Permanent seat expansion will not happen until -

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Given the U's ability to fill TCF stadium currently...this seems like a huge 'cart before the horse' scenario. I LOVE that Fleck has said this and man...I hope it happens. But maybe we should fill our current stadium for a couple of years before talking expansion. As noted on a different thread...the ticket 'Supply' currently far outweigh's 'Demand'. You need a few years of 'Demand' outweighing 'Supply' for this to even enter the realm of a legitimate discussion.
 

DougMN said:
But maybe we should fill our current stadium for a couple of years before talking expansion.
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He didn't say we're going to start this tomorrow. It's a goal.

Should Gophers fans not talk about Rose Bowls as a goal until we win 10 games for a couple years? Was Fleck wrong to talk to his WMU players about Cotton Bowl immediately after the 2015 season because they had never won 9 games in a season?
 

joshvanklomp said:
He didn't say we're going to start this tomorrow. It's a goal.

Should Gophers fans not talk about Rose Bowls as a goal until we win 10 games for a couple years? Was Fleck wrong to talk to his WMU players about Cotton Bowl immediately after the 2015 season because they had never won 9 games in a season?
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Actually we (WMU) had a few nine-win seasons before last Fall, just not under Fleck.
 


joshvanklomp said:
He didn't say we're going to start this tomorrow. It's a goal.

Should Gophers fans not talk about Rose Bowls as a goal until we win 10 games for a couple years? Was Fleck wrong to talk to his WMU players about Cotton Bowl immediately after the 2015 season because they had never won 9 games in a season?
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Chill, Josh. I fully support it- read the rest of my post. Comparing the Rose Bowl to stadium expansion is a straw man. It's good to have goals.
 


If you build it...will they come?
 

If we start wining the West and fill the stadium, there will be no problem whatsoever raising $$$ for expansion. Heck, cash from the BTN alone may rise more quickly than anyone could imagine.
 

ncgo4 said:
If we start wining the West and fill the stadium, there will be no problem whatsoever raising $$$ for expansion. Heck, cash from the BTN alone may rise more quickly than anyone could imagine.
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Construction money isn't the limiting factor on any potential stadium expansion. Nor is the quality of the team/program. Both of those goals are achievable.

I'm highly skeptical of this ever coming to fruition because of the long term decline we're starting to see and will continue to see in people attending live sporting events. That goes double for a large urban market where there's plenty of competition and things to do during Gopher football season.

I'm also skeptical of how interested in football young people are - as compared to the ever expanding list of available diversions, and how capable of affording live games the coming generation(s) will be. Most young people today will have less disposable income than their parents at a similar age as they grow older.

Finally, +30K seats is a lot. Even in the sunniest possible future there's going to be lots of empties for all but the biggest B1G games. An incremental expansion in chunks of 5-10K seats seems more sustainable than building a mega upper deck for the once or twice a year (maybe) that it would get close to filled.
 

I'll throw this out there.

Given some explosion in popularity / demand:

Before they actually put general population sitting up there, I bet they'd be more likely to put some new suites / club type level up there with fewer seats but more amenities.

Other team's expansions are more along those lines.
 



fmlizard said:
Construction money isn't the limiting factor on any potential stadium expansion. Nor is the quality of the team/program. Both of those goals are achievable.

I'm highly skeptical of this ever coming to fruition because of the long term decline we're starting to see and will continue to see in people attending live sporting events. That goes double for a large urban market where there's plenty of competition and things to do during Gopher football season.

I'm also skeptical of how interested in football young people are - as compared to the ever expanding list of available diversions, and how capable of affording live games the coming generation(s) will be. Most young people today will have less disposable income than their parents at a similar age as they grow older.

Finally, +30K seats is a lot. Even in the sunniest possible future there's going to be lots of empties for all but the biggest B1G games. An incremental expansion in chunks of 5-10K seats seems more sustainable than building a mega upper deck for the once or twice a year (maybe) that it would get close to filled.
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I think you are spot on.
 

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