Stadium Capacity

[bobbyake]

Debate away here and vote for what you think Akron's new stadium capacity should be.

[UAZipster0305]

I'd say initially 30,000, but expandable to 50,000.

[Ryno aka Menace]

I say atleast 30K, no matter what size it is it should be expandable but I think 30 is the minimum. We will have continued success, with the improvements on campus, enrollment is up, athletics competiton level is up, it is only natural for attendance to follow as well. I think 50 is high for this market area. Hell I don't think Indiana and Illnoise have that many in attendance and they are in the big ten, we won't pull those kind of numbers in the MAC, Big East or Conference USA. And if the time ever came that we were bringing 40K + to the game we will be renovating this one to something bigger. And finally bleachers are for high schools bowls are for college!!!

[bobbyake]

It's ignorant to go with Akron's present and past attendances to derive your conclusion. That's like comparing the Indians old stadium to Jacobs Field.

[ziptrumpet87]

It's ignorant to go with Akron's present and past attendances to derive your conclusion.

I disagree. Attendance in the late 70's/early 80's was much better than the past 15 years. The bowl was filled with 30-40k people for the annual "Acme-Zip" game to start the season. I think we need to have at least the same size as the Rubber Bowl to start and be expandable to some larger size, whatever that may be based on future goals/conference requirements/etc.

[bobbyake]

The Rubber Bowl is off campus and in BFE.That's why i'm saying you can't use the Rubber Bowl as an example. An on campus stadium in downtown Akron is a whole new ball game.

[GP1]

I think 25 is too small and 30 will be too big.One thing a smaller stadium will do IF they are selling a lot of tickets is force people to buy tickets for late season games. I don't like the old Acme Zip idea of having one big attendance game a year and then absolute crap the remainder of the year.Someone also brought up the idea of a bigger conference and the need to build a big stadiium for the future. Does anyone realistically think a bigger conference would want Akron? We have about a 2,000 person football season ticket base. What do you think the fan bases at Big East schools like WVU, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Connecticut are? We are fine right where we are now.Remember, once the new stadium is built, it must be maintained. The bigger the stadium, the more maintenance is required. We don't want to burry the athletic program/University in operating costs for a giant stadium that sits half full on game day.

[ziptrumpet87]

We don't want to burry the athletic program/University in operating costs for a giant stadium that sits half full on game day.

That's where the "multi-use facility" and the possible combination with retail/restaurant would really help. I hope they can get a good design that incorporates these and be able to get a nice lease for the space.Also, increased sales of Zips gear (and more new availble and varied items) should be able to help if we keep winning in all sports.

[zipseuph]

I would like to see a stadium that fits 300,000 people with a dome restraunts, bars, strip joints, ball pits, kids centers, work out area for the marching band , monkeys, and a gun range where you can shoot at turkeys in Can't State gear. but I would be happy with a 30,000 expandable stadium that doesn't look like an antique

[Kangaroo Craig]

It's ignorant to go with Akron's present and past attendances to derive your conclusion.

I disagree. Attendance in the late 70's/early 80's was much better than the past 15 years. The bowl was filled with 30-40k people for the annual "Acme-Zip" game to start the season. I think we need to have at least the same size as the Rubber Bowl to start and be expandable to some larger size, whatever that may be based on future goals/conference requirements/etc.

That's because back in the 70' and 80's there were very few choices on TV. There was usually a big ten game or Notre Dame, USC, etc. on during the day and that was it. The Acme Zip game was always played at night. Fair weather fans did not have ESPN, FSN, or some other network to watch games on a Saturday night. I love those networks, but they are competing with our entertainment dollar.As far as capacity. The Rubber Bowl I think, seats about 31,000. I voted for a 35K capacity, but I would want a facility that is expandable up to 50K. That way at least, the flexibility is already built into the design. Like I said yesterday, The JAR was a mistake from the begining because it was built too small or without room to expand later (Pretty hard to do with an arena). Probably because the school didn't want to spend just a few dollars more and do it right the first time. I'm not saying we need it to be 50K, just make sure that the design allows for that sort of expansion. If the design limits the expansion up to only 30K, then it is piss poor planning with no long term vision.

[Buckzip]

Minimum 0f 30,000. Hopefully 40,000.You don't want it too big so that 27000 looks empty, but you don't want it to be sold out 2 years in advance either.

[Zip N' Dots]

I voted for 40,00 but that is expandable from the current design which calls for 25,000

[72 Roo]

First time post, but this is a good topic.I'm in lock step with most of the board when they say the stadium needs to be done right. let's read that as right for the future. I get real scared when I hear discussion of limited budgets and working with what we've got. Those are just excuses for getting something up and getting it wrong. Remember the JAR. I do. I spoke with President Guzetta before he accepted the design and urged him to reject it.The stadium design must be expandable. I'm impressed with what Louisville did with Papa John Stadium. They built it with 42,000 seat capacity and are now planning to expand it to 63,000. We can't be as nice as they have because we don't have the funding. But on the other hand we can't build one just to get the public off the board of trustees backs. A 30K seat expandable stadium is an absolute necessity.BTW, did anyone see that on the initial picture of the stadium the architects had wedged a dorm between the stadium and Exchange St. There goes the positive visual effect this signature structure could make on visitors approaching the campus. What happened to some green space to make it stand out and be a symbol of our athletic emergence? The days of packing building upon building at Akron have got to end. Our campus is tremendous, but this design will not send the message we want.Let's be a positve force for change so we can be proud of what we end up with.