 conferences have met with our administration and have told us what needs to be done in order to go P5. Do you honestly think we built a new stadium, are practically building a new basketball arena, adding more facilities, getting elevated to Tier one status and getting our season ticket number to 20,000 just to stay in the AAC.

The school who should be worried about being left behind, is SMU and here's why:
1. Lack of commitment to football.
2. Religious affiliated school. (Which is a nono in the eyes of the Pac)
3. Lack of fan support.

#2 on the list is not true. While we were founded by Methodists, we are no more a "Church School" than USC (Methodist) is. SMU has very little in common with BYU, Notre Dame, or Baylor. 1&3 (plus, the impact of the Death Penalty) are why we aren't in a P5 conference at this time. Time will tell if we can fix that before the next round of "mergers."

Houston has a real shot at getting into the ACC (they took Louiseville) and the B12 (they have Tech), but ZERO shot at getting in the B10 or the P12.

If the P12 wouldn't take OU/OSU for academic reasons, Pigs will fly before they take UH.
The B10 schools are mad that Nebraska lost its AAU status - it would take a court order for them to add UH.

[sbsmith]

You can add the ACC and the Big 12 to the "ZERO shot" group. The ACC isn't going west of the Mississippi unless UT-Austin is involved and the Big 12 is at its saturation point for Texas schools.

[Digetydog]

Tulane seats 25,000 and can't be expanded

1) Wiki says it is 30,000.
2) While it will never have the capacity of Tulane's old stadium, it can probably be expanded to 40-45K by adding seats in the EZ.
3) Even if it cannot be expanded much, they have (and will always have) the Superdome available for games involving large crowds.

[couch 'em]

I don't understand why everyone ranks ford so high. Everyone with a new stadium has suites. what amenities do we have that are so amazing? We are on par with Tulane, Houston and all other stadia of similar size and age.

[WordUpBU]

Tulane seats 25,000 and can't be expanded

1) Wiki says it is 30,000.
2) While it will never have the capacity of Tulane's old stadium, it can probably be expanded to 40-45K by adding seats in the EZ.
3) Even if it cannot be expanded much, they have (and will always have) the Superdome available for games involving large crowds.

1- According to seat data on their boards it is around 23.6k actual capacity with generous SRO estimates getting the 30k listed number. Real capacity with SRO is probably in the 25-26k range.

2- They have the ability to expand it per quotes in various media.

3- True.

[NTXCoog]

Lots of Tulane fans upset with the stadium capacity controversy. All along, the administration has promoted and sold a stadium with 30k capacity. It was only later and as quietly as possible revealed that the the number of seats was MUCH lower, around 24k.

Why use the 30k number? They didn't want to advertise the actual seating had a number that started with a 2 because it pegs them as small time.