Bobby Dodd Renovation in the NE Stands

[apatriot1776]

I hear this line of thinking a lot. What if we're down, what if we lose, what if we're mediocre? It seems we're planning for mediocrity. I'd rather plan for success.

Florida State reduced their capacity by 12,000 the same year they went 13-0.
Oklahoma reduced their capacity by 6,000 in the middle of 7 straight 10-win seasons and coming off 2 playoff appearances.
Alabama removed 2,000 seats just before winning their 6th national championship. They have been in serious talks to remove one of the upper decks and reduce by 10,000 more.
Nebraska is in the middle of removing 5,000 seats.
Florida is in the middle of removing 4,000 seats.
USC removed 16,000 seats in 2017-2019.
South Carolina is in the middle of removing over 10,000 seats as part of their stadium renovation.
Ohio State has taken out 2,000 seats since 2017.
Notre Dame removed 3,000 seats and is planning to remove more.
UNC removed 9,000 seats as part of their move to chairbacks.
Kansas removed 6,000 seats in their recent stadium renovation.
Tennessee recently reduced capacity by 3,000 as part of their recent stadium renovation.
UCLA tarped over 20,000 seats they couldn't fill.
Kentucky reduced capacity by 9,000 in 2015.
Vanderbilt removed 7,000 seats as part of their newest renovation.
Wisconsin removed 6,000 seats in 2021.

Would you perhaps say all of college football is planning for mediocrity?

 

[bobongo]

Would you perhaps say all of college football is planning for mediocrity?

I'd say we are, when the chief reason is that we might be mediocre and thus not able to fill them. Just about every one of those stadia seat more than the proposed new capacity of Grant Field.
Do we have to follow the herd?

 

[apatriot1776]

I'd say we are, when the chief reason is that we might be mediocre and thus not able to fill them. Just about every one of those stadia seat more than the proposed new capacity of Grant Field.
Do we have to follow the herd?

We don't have to follow the herd, but there are macro reasons why the herd is headed a certain direction...
And those macro reasons apply just as much to GT as they do to the other 31 P4 football teams and 26 P5 basketball teams and 14 NFL teams and 18 NBA teams and 20 NHL teams and 20 NASCAR tracks that have reduced capacity since 2014
I hope as much as anyone that GT is able to swim against the current, but being realistic, in the best-case scenario we are only able to sell tickets to the stadium we've got instead of giving them away

 

[bobongo]

We don't have to follow the herd, but there are macro reasons why the herd is headed a certain direction...
And those macro reasons apply just as much to GT as they do to the other 31 P4 football teams and 26 P5 basketball teams and 14 NFL teams and 18 NBA teams and 20 NHL teams and 20 NASCAR tracks that have reduced capacity since 2014
I hope as much as anyone that GT is able to swim against the current, but being realistic, in the best-case scenario we are only able to sell tickets to the stadium we've got instead of giving them away

That's where we disagree. In the best-case scenario, Brent Key builds a team that will pack the place out. I'd rather we planned for that, than mediocrity.
And I think it's a probability. That's how much faith I have in the man.

 

[Oakland]

I'd say we are, when the chief reason is that we might be mediocre and thus not able to fill them. Just about every one of those stadia seat more than the proposed new capacity of Grant Field.
Do we have to follow the herd?

I haven't read the whole thread, but donors and fans want a better game-day experience—better seats, updated concourses, etc. The current administration won’t let Tech football slip back into mediocrity. A downsized stadium with an intense, packed crowd could actually become a model for other schools. Look at Northwestern; they are building a new 35,000-seat stadium for exactly this reason.

 

[bobongo]

I haven't read the whole thread, but donors and fans want a better game-day experience—better seats, updated concourses, etc. The current administration won’t let Tech football slip back into mediocrity. A downsized stadium with an intense, packed crowd could actually become a model for other schools. Look at Northwestern; they are building a new 35,000-seat stadium for exactly this reason.

I think what they want is to win.

 

[apatriot1776]

That's where we disagree. In the best-case scenario, Brent Key builds a team that will pack the place out. I'd rather we planned for that, than mediocrity.
And I think it's a probability. That's how much faith I have in the man.

I may disagree but I admire the confidence

 

[bobongo]

I may disagree but I admire the confidence

I have confidence he will build the Jackets into a perineal powerhouse if he stays long enough. It is my hope that, given his ties to Tech, he will.

 

[apatriot1776]

I have confidence he will build the Jackets into a perineal powerhouse if he stays long enough. It is my hope that, given his ties to Tech, he will.

I too think he has the potential! My point is, given the direction of all sports, I don't know if winning is enough to pack a 50k+ house with real, sold seats.
I mean we would probably consider our best-case outcome to be the next Indiana, and they struggled to fill their 53k stadium in a national championship year

 

[Root4GT]

I have confidence he will build the Jackets into a perineal powerhouse if he stays long enough. It is my hope that, given his ties to Tech, he will.

Your confidence is strong! Admirable at that. As the Lone Ranger do you have a Tonto for a companion?

Your confidence is Not a reason to make a major business decision. There is plenty of data that supports upgrading BDS and reducing the capacity.

You have made this thread interesting.

 

[matt0]

That's where we disagree. In the best-case scenario, Brent Key builds a team that will pack the place out. I'd rather we planned for that, than mediocrity.
And I think it's a probability. That's how much faith I have in the man.

Prioritizing the experience over capacity doesn't necessarily mean they are planning for mediocrity. Some of these numbers people are shooting out are disheartening though.. 40k.. 35k.. Yikes.

 

[Ramble1885]

I haven't read the whole thread, but donors and fans want a better game-day experience—better seats, updated concourses, etc. The current administration won’t let Tech football slip back into mediocrity. A downsized stadium with an intense, packed crowd could actually become a model for other schools. Look at Northwestern; they are building a new 35,000-seat stadium for exactly this reason.

I wish I was there, but from what I've seen on footage the 86-02 setup was good in terms of week to week crowds and rowdiness, especially in the O'Leary years. If we're winning, it'll still be plenty loud, BDS traps noise anyway because of the Edge/Fanning + Wardlaw buildings.

 

[AUFC]

I hear this line of thinking a lot. What if we're down, what if we lose, what if we're mediocre? It seems we're planning for mediocrity. I'd rather plan for success.

What boggles my mind is that we are going to pay ten figures to downsize. Why not just leave the stadium alone, put the money to better use, and see what happens? We might be pleasantly surprised.
If we downsize, what's the best that can happen? We start winning more and gain fans, prompting another stadium addition. Then here we go, pouring money back into the stadium to increase capacity back to where it was. Since the mid 80s, we've gone from 60,000 down to 42,000, then back up to 55,000, and now we're planning to go back down to the mid 40s. It's the world's most expensive yo-yo.

If McCamish was 5,000 cap, I think the team would be in a much better spot right now to be entirely honest. Nobody cares about the team because the 50% filled games are boring as hell. Because nobody cares about the team, they are severely underfunded. When a (mostly GT) crowd is engaged with the game, it’s a really fun place to be.

Volleyball figured this out. They play in a raucous, rowdy, 1,000 capacity high school gym most games and have been perennially Top 25 in recent years. The games are fun as hell to attend and I don’t know a lick about the sport but I follow the team closer than any GT sport outside of FB, MBB, and WBB.

 

[Lil G]

I’m really not buying the decline of people attending games. Covid messed with numbers and some historically better teams started underperforming due to NIL and coaching misses.

And I see zero reasons to believe the Tech fanbase won’t continue to grow as it has been since juicebox left.

Average FBS attendance dropped from 47k in 2008 to 42k in 2019, so colleges are supposed to bet hundreds of millions on that being a continuous trend for the next couple decades? The average for 2025 was 42k.

I know for each stadium downsize there is some analyst who did their undeniable math on it being potentially profitable in X number of years but honestly I think they are out of their friggin minds

FSU was not struggling to sell those 12,000 tickets, and you’re telling me the 265 million loss was a good idea? The interest on that loan alone might outweigh the extra amount they’re able to make per ticket for those “premium” new seats.
Btw- the renovation was literally seatbacks and new concessions. Good luck convincing people the price hike you’d need to justify that loan is worth it with those amazing new features.

Same story but even worse with Alabama if they decide to remove 10k seats that are sold each game.
Bama nosebleeds cost $150-300 on average.
You’re telling me removing
1.5 - 3 million per Saturday in ticket revenue and paying off 200-300 million + interest will be paying off sometime during any of our lifetimes? Yea right.

Again, maybe the equation is out there that sees returns. But until somebody can actually can even begin to explain that to me- I’ll believe

1. Somebody is doing a really good job justifying their job by selling schools the idea that less seats but better seats = $$$$

2. Schools are convincing themselves that it matters because other schools are doing it

Don’t be fooled by the idea that profit analysts are flawless at their job.
Look at the car market right now.
The entire industry is axing mass affordable cars to try and sell more feature packed cars with better margins.
Likely pressured by shareholders and some smart analysts who can see the future, most companies saw a 10%-20% loss in sales in 2025.
Many new models companies are pushing with ‘premium’ features are seeing a historic flop, as their bread and butter vehicles that didn’t get chopped have been mostly steady.
Look I’m sure there’s a lot of economic issues that make this a different equation, but tell me the analysts were presenting 10%-20% losses in those model pitch meetings. No shot.

My point is. Just because it’s trending doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Remember spiky hair? Many fell victim.
I wish Tech would somehow not become victim. Or maybe just victimize a couple sections I can avoid and continue to enjoy leg room.
Do what works. Spend money on coaches and players. Fill seats. Piss on em.

 

[roadkill]

UNC removed 9,000 seats as part of their move to chairbacks.

My sources show they removed about 12,500 seats (about 20% of prior capacity) as part of their chairback upgrade in 2018. Regardless of the number, UNC’s renovated seating was used as an example in the survey our former AD sent out for feedback on stadium improvements.

I would be surprised if we aren’t following the survey results to some degree.

 

[bobongo]

There is plenty of data hindsight that supports upgrading BDS and reducing the capacity.

FIFY

 

[bobongo]

Snort, guffaw. They opened their season already? Who did they play? WTF, it's only May...
Oh, I get it, this was last year's opener. Against...Old Dominion, followed by Kennesaw State and Indiana State. Three straight snoozers.
I'm sure our crowd vs. Tennessee will be similar.

 

[roadkill]

I would be surprised if we aren’t following the survey results to some degree.

Too late to edit my post, but as I recall, the survey also asked if fans would be willing to pay a premium for a better stadium experience. Interpret that as you see fit.

 

[apatriot1776]

Snort, guffaw. They opened their season already? Who did they play? WTF, it's only May...
Oh, I get it, this was last year's opener. Against...Old Dominion, followed by Kennesaw State and Indiana State. Three straight snoozers.
I'm sure our crowd vs. Tennessee will be similar.

Yeah, and the crowds that we draw against a Mercer matter as buy games are literally 16% to 33% of our home schedule.

We’ve had 50 years of only being able to fill the corners with dog barkers once every other year. It’s been almost universal here for years that building 15 miles of bleachers in the Upper North was a mistake. We make a plan to size the stadium such that we don’t have those problems anymore, and now y’all want to extrapolate increasing attendance forever because we were able to find 8000 people willing to take a free ticket. And when provided with examples of how the sitting NC coming off a CFP appearance can’t fill their stadium, we argue that being unable to attract people to 3 of their 7 home games is irrelevant. I’ll be honest, I just don’t get it.

 

[roadkill]

FSU was not struggling to sell those 12,000 tickets

How do you know this? FSU’s reported 5-year average attendance is a bit over 62k, including the last two years of reduced capacity. Before their latest renovation (24-25), their capacity was about 80k. And reported attendance numbers are typically sold tickets, not butts in seats.

Declining attendance overall is not a fad like spiked hair. There is plenty of evidence, and some obvious reasons why, that it is not a short-term blip. Big-screen HDTV with near-universal coverage is one obvious reason, and it's also why our revenue has shifted from ticket sales to media payouts. Demographic trends are another.

We're still paying for the last time we thought attendance was going to continue increasing after a few good seasons.