ensign_beedrill said:

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Captain Pablo said:

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ptothemo said:

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Underground tunnel from the bullpen to right behind the mound. Couple that with a just right walk-up song, and you get the best entrance imaginable for a closer.

Well, short of Kenny powers coming in on a wagon pulled by a donkey, anyway.

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I actually like this idea

Closer walks through a tunnel to the mound, the ground opens up, and our closer emerges via platform elevator, like Ivan Drago just before the Creed exhibition fight

Except the visiting closer doesn't get an elevator. He has to walk up stairs, or walk out to the mound like they do now

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With a smoke machine and light show.

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But no James Brown

May he Rest In Peace

ptothemo said:

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Underground tunnel from the bullpen to right behind the mound. Couple that with a just right walk-up song, and you get the best entrance imaginable for a closer.

Well, short of Kenny powers coming in on a wagon pulled by a donkey, anyway.

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I will be interested to see what attendance is like when we get to a space where regular season conference game tickets are for sale during the season. If you ask me, having a smaller space than that, is leaving money on the table and alienating fans. It's become more and more frustrating the last 3 or 4 years trying to get tickets for decent games. It's a complete crapshoot!

And I am not even mentioning the amount of folks that want season tickets and cannot get them.

There always is a delicate balance for any entertainment or sports venue between empty seats and revenue generation. I don't pretend to have an answer to that dilemma, but I perceive when the fan base insists on coaching changes and spending more that they understand that puts even more emphasis on revenue generation.

Except at Fenway and Wrigley the balance has usually favored the walk-up fan. Bjork has been careful in publicly interacting to acknowledge fan concerns and addressed all of the potential improvements recently. He noted especially that they are very early in the process of deciding and planning and fundraising is not fully underway yet.

Expect to hear more!!

Hop said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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2020 - 4,695 (8th)
2019 - 4,926 (7th)
2018 - 5,026 (7th)
2017 - 5,319 (6th)

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Just saw this. When you have 4,000 actual seats and use grass berms in the 6,000 capacity number, you are going to average 5,000. Put in some actual seats and allow patrons to buy reserved seats in advance and that number will go up a lot. There's a lot of people over 40 years old that never bothered to go because they weren't going to purchase general admission tickets on a bump of grass.

Now with Schloss reviving the program's heartbeat, I think getting 9-10k for a quality opponent on the weekend with an adequate capacity facility is very feasible.

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I don't buy it. I'm sure some folks stay home out of fear they won't have a seat, but I don't think its in the many hundreds yet alone the thousands.

First off, Blue Bell has something like 5,400 seats, not 4,000.

We just haven't cultivated a fanbase that's going to show up consistently unless the Longhorns are coming through town or its a Saturday night. We've had plenty of top 5 SEC teams roll through on a Thursday and we won't break 5,000. Shoot, we've threatened to not break 4,000 on some Thursdays. And Sundays, if its too hot or perhaps the opponent isn't stellar, attendance often drops off a cliff even though the seating chart remains the same.

And as the numbers show above, our fans are sensitive to performance. I agree 100% that if Schloss has us playing elite most years, more folks will show up and expansion will become more pressing. But Schloss hasn't coached a game yet.

twk said:

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I'm pretty sure we could sell 1000 additional season tickets easily if we had the seats. There would still be some disappointed folks because there wouldn't be enough unsold seats for them to waltz up to Olsen on a Friday night and buy a reserved seat ticket. We'd have to extend the upper deck down both lines to get to the point that we build more seats than we can sell as season tickets (assuming we keep a significant GA section on the first base side, which I believe we always will do).

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I don't think anyone is asking for that. But if you don't buy season tickets, I would hope there are some reserved seating you could buy when single-game tickets go on sale. Or at least offer a smaller package of weekend or midweek games.

twk said:

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I'm pretty sure we could sell 1000 additional season tickets easily if we had the seats. There would still be some disappointed folks because there wouldn't be enough unsold seats for them to waltz up to Olsen on a Friday night and buy a reserved seat ticket. We'd have to extend the upper deck down both lines to get to the point that we build more seats than we can sell as season tickets (assuming we keep a significant GA section on the first base side, which I believe we always will do).

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In a stadium as small as a BBP, is there really a bad seat? This isn't dodger stadium with 4 decks!

Farmer1906 said:

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twk said:

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I'm pretty sure we could sell 1000 additional season tickets easily if we had the seats. There would still be some disappointed folks because there wouldn't be enough unsold seats for them to waltz up to Olsen on a Friday night and buy a reserved seat ticket. We'd have to extend the upper deck down both lines to get to the point that we build more seats than we can sell as season tickets (assuming we keep a significant GA section on the first base side, which I believe we always will do).

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I don't think anyone is asking for that. But if you don't buy season tickets, I would hope there are some reserved seating you could buy when single-game tickets go on sale. Or at least offer a smaller package of weekend or midweek games.

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I know you don't think you're asking for that, but, in reality, you're just about there. As things stand right now, with season tickets sold out, we occasionally have some unclaimed visitor player comp tickets that can be sold, but that's about it. The situation wouldn't change if we converted the 3rd base berm to armchair seats because those would all be snapped up by folks who want season tickets. Maybe if we did both berms, but I doubt it--BCS is growing and retirees who move to town are all too eager to get season tickets. The AD isn't going to spend money on new seating then refuse to sell it as season tickets (unless it's dedicated to GA) because that doesn't make sense. For all the complaining about season ticket holder seats going unused, the fact is our crowds for midweek games and Sunday games would be smaller than they are if season ticket holders didn't use their tickets for these games just because they've already made the investment.

West Point Aggie said:

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twk said:

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I'm pretty sure we could sell 1000 additional season tickets easily if we had the seats. There would still be some disappointed folks because there wouldn't be enough unsold seats for them to waltz up to Olsen on a Friday night and buy a reserved seat ticket. We'd have to extend the upper deck down both lines to get to the point that we build more seats than we can sell as season tickets (assuming we keep a significant GA section on the first base side, which I believe we always will do).

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In a stadium as small as a BBP, is there really a bad seat? This isn't dodger stadium with 4 decks!

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I'm not getting your point. Where does Dodger Stadium fit into this? We're talking about reserved seats, not premium seats. Hop's point, which is a good one, is that there are a lot of folks who don't want to make the trip to the ballpark without knowing they have a seat (and for older folks, we really are talking about a seat and not space on a berm). My point is that just about any amount of reserved seating we are likely to build in the near future will be sold as season tickets, so that won't help the fans who want to make the occasional game, but don't want to invest in season tickets.

Mid week game attendance is a problem for every SEC school. unfortunately everyday can't be the weekend or Friday night. Build more capacity if you want to be able to sell single game reserved seating. But that should occur after every fan that wants a season ticket can get one. Once the season tickets are sold, getting those folks to show up every game is all about the fan experience. Make the product better, make the experience fun and they will come. Minor league baseball figured it out.

twk said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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twk said:

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I'm pretty sure we could sell 1000 additional season tickets easily if we had the seats. There would still be some disappointed folks because there wouldn't be enough unsold seats for them to waltz up to Olsen on a Friday night and buy a reserved seat ticket. We'd have to extend the upper deck down both lines to get to the point that we build more seats than we can sell as season tickets (assuming we keep a significant GA section on the first base side, which I believe we always will do).

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I don't think anyone is asking for that. But if you don't buy season tickets, I would hope there are some reserved seating you could buy when single-game tickets go on sale. Or at least offer a smaller package of weekend or midweek games.

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I know you don't think you're asking for that, but, in reality, you're just about there. As things stand right now, with season tickets sold out, we occasionally have some unclaimed visitor player comp tickets that can be sold, but that's about it. The situation wouldn't change if we converted the 3rd base berm to armchair seats because those would all be snapped up by folks who want season tickets. Maybe if we did both berms, but I doubt it--BCS is growing and retirees who move to town are all too eager to get season tickets. The AD isn't going to spend money on new seating then refuse to sell it as season tickets (unless it's dedicated to GA) because that doesn't make sense. For all the complaining about season ticket holder seats going unused, the fact is our crowds for midweek games and Sunday games would be smaller than they are if season ticket holders didn't use their tickets for these games just because they've already made the investment.

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Not really.

I think the situation would change because all those people getting season tickets are the same people who would buy out any singles available. You're reducing the "x" # of hardcore fans from the demand pool.

But assume you're right. We build more seats and sell them all via season tickets. That would be awesome. I would love the season attendance avg to be north of 6k, 7k, 8k, etc. We want to be a big boy then that's more revenue for Schloss and co.

We could do it all again in a few years if we keep filling up. We'll either max out space or eventually get to a point where a couple of hundred singles get sold each year to games.

Sure, at some point, you get enough seats that you can't sell them all as season tickets (see Kyle Field). But, as I stated, that probably will require extending the upper decks down the line. I'd love to see us do that, but that isn't on the drawing board right now. Whatever we do in the short term is unlikely to absorb all the pent up season ticket demand.

twk said:

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Sure, at some point, you get enough seats that you can't sell them all as season tickets (see Kyle Field). But, as I stated, that probably will require extending the upper decks down the line. I'd love to see us do that, but that isn't on the drawing board right now. Whatever we do in the short term is unlikely to absorb all the pent up season ticket demand.

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Maybe and that wouldn't be the end of the world. It would still increase the supply of actual seats. Even if they were sold, it would increase the odds of them ending up available on stubhub or TexAgs.

It may also introduce new SRO areas which might be better options than berms for some.

Lance Uppercut said:

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I didn't read everything...but just checking in to say the hills are awful and I'd prefer temporary bleachers to ever sitting on the berm to try and watch a game. If I ever had GA I found somewhere to stand.

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I'm with Lance. When I have to get a GA ticket to get in, I usually just stand. I can't tolerate the berms, but would probably be OK with a bleacher seat for an inning or 3. I always end up standing and walking some at any baseball game I am at, because whatever seats there are, are designed for a 5 foot 6 inch skinny guy. I am neither!

I want to see a few series each year, and I want to sit in the shade and relative quiet of the third base reserved sections. This expansion won't do much for my particular needs, but it seems to me to be appropriately sized.

SEC baseball is trending up quickly In the past, aggie tickets at Plainsman in Auburn were easy to get and relatively inexpensive but last year's series was much more difficult and much more expensive and we were talking about 2 teams fighting it out for the cellar on the last weekend of the season!

aggiedaddie said:

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quote from schlossnagle:

I met with Mississippi state in 2018 before they hired coach Lemonis. You cannot tell me that you can draw 12-14,000 fans in Starkville and we can't do that here. We have 55,000 students and a ton of living Former Students. We have to create a ballpark that allows people to have a great time, and we need to build space for people to come. We need to build these things before we have success. I'd love to have seating in the outfield and a 360-degree concourse. You need high-level areas for big donors and space for the fans that don't want to pay a lot. I'm going to push for all of those things. Ross Bjork has the vision as well, and our job is to raise money and build it. I'm hopeful that happens in the next 18-24 months.

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That sounds like a great vision!!

What ever happens to the renovations? I guess the money is paying off Jimbo

As much as it cost to go to these games

I want more shade

I will make a bet with you today that zero national championships will be won within the next 20 years.
The problem ain't the facilities.

Agreed

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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Buford T. Justice said:

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I will make a bet with you today that zero national championships will be won within the next 20 years.
The problem ain't the facilities.

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There is at least a chance with baseball.

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Lol we were just in the final four 2 years ago and things seem to be trending up.