Sam Torn discusses 2018 Kyle Field gameday enhancements

Key notes from Sam Torn interview

• What we try to do is create the finest game day atmosphere in America. We know for sure that the thing that makes the best game day atmosphere is winning, and we will with Jimbo Fisher. We may not win a National Championship this year, but we will win and Kyle Field is going to be awesome.
   
• As far as what we are doing at Kyle Field, I want to make sure you listeners here at TexAgs understand exactly why we are doing this. The fact of the matter is in college football there is a declining attendance, while Texas A&M is more insulated, we are not immune to it. As generational change occurs, it is very important that the experience be relevant, so we are able to keep attracting a great people. We studied eleven different areas, with over 150 people. Last year we implemented a few things in-game, and surveyed a wide array of fans after the season and had a tremendous response. Including a tremendous response from our young people and our students.
   
• We have a younger generation of fans, our game day experience is driven by fans. We have a minimum of 31,000 student fans at Kyle Field. The atmosphere is driven by students. We put in a music operator that is a subtle word for a DJ. That was very well received by students, younger fans, by football players, and by recruits. Not as well received by older fans. We will continue with the music operator job. His role is to never step on the band to never step on the yell leaders, but fill in where needed.
   
• Jimbo Fisher has a few things that are important to him. As you know Jimbo has bought fully into Aggieland, so the 12th Man is very important to Jimbo. So on the team entrance he wants the 12th Man to be more emphasized, so we have a huge flag that either Cullen Gillaspia, or someone else will be running out with. He wants to emphasize that the first five minutes of the second half has to be high energy coming out at halftime that is very important to him. The fourth quarter is also very important to Jimbo, so we have been working with 12th Man Productions and the football team on creating something special going into the fourth quarter. You will see all of these things in terms of our game day presentations.
   
• In addition, we have added two new tailgate towers. We have added a Pepsi market on the southeast activation tower with a large variety of concessions and we are working with Levy. Our deputy director of athletics has made it her mission to work with Levy. Under her direction they have restructured their staff, reorganized how they do things and they have added some things. I can tell you a lot work has been done. We also thought we could do better in out fan zone. There will be live music every game, a huge kids area with inflatables, and eleven different food trucks, local vendors right out there in the fan zone for folks.
   
• We are going to use the Hall of Champions in a much more interactive way. One thing we are doing this year is we are opening Reed Arena and Blue Bell Park so that fans that need to get out of the heat and use a nice clean restroom can use those two facilities.
   
• Our two goals were to make the most intimidating environment possible so we can win, and secondly to provide a superior fan experience so that fans will come to the games and see what we have for them.
   
• We already have the best experience there is in college football. It is important to keep things that are iconic and unique to Texas A&M. We are not messing with anything. The five top things from the survey were Aggie traditions in the stadium, being part of the 12th Man, and we will continue to make sure we do that.
   
• We will be moving to digital ticketing and digital parking, that won’t happen this year but in the future. It’s a digital world and we are trying to touch every area. Menu options is another big one, so many are gluten-free so we are going to continue to expand our options in that area as well.
   
• We will still be doing the “That’s a fighting Texas Aggie First Down” and the reason why is because when we surveyed we found out that the students liked it, and the football players liked it. The football players really like it because it recognizes offensive success but mainly because it really bugs the opposing defense. There even has been moments where the opposing team has turned around and made obscene gestures at Aggie fans after we do that. We understand that it is controversial but we are keeping it because the students and football players like it. We consulted with the yell leaders, and they felt like it was the right thing to do. It really was more their call.
   
• All of this is because we have great cooperation between the university, the athletic department, and the twelfth man foundation. The understanding of the twelfth man all of our fans and keeping what you need push we will keep pushing the envelope because people change and times change.