Stadium expansion

20,330 Views | 139 Replies | Last: 6 days ago by Charlie Moran
ReelAg6
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LB12MEEN said:

I was informed he was off the ledger.

His contract states he will be paid in full in 2032
BQ_90
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ReelAg6 said:



Progress on the demo of the old cages.

i think we can confirm they are gone.

My question is I thought they where tearing down the coaches offices and locker room, are they not or is that after they finish up this construction
TAMU1990
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LB12MEEN said:

I was informed he was off the ledger.


They just bit the bullet and prepaid him?
Angry Beaver
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BQ_90 said:

ReelAg6 said:



Progress on the demo of the old cages.

i think we can confirm they are gone.

My question is I thought they where tearing down the coaches offices and locker room, are they not or is that after they finish up this construction

Everyone made it sound like there was no stadium construction. Maybe they're just cleaning the area and moving on?

Looks like the bleachers are getting relocated again.
Dr. Horrible
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Angry Beaver said:

BQ_90 said:

ReelAg6 said:



Progress on the demo of the old cages.

i think we can confirm they are gone.

My question is I thought they where tearing down the coaches offices and locker room, are they not or is that after they finish up this construction

Everyone made it sound like there was no stadium construction. Maybe they're just cleaning the area and moving on?

Looks like the bleachers are getting relocated again.
Bleachers come down each year in the offseason. I have pictures of it from last year summer camp.
twk
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BQ_90 said:

ReelAg6 said:



Progress on the demo of the old cages.

i think we can confirm they are gone.

My question is I thought they where tearing down the coaches offices and locker room, are they not or is that after they finish up this construction

I don't believe they will "tear down" that part, but they will renovate and repurpose (some of) that area. For sure, they want to stop the roof leaks.
BQ_90
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ok that makes sense
aggieland09
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General admission tickets are great for kids and families. There's really not a bad seat in the ballpark.
Jim Benson 63
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While we may not need a new stadium, we do need more Blue Bell parking adjacent parking.

The "player development" building destroyed about 1/3 of the already limited parking.

dermdoc
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Jim Benson 63 said:

While we may not need a new stadium, we do need more Blue Bell parking adjacent parking.

The "player development" building destroyed about 1/3 of the already limited parking.



We should have moved the whole thing. The footprint is way too small,
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SA-AG72
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dermdoc said:

Jim Benson 63 said:

While we may not need a new stadium, we do need more Blue Bell parking adjacent parking.

The "player development" building destroyed about 1/3 of the already limited parking.



We should have moved the whole thing. The footprint is way too small,

I'm concerned about the lack of master planning. My $0.02 worth.
dermdoc
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SA-AG72 said:

dermdoc said:

Jim Benson 63 said:

While we may not need a new stadium, we do need more Blue Bell parking adjacent parking.

The "player development" building destroyed about 1/3 of the already limited parking.



We should have moved the whole thing. The footprint is way too small,

I'm concerned about the lack of master planning. My $0.02 worth.


Master planning
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12th Man Ag
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It's hard to master plan when the buildings and stadiums we build are at the whim of donors.
RED AG 98
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Master plan == do what the football team want
Angry Beaver
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What does Vision 2020 say?
Angry Beaver
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Angry Beaver said:

What does Vision 2020 say?

Or the Campus Master Plan?
ReelAg6
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Can't believe they expanded the rec the way they did. Had that expansion been done differently or not at all, it would be much easier to expand BBP.
Dr. Horrible
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ReelAg6 said:

Can't believe they expanded the rec the way they did. Had that expansion been done differently or not at all, it would be much easier to expand BBP.
Just cut the outfield down shorter like other SEC stadiums have. More HRs = better long ball recruiting!
LOYAL AG
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Dr. Horrible said:

ReelAg6 said:

Can't believe they expanded the rec the way they did. Had that expansion been done differently or not at all, it would be much easier to expand BBP.
Just cut the outfield down shorter like other SEC stadiums have. More HRs = better long ball recruiting!


One of the versions someone mocked up when Schloss was here had a LF wall at like 310 or 315 but 30 ft tall with seats on top like the Crawford boxes. Always thought that was a great idea for Olsen. Put an old looking digital scoreboard in that wall for other games and maybe the Ags bullpen in LCF.
"The goal of socialism is communism." - Vladimir Lenin
LB12MEEN
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ReelAg6 said:

LB12MEEN said:

I was informed he was off the ledger.

His contract states he will be paid in full in 2032

Well
I was told the majority of the money came from one individual that knows that individual. Might have misunderstood him on the timing but I thought it was already provided.
Gig ‘Em Baby!
BQ_90
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That can be true but doesn't mean they paid him off in one lump sum. Normally a coach wants to be paid out over several years for tax purposes
Angry Beaver
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ReelAg6 said:

LB12MEEN said:

I was informed he was off the ledger.

His contract states he will be paid in full in 2032

Just in time to start the next buy out
Charlie Moran
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So many misguided ideas and theories here

-Love the thought that 31 years of loyalty means anything to the 12th MF. They forgot you once your check cleared until it's time for you to renew and write another one unless you are high up in PP.
-The seats don't exist anymore argument . That was used as false justification for ignoring existing seating contracts in the Kyle Field Reno. If that's valid they could renumber your existing seats or change the actual seat out for a different one and claim that they no longer exist. Would that be acceptable ?
- Existing season ticket holders should select based on an equivalence of a new $500,000 donor. In what world do you think the 12th MF would value your years of loyalty at this price point ? The PP system was created to allow them to cater to new money and existing mega donors. If Mr Top 300 football priority points donor wants your baseball tickets and parking, you'll be kicked to the curb.
"I didn't come here to lose!" Charley Moran
twk
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Charlie Moran said:

So many misguided ideas and theories here

-Love the thought that 31 years of loyalty means anything to the 12th MF. They forgot you once your check cleared until it's time for you to renew and write another one unless you are high up in PP.
-The seats don't exist anymore argument . That was used as false justification for ignoring existing seating contracts in the Kyle Field Reno. If that's valid they could renumber your existing seats or change the actual seat out for a different one and claim that they no longer exist. Would that be acceptable ?
- Existing season ticket holders should select based on an equivalence of a new $500,000 donor. In what world do you think the 12th MF would value your years of loyalty at this price point ? The PP system was created to allow them to cater to new money and existing mega donors. If Mr Top 300 football priority points donor wants your baseball tickets and parking, you'll be kicked to the curb.


I could be wrong, but I don't think the people in charge are as stupid as you think.

The guy who's in the top 300 but has only given for football isn't going to stop giving for football just because he can't get baseball tickets. That's exactly the type of move that makes zero sense financially, as other schools have found out to their cost. The TMF already has this guy hooked; giving him a chance for season tickets doesn't move the needle financially. Now, if this guy is willing to write a big check for the baseball renovation, that's different.

The seats at Kyle that were the subject of those contracts really don't exist anymore. That's a fact. A new baseball park would have given us a chance to make the pie bigger in such a way that it would have been easier to placate more people. By staying within the current framework, it's a zero sum game.
Charlie Moran
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I don't think that they are stupid, more like devious or conniving. If you think that "seats don't exist argument" is valid what's to prevent them from tearing out your section, adding club seats and claiming your seats no longer exist ? Or simply replacing say a reserved bench section with chair backs and making the same argument to allow them to charge more for the new seats and allow their top PP holders access where none existed ?

"I didn't come here to lose!" Charley Moran
twk
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Charlie Moran said:

I don't think that they are stupid, more like devious or conniving. If you think that "seats don't exist argument" is valid what's to prevent them from tearing out your section, adding club seats and claiming your seats no longer exist ? Or simply replacing say a reserved bench section with chair backs and making the same argument to allow them to charge more for the new seats and allow their top PP holders access where none existed ?



If they want to turn my section into club seating, then I just hope they give us a chance to re-up at the club price level. We are pretty close to paying that already. The problem would be that they don't really have space in the Diamond Club to accommodate more people (at least not according to my friends with club seats).

My personal view of the economics of the situation is that there is no seating solution to raising the money needed for a renovation. When you look at what we pay and compare it to what fans at other schools are paying, we are already near the top of the market. It would be difficult to raise the money for a new park through seat revenue--it's impossible to do so in the current park.

Thus, the only real questions are, how many big donors will it take to get that money raised, and what do you have to offer them to get the checks written? The more you look at the math, the more I think you will see that it simply is going to take someone loving baseball and writing a big check for their love of Aggie baseball (or a handful of these people), rather than people looking to rationally make donations in exchange for better seats, because those kinds of donations just won't be big enough to fund the project.
Renn_dls
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I just hope they keep my GA section. I would be heartbroken if 203/202 got canned
Charlie Moran
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I agree with those thoughts. It's a shame when they did Blue Bell someone didn't have a vision to allow for expansion. I think the whole university is just now coming to grips with we have a behemoth on our hands that unless we begin to somehow curtail enrollment will overwhelm our existing infrastructure. The growth of the institution seems unsustainable
"I didn't come here to lose!" Charley Moran
greg.w.h
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Charlie Moran said:

I agree with those thoughts. It's a shame when they did Blue Bell someone didn't have a vision to allow for expansion. I think the whole university is just now coming to grips with we have a behemoth on our hands that unless we begin to somehow curtail enrollment will overwhelm our existing infrastructure. The growth of the institution seems unsustainable
I'm not sure baseball has anything to do with the growth of enrollment nor that it is impacted by it.

What the school has been negligent about is facility upkeep so their capital infrastructure that could be kept often decays past keeping.

Regarding Blue Bell: the fan narrative has been that any fan should be able to walk up anytime and get a good seat that is "affordable." Very few fans understand their role in funding sports and fewer correlate our success with the need for continuing higher funding.

Byrne is responsible for many of the decisions that sought to limit seating at least until venues sold out regularly. That though process is how you grow a business and it is incompatible with permanently cheap tickets, but so is willing.

Sharp overruled him in seating at Kyle and we have since added more premium seating and presumably the revenue increases are keeping up as a result. Hegar, Ballabino, and Trev all seemed to understand both sides of the equation but still are moving forward some significant improvements. I'd guess we will hear on an expansion once Earley is more consistently campaigning into the post season.

While football and men's basketball are both potential revenue generators, I think for us it's mainly football right now. And there has been more emphasis on funding additional House agreement-allowed spend which is not nothing at $20.3 million this year for additional scholarships and institution-sponsored NIL/House payments.
Angry Beaver
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Charlie Moran said:

I agree with those thoughts. It's a shame when they did Blue Bell someone didn't have a vision to allow for expansion. I think the whole university is just now coming to grips with we have a behemoth on our hands that unless we begin to somehow curtail enrollment will overwhelm our existing infrastructure. The growth of the institution seems unsustainable

I clearly remember Byrne saying that Olsen was done in a way that allowed for expansion whenever more money became available. That's why the berms were created the way they were.

I think what happened was that a new admin and new coaches had different ideas than what Byrne left behind, and everything changed. There's definitely less interest now to turn either of the berms into seats, and they would rather use temporary bleachers.
Angry Beaver
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greg.w.h said:

Byrne is responsible for many of the decisions that sought to limit seating at least until venues sold out regularly.


I wouldn't say that's what happened. Byrne always wanted to have up to date facilities. He just wanted to make sure that they were built with available money and not take out a giant loan for something we weren't even sure was going to sell out. It was more of a way of spreading money to all sports and grow as the fans did.
greg.w.h
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Angry Beaver said:

greg.w.h said:

Byrne is responsible for many of the decisions that sought to limit seating at least until venues sold out regularly.


I wouldn't say that's what happened. Byrne always wanted to have up to date facilities. He just wanted to make sure that they were built with available money and not take out a giant loan for something we weren't even sure was going to sell out. It was more of a way of spreading money to all sports and grow as the fans did.
He decreased seating. So it did happen.
BQ_90
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Angry Beaver said:

greg.w.h said:

Byrne is responsible for many of the decisions that sought to limit seating at least until venues sold out regularly.


I wouldn't say that's what happened. Byrne always wanted to have up to date facilities. He just wanted to make sure that they were built with available money and not take out a giant loan for something we weren't even sure was going to sell out. It was more of a way of spreading money to all sports and grow as the fans did.

at the time, we where staying in the B12. Olsen only sold out for really big games (sips). You had no trouble getting regionals tickets, individual game tickets, conference games etc.

BB said they had to raise all the money first before construction. The original project was going to be bigger. Only issue was the money had not been donated. Blue Bell came in with 10 million or maybe more donation to basically get everything we got with notion that later on there would phase 2. Well we moved to SEC, Kyle field, and phase 2 fell by the wayside.

for whatever reason, baseball is not a priority to our mega donors. Whether that is the ADs we've had or the donors.

LOYAL AG
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Charlie Moran said:

So many misguided ideas and theories here

-Love the thought that 31 years of loyalty means anything to the 12th MF. They forgot you once your check cleared until it's time for you to renew and write another one unless you are high up in PP.
-The seats don't exist anymore argument . That was used as false justification for ignoring existing seating contracts in the Kyle Field Reno. If that's valid they could renumber your existing seats or change the actual seat out for a different one and claim that they no longer exist. Would that be acceptable ?
- Existing season ticket holders should select based on an equivalence of a new $500,000 donor. In what world do you think the 12th MF would value your years of loyalty at this price point ? The PP system was created to allow them to cater to new money and existing mega donors. If Mr Top 300 football priority points donor wants your baseball tickets and parking, you'll be kicked to the curb.



Slow catching up to this thread.

First bullet - this was me so let me respond. I'm pretty sure all I've asked for is to have access to seats in my same part of the new stadium at whatever price they're being offered at. If they're even a little bit smart they know baseball has to be handled differently than football because the people that go to the games are different. Probably 80% of those at Olsen live within 30m of College Station. Football is probably the opposite. That's not a recipe for maximum revenue but it is one for maximum attendance. In football those two are compatible, in baseball they probably aren't. They're doing a disservice to long time ticket holders and the program if they don't acknowledge that loyalty and give us a chance to keep our seats or offer us something in the same area.

When they reseated after the 2012 remodel they ignored that desire and lost one of if not the most prominent Aggie Baseball fan there was at the time in McCarley. We'll see if they handle the next reseating differently. If they force me to move to some random other place in the stadium without a shot at lower deck behind the visitors dugout I'll go do something else with my time and money.

Second bullet - At Kyle they literally demolished the stadium and replaced it with a new stadium that has a significantly different configuration. The simple truth is your seats didn't exist. That's kind of an extreme example and I'm pretty confident we won't see Olsen completely replaced at least not anytime soon. If we do that's probably a different conversation. If they replace my chair with a new chair but the configuration is the same that's not a reseat, it's routine maintenance. If they convert 103 to club seating just give me the opportunity, that's all I've ever wanted.

Third - not sure where this came from so I won't comment on it except to say there's a core group of people that have been baseball ticket holders for decades and we'd like to think that will matter if/when it comes time to remodel and reseat. Baseball isn't football and if all that matters are PP you're going to have a whole lot more empty seats at Olsen than you have now and you're going to kill the best atmosphere in the country. Hopefully they know that. How does that equate to allocating seats, that's above my pay grade. But it should.

It's also worth noting that it's only been about five years that you had to be a donor to buy season tickets so if baseball was all you bought you have very little PP because you weren't buying them with seat licenses like you do in football. Again, the two aren't the same and shouldn't be handled the same.
"The goal of socialism is communism." - Vladimir Lenin
Charlie Moran
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Appreciate your opinion. A couple thoughts

Yes baseball isn't football and should be viewed differently by the 12th MF. I would counter with basketball is different than football yet I had to pony up a lot of dough when G Rollie was replaced to keep something akin to my season tickets. My previous years of buying season tickets didn't amount to squat in their minds only how much I was willing to contribute towards Reed and pay for what is in effect a PSL
Football is the money engine for all sports. They will trample anyone to generate whatever amount they can. The "seats don't exist " argument is a dangerous precedent to allow them to renege on past promises or agreements. I would caution anyone against siding with the people using this as a justification for change. The next victim might be you.
"I didn't come here to lose!" Charley Moran
 
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