# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Norman >  OU Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium

## Chicken In The Rough

There has been a Wikipedia entry for several years stating that there is a new master plan being developed for the stadium. Does anyone have any information about this? Are there any plans, tentative or otherwise, to expand. Do they intend to close in the south end zone or wrap the upper deck around?

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## Spartan

There are plans but I do not think they will ever close in the south end zone because the Switzer Center is in a very precarious position and would probably have to be moved.

Oh here's an idea..let's just build a dorm tower or a women's basketball arena against the south end zone to cap sound in like that. Oh wait, that's a bad idea because it's an idea from..

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## Easy180

Seem to do ok at home even with the lack of deafening crowd noise other stadiums enjoy

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## ljbab728

> Seem to do ok at home even with the lack of deafening crowd noise other stadiums enjoy


The OU crowd can do a good job when the situation calls for it.  I was at the Texas Tech game a couple of years ago when it was unbelievable.  Even some of the national media said it was the best atmosphere they had ever seen at a college game.

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## Spartan

Yeah, I would not be surprised if we're not the loudest stadium in the nation. It's just that people take it for granted. OU has a phenomenon of some of the nation's most committed fans..OU season tickets are like the nation's #4 or #5 most-contested item in divorce court lol.

Texas Tech just doesn't have that. They have a lot of bad fans who are drunk or on drugs. And in a bad year like this for them, all those fans vanish and go back to their lives.

OU is probably the best combination of classy environment and scary home field advantage you can possibly get.

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## ljbab728

> Yeah, I would not be surprised if we're not the loudest stadium in the nation. It's just that people take it for granted. OU has a phenomenon of some of the nation's most committed fans..OU season tickets are like the nation's #4 or #5 most-contested item in divorce court lol.
> 
> Texas Tech just doesn't have that. They have a lot of bad fans who are drunk or on drugs. And in a bad year like this for them, all those fans vanish and go back to their lives.
> 
> OU is probably the best combination of classy environment and scary home field advantage you can possibly get.


 Agreed, Spartan.  Stoops home field winning record speaks for itself.  No other school can match it.

I'm not that familiar with Texas Tech fans.  There were quite a few near me in Norman for the game I mentioned from 2 years ago.  They were very quiet and disappointed but weren't bad fans from what I saw.

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## kevinpate

> The OU crowd can do a good job when the situation calls for it.  I was at the Texas Tech game a couple of years ago when it was unbelievable.  Even some of the national media said it was the best atmosphere they had ever seen at a college game.


Well, other teams have game days.  In Oklahoma, because football is the primary religion for many, it's more than a game, it's a revival

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## Chicken In The Rough

I disagree somewhat regarding the crowd noise. I've been to many college games in stadiums around the nation including hundreds at OU. The Sooner crowd can get loud at certain times, but for the most part, we're fairly tame. It's as if the crowd is not really in to it much of the time. Now, I have not been to a game in about 4 years - maybe it has changed.

But, I am curious as to how the stadium might be expanded. The two upper decks don't match in style or structure. The south end zone has the Switzer Center, and also doesn't match up to either the east or the west sides. The east upper deck was built too small, in my opinion, and cannot be expanded. I just can't determine how it will be done without tearing down the whole thing and starting over. 

OU's is the 20th largest stadium in college football - a stat that seems rather underwhelming for a program with such a long and glorious history. It is only the 4th largest in the Big 12; It has 10,000 fewer seats than that dump, the Cotton Bowl; and, it has 18,000 fewer seats than Texas' stadium in Austin. To keep up with the Joness, I think it should be boosted to around 100,000 seats.

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## john60

I'd imagine the next renovation would be to horseshoe the north and west sides to match the upper deck on the east side, and build a new press box.  It seems like that's what they did in Austin. That would probably decrease the west side's upper deck numbers some, but it would match throughout and increase the number to probably close to 100,000.  It would also provide for more club seating and suites, which I assume are huge revenue sources for the school.  And I think that press box is pretty outdated.  There's a huge open field in the north endzone, with the only issues being the WWII memorial fountain and the views from the offices and athletic tutoring center located inside the north endzone of the stadium.

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## ljbab728

> I'd imagine the next renovation would be to horseshoe the north and west sides to match the upper deck on the east side, and build a new press box.  It seems like that's what they did in Austin. That would probably decrease the west side's upper deck numbers some, but it would match throughout and increase the number to probably close to 100,000.  It would also provide for more club seating and suites, which I assume are huge revenue sources for the school.  And I think that press box is pretty outdated.  There's a huge open field in the north endzone, with the only issues being the WWII memorial fountain and the views from the offices and athletic tutoring center located inside the north endzone of the stadium.


That is certainly a possibility for expansion but Texas did not tear down and rebuild anything on their press box side.  They just continued the upper decks on the opposite side around the end zone area.  Bowling in the south endzone would obviously be the easiest of the expansion possibilites and I don't see any major issues about the Switzer Center prohibiting that.  I'm sure the athletic department has some tentative plans even if nothing definite is planned at the moment.

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## ou48A

Chicken In The Rough I have been to well over 200 OU home games.
The crowd noise has improved some over the years but compared most other  stadiums I have been in you are correct IMHO when you indicate that OU crowds are mostly fairly tame. There are a few notable exceptions, Tech 2008. With better acoustics the crowd noise could be improved. Designers should take this into consideration when making major stadium changes.

OU has 2 major desired stadium improvements in mind. One of them according to Joe C. is a new press box that would run the length of the west side of the stadium with suites. The second is an enclosed south end. According to Joe C they would remove the existing decking but leave the existing superstructure and other facilities in place including the indoor part of the Switzer center. They would add to the existing super superstructure and build a double deck addition with suites. It would have the appearance of being connected to both the east and west sides of the stadium. This would add several thousand more seats to the stadiums capacity. 

But OU hasn’t been able to raise enough money for either project and the top money priority for athletics seems to be the new 
athletics / honors dorms. I am not sure where they are on fund raising for the dorm project but I believe they still need major donations for this?

Normally there are plenty of deeply discounted tickets for sale outside the stadium for nearly every home OU game. I can’t envision any major stadium expansions until the secondary ticket market becomes consistently much tighter, the economy improves and or until OU is able to secure enough large donations.

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## adaniel

I'm not so sure that expanding the stadium to 100K is the best idea. In addition to the point made in the previous post you have to assume that eventually OU Football is going to go through some rough times. Its just the natural way programs cycle. Its going to be very hard trying to fill that stadium at is current capacity, much less 100K, when OU is posting losing seasons. 

I'm sure you can find some photos of it online, but I remember watching some of the UT games this year and seeing how empty DKR Stadium was. I'm sure those folks thought that there was enough demand to keep butts in seats down up and down times. Obviously that wasn't the case.

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## Dustin

You'd think sometime in the very near future they would close in the south endzone..  It only makes sense..  There is no doubt all those extra seats would be filled in a heartbeat..

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## ljbab728

> You'd think sometime in the very near future they would close in the south endzone..  It only makes sense..  There is no doubt all those extra seats would be filled in a heartbeat..


There might not be someone sitting in every seat at every game just as now but they would currently have no problem selling all of the seats given the  waitlists for season tickets.  I doubt that they will be out surveying the cost of tickets outside of the stadium by scalpers to make this decision.

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## MikeLucky

> You'd think sometime in the very near future they would close in the south endzone..  It only makes sense..  There is no doubt all those extra seats would be filled in a heartbeat..


There IS DOUBT they will be filled in a heartbeat...  They aren't good seats and it would cost A LOT to make that reno happen.  OU would never get it's money back on that addition.  And if you add that many seats, you also lose your scarcity that currently allows you to charge upwards of $90 per ticket....

Filling the corners in will satisfy peoples need to make the stadium more symetrical, but it would be a BAD fiscal move for the athletic department... which is why it won't happen.

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## Andrew4OU

Expanding to 100,000 would not be smart.  Just take a look at Texas.  Sure, they may have filled it the past two years, but what happens when they have a down season?  Thousands of empty seats.  I think 90,000 would be a perfect number for OU.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there 8,500 people on the waiting list for season tickets? It's a hot commodity. Let's keep it that way.  It's all about supply and demand.   

As far as expansion goes, bowling in the south endzone would not be impossible.  Wisconsin's stadium had a similar set up to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium:  two different pitches for the horseshoe and their endzone.  They managed to fill in the corners, albeit awkwardly.  

Texas expanded its upper deck to wrap around their north endzone, but stopped at a certain point because the pitches of the decks did not match. However, it still looks great.  

And finally, the fans are loud when they need to be.  Think about the opponents we play at home, especially this season. It's hard to get up for the Iowa States and Utah States.  Anddddd, think about the school we're fans of: Oklahoma.  Arguably the greatest college football program of all time.  They're naturally going to get up for us. 

I've been to Autzen Stadium in Oregon and Kyle Field on three different occasions.  Both were shockingly ( I had to cover my ears with my hands at Oregon) loud.  Up until Texas Tech 2008, I didn't think Owen Field could ever get as loud as those two stadiums.  I was wrong.  Again, we're loud when it counts.  

Before


After


Before


After

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## ou48A

> There might not be someone sitting in every seat at every game just as now but they would currently have no problem selling all of the seats given the  waitlists for season tickets.  I doubt that they will be out surveying the cost of tickets outside of the stadium by scalpers to make this decision.


Actually ljbab728 they do keep track of the secondary / scalpers market to some degree outside the stadium because it’s another way to gage the actual real demand for tickets.
I have heard Joe C say several times that they want to keep it a tight market for OU tickets.
There is a waiting list for season tickets but OU still had single game tickets for sale for every home game and there were lots of extra tickets for sale for all but 2 home games.
Also a good point is made adaniel when he talks about down periods.

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## ljbab728

> Actually ljbab728 they do keep track of the secondary / scalpers market to some degree outside the stadium because it’s another way to gage the actual real demand for tickets.
> I have heard Joe C say several times that they want to keep it a tight market for OU tickets.
> There is a waiting list for season tickets but OU still had single game tickets for sale for every home game and there were lots of extra tickets for sale for all but 2 home games.
> Also a good point is made adaniel when he talks about down periods.


I understand about wanting to keep a tight market and that is a good philosphy.  I attended many games when the capacity was 60,000 and the stadium wasn't full so it's all relative.  As for the extra tickets for sell, most of those were from tickets returned by the visiting teams that they were allotted and weren't able to sell.  All seats allotted for season tickets are sold out every year as you can tell by the waiting list.  The stadium could easily absorb an additional 8 - 10 thousand seats without adversely affecting anything.  The ticket prices should not be affected in the least.  
I still doubt the university has people outside of the stadium on game days counting how many tickets are being held up for sale and asking all of them what the price is.  They know which games will be tight on tickets and which will always be available without doing that.
As for WichitaSooner's worry that the University would never get their money back, that isn't one of their concerns.  They won't be borrowing money to add on to the stadium if and when it happens so there won't be any debt to worry about repaying from ticket revenue.

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## crimsoncrazy

Most likely if any renovation is done they will tear out the old press box and west upper deck and match it to the east upper deck.

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## ljbab728

> Most likely if any renovation is done they will tear out the old press box and west upper deck and match it to the east upper deck.


That's a possibility but the construction would have to be completed or at least usable in less than a year.  The university wouldn't want a season with 10,000 less seats while waiting for the construction to be finished.  That could be done but the east side stands took longer than that.

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## Chicken In The Rough

Ought not expand a stadium because bad times might be around the corner?!?!? Devon ought not build their tower because oil & gas prices will fall someday. Whole Foods ought not build their new store because the organic food trend may die out. We should stop building housing in the OKC area because the growth rate may reverse. I mean, if there is a demand, it should be served. The time to grow is when you're on top -- ride the wave. Recoiling at this time will only serve to guarantee a down period in the program. OU will find it increasingly difficult to compete with Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ohio State, USA, Michigan, Penn State, Alabama, LSU, etc. The facilities, including the stadium, must be maintained at a top-tier level if we want our program to remain top-tier.

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## Kerry

I would be in favor of just building a new stadium altogether.  Maybe something that doesn't look all mish mashed and thrown together in a hodge-podge of styles.

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## ljbab728

> I would be in favor of just building a new stadium altogether.  Maybe something that doesn't look all mish mashed and thrown together in a hodge-podge of styles.


Nice idea, Kerry, but it won't happen.  Very few schools build totally new stadiums.  I know it happens but it's rare, especially at the larger traditional power schools.  Most of them have stadiums that have been added to a number of times and the styles don't always mesh.  Actually I think OU has done a very good job of trying to integrate the various constructions together into one style and I would hate to give up the on-campus atmosphere in order to build a new stadium elsewhere.

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## Chicken In The Rough

I love having the stadium on the main campus. It makes game day such a great experience, especially now that OU's campus is so nice. They have plenty of land available, but moving farther away from campus and Campus Corner would be a mistake. The atmosphere would suffer. They could tear down the West Upper Deck, extend the East Upper Deck around, and bowl in the South end zone. I have no clue how many seats that would add, but it would awesome for the crowd noise!

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## MikeLucky

> I would be in favor of just building a new stadium altogether.  Maybe something that doesn't look all mish mashed and thrown together in a hodge-podge of styles.


I REALLY hope you are being sarcastic...

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## Kerry

> I REALLY hope you are being sarcastic...


The stadium only needs to move across the street to where the large parking lots and track are.  The current site can then be used for a new parking garage and classroom space.  An alternative would be to continue the new upper deck all the way around to where it meets the old upper deck and then tear down the old upper deck.  That should keep the number of seats the same until a new upper deck and press box could be built on the west side.

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## MikeLucky

> The stadium only needs to move across the street to where the large parking lots and track are.  The current site can then be used for a new parking garage and classroom space.  An alternative would be to continue the new upper deck all the way around to where it meets the old upper deck and then tear down the old upper deck.  That should keep the number of seats the same until a new upper deck and press box could be built on the west side.


Wow, you weren't.... that makes me sad for you....

Have you been to many other football stadiums?  If you had, then you would never EVER recommend building a new stadium...

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## soonerliberal

Memorial Stadium is top notch for a collegiate football stadium.  While it certainly is not in the same league as the stadium in Arlington, it is one of the top 10 college stadiums in the US when it comes to aesthetics, structure, and overall fan experience.  In order to improve upon it by moving, OU would have to raise upwards of half a billion dollars.  Not happening this century.

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## kevinpate

Kerry,

With respect, you'd have a better shot at successfully organizing 90% Democratic majorities in the OK House, Senate and 100% of all State wide offices in 2014 than you'd have of moving OU football to a new home stadium any time in the foreseeable future.

You fall and hit your head or something?

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## ou48A

OU has spent close to one hundred million dollars (give or take a few) in the past 10 to 15 years on its football stadium.
There are always a few things on the wish list but building a brand new stadium would be a pure waste of money-- all for a fantasy. 
With the cost increases of steel and other materials it would probably cost close to a billion dollars.

Tearing down the west upper deck and building a new one to match the new east upper deck is stuff of pure fantasy as well.
OU’s football stadium may not be perfect but it is very nice looking when compared too many other older on campus stadiums that have also been added on to several times.

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## Andrew4OU

> I would be in favor of just building a new stadium altogether.  Maybe something that doesn't look all mish mashed and thrown together in a hodge-podge of styles.


Have you visited very many college football stadiums? I think OU has done - for the most part - a good job of matching the newer additions to the original stadium.  Most college football stadiums look hodgey-podgey, especially the larger ones. The first one that comes to mind is Texas A&M.  Blech....LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas also come to mind. We're in good company.

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## ou48A

> Have you visited very many college football stadiums? I think OU has done - for the most part - a good job of matching the newer additions to the original stadium.  Most college football stadiums look hodgey-podgey, especially the larger ones. The first one that comes to mind is Texas A&M.  Blech....LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas also come to mind. We're in good company.


A&M is a good example. It looks like a giant fishing tackle box.

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## MikeOKC

Moving? Even moving across the street would ruin a great college tradition. It's not just the stadium - it's the history and the tradition of Owen Field. They've been playing on that field since 1923 (albeit with a few renovations for that awful carpet and back to grass). Too much history and tradition to even _think_ about moving.

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## Kerry

The new stadium at the University of Minnesota cost $288 million.  The new BrightHouse stadium at the University of Central Florida cost a mere $55 million.  I think you might be exaggerating the cost of a new college football stadium.

Could this be the new Memorial stadium that made the news two years ago?



Just kidding with the photo.

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## soonerliberal

> The new stadium at the University of Minnesota cost $288 million.  The new BrightHouse stadium at the University of Central Florida cost a mere $55 million.  I think you might be exaggerating the cost of a new college football stadium.


Both of those stadiums have less than 51,000 seats and lack many of the same amenities that Memorial Stadium currently provides.

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## Kerry

> Both of those stadiums have less than 51,000 seats and lack many of the same amenities that Memorial Stadium currently provides.


Even if it cost twice as much it is still under $500 million.  For the record, I know this isn't going to happen but I imagine someday they will wrap the new upper deck all the way around and replace the old upper deck.

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## MikeLucky

Look, I'm not even going to get into a cost discussion at all about this.  Even if someone gave OU twice the money necessary to build a new stadium... you don't....




> While it certainly is not in the same league as the stadium in Arlington


It most definitely isn't in the same league as Jerry's dump...  I would set that place on fire before I'd go to see another game there.  You can't even compare the two....  the dump in Arlington has bad sightlines, horrible acoustics, stupidly priced concessions, and is nothing but a soul-less shell designed to make money....

Memorial Stadium is a "living" building.  When you step inside you don't just feel like you are in a structure with a bunch of seats for people to watch a game.  You can feel the history... the ghosts of the past players, games, families, and emotion.

The spaceship in Arlington will be long gone and fans will still be walking into Memorial Stadium and feeling that rush of emotion that is the past, present and future all hitting you at once and making you remember why it is so special to you in the first place....

Oh, but jerryworld has go-go dancers....

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## Andrew4OU

> Look, I'm not even going to get into a cost discussion at all about this.  Even if someone gave OU twice the money necessary to build a new stadium... you don't....
> 
> 
> 
> *It most definitely isn't in the same league as Jerry's dump...  I would set that place on fire before I'd go to see another game there.  You can't even compare the two....  the dump in Arlington has bad sightlines, horrible acoustics, stupidly priced concessions, and is nothing but a soul-less shell designed to make money....*
> 
> Memorial Stadium is a "living" building.  When you step inside you don't just feel like you are in a structure with a bunch of seats for people to watch a game.  You can feel the history... the ghosts of the past players, games, families, and emotion.
> 
> The spaceship in Arlington will be long gone and fans will still be walking into Memorial Stadium and feeling that rush of emotion that is the past, present and future all hitting you at once and making you remember why it is so special to you in the first place....
> ...


This.  I can't believe people want to move the RRS to Cowboys Stadium.  That place is an atmosphere vacuum.  I attended last year's BYU game and this year's Big 12 championship game.  I was expecting some improvement in the acoustics.  NOTHING was audible!  I couldn't hear the announcer or the bands.  Terrible place for a college football game. I'll take the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma Memorial Stadium over Jerry World ANY day.

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## ou48A

Not only are those 2 stadiums much smaller they were built when the contract cost of materials were much cheaper and they may have used cheaper construction materials than what OU would use. 

Has anyone seen the cost of commodities like copper, steel, and the fuel prices that haul the goods?

Because it takes more materials it cost a lot more per seat to build if building an upper deck. Besides the corners of the south end zone OU can only build seats that are VERY high.

There are other ways to improve the OU stadium besides expansion.
Perhaps what may be on a person’s personal wish list besides expansion should be included in the discussion of this thread. 

Adding more endowed athletic scholarships and endowing the coaching salaries would  help OU athletics.

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## ou48A

> this.  I can't believe people want to move the rrs to cowboys stadium.  That place is an atmosphere vacuum.  I attended last year's byu game and this year's big 12 championship game.  I was expecting some improvement in the acoustics.  Nothing was audible!  I couldn't hear the announcer or the bands.  Terrible place for a college football game.* i'll take the cotton bowl and oklahoma memorial stadium over jerry world any day*.


+1 in a big time way!

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## ou48A

> but I imagine someday they will wrap the new upper deck all the way around and replace the old upper deck.


If they did it would be totally unnecessary and an expenditure of money that could be far better used elsewhere within the OU athletic department.

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## ou48A

From a fans point of view this is my non expansion wish list for OU’s stadium and campus area.
With the growth of OU and the Norman area much of this is already needed.

Better streets and highways leading in and out of campus / Norman.
Better parking.
Commuter rail with an OU station. 
Better restrooms on the west side and in the north end zones.
Red Laser lights that would give the night time sky a crimson glow. 
They could also project an inter locking OU on a cloud deck. 
OU could light the night sky with red lasers after a road win.
Better field stadium lighting and better lighting around the campus area.

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## YO MUDA

Dont hate me but I think south of the Lloyd Noble would be a great place for a new stadium. Easy access to Hiway 9. plus more parking.

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## MikeLucky

> Dont hate me but I think south of the Lloyd Noble would be a great place for a new stadium. Easy access to Hiway 9. plus more parking.


That is EASILY the worst idea in this entire thread...

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## Snowman

> Seem to do ok at home even with the lack of deafening crowd noise other stadiums enjoy


OU has a reputation for being loud stadium, it may have gaps in the end zone, but it also has possibly the least distance between the playing surface and where the fans sit due to when they removed the track and lowered field down 6 feet to put in as many seats between the field and existing seats as they could get away with in NCAA rules for distance to the field.

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## Soonerman

> That is EASILY the worst idea in this entire thread...


This

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## soonerfan_in_okc

> Dont hate me but I think south of the Lloyd Noble would be a great place for a new stadium. Easy access to Hiway 9. plus more parking.


how about a new basketball stadium south of lloyd noble. that is what we need.

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## ljbab728

> how about a new basketball stadium south of lloyd noble. that is what we need.


I'm thinking that maybe they should move back to the old field house north of the football stadium.  It holds about the number of people they're drawing now.  LOL

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## BG918

> I'm thinking that maybe they should move back to the old field house north of the football stadium.  It holds about the number of people they're drawing now.  LOL


They should at least have the men's and women's exhibition games there.  If they decide to build a new arena it will be on campus, on the Duck Pond parking lot, and will likely be smaller than LNC at 10,000 seats.  Such a location encourages people to park in different locations around campus so traffic is not as much of a problem leaving games, and also promotes going to Campus Corner before/after games similar to how the Ford Center, er OKC Arena works with Bricktown.  It also gives the OU campus a larger venue for speakers and special events.  There are no current plans to do this however.

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## metro

Personally I'd rather see the RRR move to home and home, but id rather have it at Jerry World if it's going to stay in Dallas.

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## BoulderSooner

> They should at least have the men's and women's exhibition games there.  If they decide to build a new arena it will be on campus, on the Duck Pond parking lot, and will likely be smaller than LNC at 10,000 seats.  Such a location encourages people to park in different locations around campus so traffic is not as much of a problem leaving games, and also promotes going to Campus Corner before/after games similar to how the Ford Center, er OKC Arena works with Bricktown.  It also gives the OU campus a larger venue for speakers and special events.  There are no current plans to do this however.


why would it be smaller .. when even in the middle of the last 2 terrible years there are almost 9k season ticket holders for the mens team

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## ljbab728

> Personally I'd rather see the RRR move to home and home, but id rather have it at Jerry World if it's going to stay in Dallas.


Metro, I don't know if you've been to a game at Jerry's World but I went to the BYU game a couple of years ago.  It's a beautiful place but I hope I never have to go to an OU game there again.  The fan experience was terrible and could never compare to the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas.

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## Kerry

> how about a new basketball stadium south of lloyd noble. that is what we need.


What we need is a new coach and team inside LNC.

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## earlywinegareth

I would like to see something done with the SW and SE corners of the stadium, maybe cantilevered and angled to somewhat mirror the north end.  That could boost capacity to ~90K, which is where I think we need to be.

However, I have a feeling Castiglione and Co. are VERY happy with the current capacity b/c it keeps OU tickets in short supply for the big games.  It's quite easy to get tix for the early non-conf games, but bring in a national power and tickets are at a premium.  This is important to the OU program to keep the supply of tix fairly short so the customers are hyped.  The ones WITH tickets have that special feeling.  Contrast that with what Texas has done.  Their 100K stadium last year looked miserable with vast swaths of empty seats.  They lost that special feeling that comes from having a ticket...now it's easy to get UT tix and so it's just no big woop.  

No, as much as I'd like to see OU expand some more, I don't think they will.  85K seems to be the right number balancing supply with demand...to keep it full but with tix not always easy to get.

I'd also add that OMS is so much better in person than in pictures.  It does look a little odd with the west side/east side, and the north end zone/south end zone being different.  But when you're there in person on gameday, it feels sooo right.  Kinda like the new generation baseball parks.  It adds character that different parts of the stadium look and feel and act differently.  I love the sights and smells under the stands.  People who know the history of the program can point to different sections of the stadium and say, yeah the north endzone was from Wilkinson's era, the west side upper deck and south endzone was Switzer's, and the east side is Stoopsies.  The stadium reflects the program's storied history and that's very cool.

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## Pete

Apart from small upgrades (like bathrooms and concessions) the next big project would be to re-do the press box and add some suits as well -- basically make both of those run the full length of the west upper deck.

Castiglione has said that would be the next step.

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## YO MUDA

> That is EASILY the worst idea in this entire thread...


 Maybe so, but it was MY opinion, and I can live with it.

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## kevinpate

> What we need is a new coach and team inside LNC.


Part of your wish has been granted this month

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## Chicken In The Rough

> 85K seems to be the right number balancing supply with demand...to keep it full but with tix not always easy to get.


If every game is a sellout, then I think demand may be outweighing supply. I guess it depends on scalper prices and the length of the waiting list. Also, Texas had their worst year in recent memory. So, it's not really a valid comparison. All teams will have ups and downs. When they are down, their stadiums will be half empty. During the Gibbs/Blake/Schnellenberger years, OU's stadium sometimes had large unoccupied areas as well.

The time to push forward is when you're already up. I just think that OU needs to expand to remain competitive with other top programs. Our stadium is currently in a league with Clemson, South Carolina, and Rutgers. These are all good programs, but they are not top-tier. If we want to remain competitive with Michigan, Texas, Penn State, A&M, Alabama, LSU, USC, etc, we need to add about 20,000 seats. We are competing for top talent, and our facilities must be comparable to other colleges.

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## BG918

> If every game is a sellout, then I think demand may be outweighing supply. I guess it depends on scalper prices and the length of the waiting list. Also, Texas had their worst year in recent memory. So, it's not really a valid comparison. All teams will have ups and downs. When they are down, their stadiums will be half empty. During the Gibbs/Blake/Schnellenberger years, OU's stadium sometimes had large unoccupied areas as well.
> 
> The time to push forward is when you're already up. I just think that OU needs to expand to remain competitive with other top programs. Our stadium is currently in a league with Clemson, South Carolina, and Rutgers. These are all good programs, but they are not top-tier. If we want to remain competitive with Michigan, Texas, Penn State, A&M, Alabama, LSU, USC, etc, we need to add about 20,000 seats. We are competing for top talent, and our facilities must be comparable to other colleges.


If OU wins the national title this year then you will see another stadium expansion.  Mark it down.

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## BoulderSooner

> If every game is a sellout, then I think demand may be outweighing supply. I guess it depends on scalper prices and the length of the waiting list. Also, Texas had their worst year in recent memory. So, it's not really a valid comparison. All teams will have ups and downs. When they are down, their stadiums will be half empty. During the Gibbs/Blake/Schnellenberger years, OU's stadium sometimes had large unoccupied areas as well.
> 
> The time to push forward is when you're already up. I just think that OU needs to expand to remain competitive with other top programs. Our stadium is currently in a league with Clemson, South Carolina, and Rutgers. These are all good programs, but they are not top-tier. If we want to remain competitive with Michigan, Texas, Penn State, A&M, Alabama, LSU, USC, etc, we need to add about 20,000 seats. We are competing for top talent, and our facilities must be comparable to other colleges.


rutgers stadium holds 52k ..  south carolina and clemson are just below OUrs 

we are less than 10k behind most of the rest of the list ..  michigan penn st are 2 of the 3 biggest in america .. 

IMHO we should expand by about 10k to have official number at 91ish ... and crowds close to 95 most of the time

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## BG918

> rutgers stadium holds 52k ..  south carolina and clemson are just below OUrs 
> 
> we are less than 10k behind most of the rest of the list ..  michigan penn st are 2 of the 3 biggest in america .. 
> 
> IMHO we should expand by about 10k to have official number at 91ish ... and crowds close to 95 most of the time


Very doable, and likely what would happen with another expansion.  Closing in the south endzone would bring the total to nearly 95,000 with crowds pushing 100,000 for the biggest games.

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## ou48A

> Very doable, and likely what would happen with another expansion.  Closing in the south endzone would bring the total to nearly 95,000 with crowds pushing 100,000 for the biggest games.


Compared to several years ago OU doesn’t seem to be getting as many large donations for athletics facilities.
My question is have the needed donors been identified that would be needed for a major expansion or for other major stadium improvements such as a press box?

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## BG918

> Compared to several years ago OU doesn’t seem to be getting as many large donations for athletics facilities.
> My question is have the needed donors been identified that would be needed for a major expansion or for other major stadium improvements such as a press box?


Donations to OU should be picking up with oil around $100/barrel. .

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## ljbab728

> Compared to several years ago OU doesn’t seem to be getting as many large donations for athletics facilities.
> My question is have the needed donors been identified that would be needed for a major expansion or for other major stadium improvements such as a press box?


What athletic facilities have they been building or planning that they have been soliciting donations for but haven't been receiving as much as in the past?

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## ou48A

> Donations to OU should be picking up with oil around $100/barrel. .


It’s ironic that you should bring that point up because 3 or 4 years ago when crude was more than current prices I told  
Dr. Christopher Howard that I was surprised that OU wasn’t getting even more in the way of large donations.

It is good to see oilman Harold Hamm making his recent $20M dollar donation to the diabetes center 
but is he an OU football fan? I don’t know?   I am not sure if he would ever make a major donation to OU athletics?

But higher oil prices are generally good for the local economy and good for OU football.

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## ou48A

> What athletic facilities have they been building or planning that they have been soliciting donations for but haven't been receiving as much as in the past?


They have a long list of ideas but not enough money.
 I don’t have a link or any documentation but large the very donations for capital projects just don’t seem to be as easy to come by.
In the past several years I know that they have wanted money donated for several projects
New dorms
A new arena or major modifications to the LNC
New football press box + 
Baseball and softball stadium improvements.

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## bmrsnrou

If anything, they will ring the north end zone with more suites and club seats, with a few public seats (much like the east side.) Castiglione has said that there are no plans to enclose the south end zone. Plus, even if it was enclosed, those seats wouldn't be too desirable. Corner seats are usually the cheapest because of the sight lines, and more suites and club seats = more $. Like was already stated, they want to keep more demand than tix. Our stadium is about right for our population and fan base. At the most, 91k would be about it to keep up demand. Look at Michigan. They have a great tradition and the largest alumni base in the country, but huge swaths of that stadium were empty last year. We have to be careful not to overdo it.

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## BG918

> If anything, they will ring the north end zone with more suites and club seats, with a few public seats (much like the east side.) Castiglione has said that there are no plans to enclose the south end zone. Plus, even if it was enclosed, those seats wouldn't be too desirable.* Corner seats are usually the cheapest because of the sight lines*, and more suites and club seats = more $. Like was already stated, they want to keep more demand than tix. Our stadium is about right for our population and fan base. At the most, 91k would be about it to keep up demand. Look at Michigan. They have a great tradition and the largest alumni base in the country, but huge swaths of that stadium were empty last year. We have to be careful not to overdo it.


Exactly why they wouldn't do the north endzone either, who would want a club seat or suite in a corner or in the endzone itself?  The south endzone allows for expansion of the Switzer Center underneath so it remains an option, so I've been told.  Westside reconstruction to add club seating, suites and press box would happen first.

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## ou48A

While on radio interviews I have heard Joe C. say that they would like to do something with the press box before they do any stadium expansions.

I have also heard Joe C say that if they expand the south end zone they would like to remove the existing decking and reshape it (to the same pitch as the old part of the stadium)  and have it wrap around to both the east and west sides with 2 decks.

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## BG918

> While on radio interviews I have heard Joe C. say that they would like to do something with the press box before they do any stadium expansions.
> 
> I have also heard Joe C say that if they expand the south end zone they would like to remove the existing decking and reshape it (to the same pitch as the old part of the stadium)  and have it wrap around to both the east and west sides with 2 decks.


Yes, it needs to match the north endzone.  The westside also needs to match the eastside.  Both involve a lot of work and expense but is important for the look of the stadium.  It's a patchwork of different styles and seating pitches now and could look so much better..

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## ljbab728

> Yes, it needs to match the north endzone.  The westside also needs to match the eastside.  Both involve a lot of work and expense but is important for the look of the stadium.  It's a patchwork of different styles and seating pitches now and could look so much better..


I don't see any way they will ever get the west side to match the east side.  It would require demolishing the current upper deck and it would be impossible to do that and rebuild a new upper deck section between football seasons.  They could not go for one season without all of those seats.  Just think about how long it took to build the east upper decks. There would be a revolt among season ticket holders.

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## BG918

> I don't see any way they will ever get the west side to match the east side.  It would require demolishing the current upper deck and it would be impossible to do that and rebuild a new upper deck section between football seasons.  They could not go for one season without all of those seats.  Just think about how long it took to build the east upper decks. There would be a revolt among season ticket holders.


LSU and Texas have vacated section during stadium construction.  It can be done.  In OU's case you set up temporary bleachers during the construction phase.

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## Kerry

If they wrapped the new upper-level from the east side around the north endzone first they could then tear down the old upper deck without losing seating capacity. The seats might not be as good but the numbers would still be there. Then they could then build a new upperdeck on the west side and increase capacity.

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## ljbab728

> If they wrapped the new upper-level from the east side around the north endzone first they could then tear down the old upper deck without losing seating capacity. The seats might not be as good but the numbers would still be there. Then they could then build a new upperdeck on the west side and increase capacity.


My seats have been on the 40 yard line in the west side upper deck ever since that deck was built.  I promise you I would not be happy with an endzone upper deck seat after all of the money I've donated to them over the years.  There would be a mass revolt among donors if that happened.  The general esthetics of the stadium have improved greatly after the last renovation but I see no particular need to have the west side match the east side just for that purpose.  Texas did not do that with their last expansion.

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## earlywinegareth

^^^I'd say there is exactly 0% chance of that happening.

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## bombermwc

Not sure how many folks have seen the empty seating around the students sections each time too. They may sellout games, but the aren't filling to capacity. OU actually benefits by not having everyone show up, so as long as the place fits the bill, why mess with it? I always thought they severely limited their expansion when the made the east upper deck as small as it is. They maximized the cashflow on suites, but at the expense of butts in seats.

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## BG918

> My seats have been on the 40 yard line in the west side upper deck ever since that deck was built.  I promise you I would not be happy with an endzone upper deck seat after all of the money I've donated to them over the years.  There would be a mass revolt among donors if that happened.  The general esthetics of the stadium have improved greatly after the last renovation but I see no particular need to have the west side match the east side just for that purpose.  Texas did not do that with their last expansion.


You would still have your westside upper deck seats but for one season they would likely be temporary bleachers while they are constructing the new upper deck.  In that case the current Santee Lounge would be converted to suites with the current slub seating turned into general seating in the lower bowl.  The club would then move above the suites and still be covered with another level of suites and the press box above that with the new upper deck on top to match the eastside (minus the overhang).  So in one project you have doubled the number suites, built a new press box, expanded the club level, and preserved the upper deck seating.  It would also involve a new brick and glass exterior to match the eastside exterior, the side that faces campus.

That project and the south endzone expansion, which would nearly double the size of the Switzer Center underneath, would result in the stadium having a capacity of nearly 100,000 and would be the nicest stadium in the country.  It already is the toughest place to play in the country but could use a facelift for its older areas (westside, southside) to match the beauty of the newer areas (eastside, northside).

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## ljbab728

> You would still have your westside upper deck seats but for one season they would likely be temporary bleachers while they are constructing the new upper deck.  In that case the current Santee Lounge would be converted to suites with the current slub seating turned into general seating in the lower bowl.  The club would then move above the suites and still be covered with another level of suites and the press box above that with the new upper deck on top to match the eastside (minus the overhang).  So in one project you have doubled the number suites, built a new press box, expanded the club level, and preserved the upper deck seating.  It would also involve a new brick and glass exterior to match the eastside exterior, the side that faces campus.
> 
> That project and the south endzone expansion, which would nearly double the size of the Switzer Center underneath, would result in the stadium having a capacity of nearly 100,000 and would be the nicest stadium in the country.  It already is the toughest place to play in the country but could use a facelift for its older areas (westside, southside) to match the beauty of the newer areas (eastside, northside).


That could all be accomplished to add a new press box and additional suites without demolishing the west side upper deck.  I see abosulutely no need to have the east and west sides match exactly just to say doesn't that look nice.  I guess I still remember when areas of the concourse were dirt and the east side was called pneumonia downs so I'm very please with the improvements.  I'm all for continued enhancments but not just to make everthing in exact conformity.

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## Chicken In The Rough

> You would still have your westside upper deck seats but for one season they would likely be temporary bleachers while they are constructing the new upper deck.  In that case the current Santee Lounge would be converted to suites with the current slub seating turned into general seating in the lower bowl.  The club would then move above the suites and still be covered with another level of suites and the press box above that with the new upper deck on top to match the eastside (minus the overhang).  So in one project you have doubled the number suites, built a new press box, expanded the club level, and preserved the upper deck seating.  It would also involve a new brick and glass exterior to match the eastside exterior, the side that faces campus.
> 
> That project and the south endzone expansion, which would nearly double the size of the Switzer Center underneath, would result in the stadium having a capacity of nearly 100,000 and would be the nicest stadium in the country.  It already is the toughest place to play in the country but could use a facelift for its older areas (westside, southside) to match the beauty of the newer areas (eastside, northside).


I love this idea. It accomplishes everything I hoped to see in the stadium. I don't care if it is the biggest in the country, I just want to see it pushed up to around 100,000 seats along with all the other amenities. Imagine how freakin loud it would be if it were bowled in.

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## Bunty

> I would be in favor of just building a new stadium altogether.  Maybe something that doesn't look all mish mashed and thrown together in a hodge-podge of styles.


OSU got like a new stadium from Pickens without moving it, but then the old OSU stadium never got all that mish mashed and thrown together.

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## earlywinegareth

OU spring game pics:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/earlywi...7626389385321/ 

Boomer!

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