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?

[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..

[Easy180]

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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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..

[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.

[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.

[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.

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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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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...