The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

(04-09-2019 03:31 PM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

Should hear about scoreboard in near future. Can’t wait.

(04-09-2019 03:31 PM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

The 30 - 35K seating capacity will NEVER happen unless we switch to a higher profile conference. As long as we are in the CUSA or G5 we will have a hard time selling out a 22k seat stadium.

(04-09-2019 03:51 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:31 PM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

The 30 - 35K seating capacity will NEVER happen unless we switch to a higher profile conference. As long as we are in the CUSA or G5 we will have a hard time selling out a 22k seat stadium.

I disagree, we scheduled VT, UVA, WF, UNC, ECU, Liberty and Buffalo which we will easily sell out each of those. Everyone knows if the team is winning or around .500 fans show up. If we are completing for a conference title we will sell out every game. Also with new amenities more fans will show up, not less.

Those few games a season is not justification for spending another $40M.

Any idea what re-doing north end zone puts us at at capacity? I just want that done with new scoreboard, don’t care to much about capacity.

We are not getting 30-35k. The best we can hope for is closer to 26-28k assuming we can ever enclose that north end set of seats. And trying to tie that to a larger league calling for ODU is a non-starter. Who would do that when we play in a 22k stadium? I'll answer that one slowly. NOBODY.

It is not the CUSA's role to grow ODU football, it is ours. And the AAC definitely isn't going to consider ODU until we do this work. Whether some will admit it or not, our fan base and stadium is still going to be the size and scale that it was when we started and played in D-1AA aka FCS. Why would a league larger than CUSA come calling?

If ODU football is going to grow to something bigger, we are going to have to do it using all the reasons we sold to CUSA to leapfrog schools and get in there in the first place. And those conditions still exist in the same future tense that they always did...only school in the underserved 757 market, a ton of growth potential, and an engaged fan base with history of success in other sports.

The schedule is brilliant though. It is exactly what I thought we could get. Now ODU needs to sell it to a lot of people so ticket demand will continue to rise. And I mean really promote and sell it. If VCU can grow their basketball demand playing in that unimpressive gym, surely ODU can move the football demand needle in Hampton Roads with a new stadium. Just be aggressive.

(04-09-2019 04:33 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  We are not getting 30-35k. The best we can hope for is closer to 26-28k assuming we can ever enclose that north end set of seats. And trying to tie that to a larger league calling for ODU is a non-starter. Who would do that when we play in a 22k stadium? I'll answer that one slowly. NOBODY.

It is not the CUSA's role to grow ODU football, it is ours. And the AAC definitely isn't going to consider ODU until we do this work. Whether some will admit it or not, our fan base and stadium is still going to be the size and scale that it was when we started and played in D-1AA aka FCS. Why would a league larger than CUSA come calling?

If ODU football is going to grow to something bigger, we are going to have to do it using all the reasons we sold to CUSA to leapfrog schools and get in there in the first place. And those conditions still exist in the same future tense that they always did...only school in the underserved 757 market, a ton of growth potential, and an engaged fan base with history of success in other sports.

The schedule is brilliant though. It is exactly what I thought we could get. Now ODU needs to sell it to a lot of people so ticket demand will continue to rise. And I mean really promote and sell it. If VCU can grow their basketball demand playing in that unimpressive gym, surely ODU can move the football demand needle in Hampton Roads with a new stadium. Just be aggressive.

Smallest stadium in AAC is 30k. With nice amenities and a good team, 30k would not be that hard to reach. It’s definitely an attainable number. People act like we will sell out vs VT and UVA and then draw 1,500 fans against Charlotte and Rice. We have done extremely well as far as a percentage in our time in C-USA. If we continue at around 95% it would be stupid not to invest more money into the stadium and get more people to buy in. How can you grow ODU Football if you don’t invest?

Totally agree with Cmett. Athletics should set a hard goal of 30-32k targeting the 2025 season and move towards that potential based on a high percentage of seats accounted for.

We should NOT have to have long waiting lists or even lines out on Bluestone Ave to be able to expand a stadium. JMU didn't have to and neither should we. Draw well through most of these games, leverage this differentiated schedule, attract and promote entry level seating and grow this thing. Just like every school in the AAC has done over the years.

If we win, they will come and the stadium will need to be enlarged. If we win and draw 30k the AAC may come calling. But we have to win consistently first.

(04-09-2019 05:30 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  Totally agree with Cmett. Athletics should set a hard goal of 30-32k targeting the 2025 season and move towards that potential based on a high percentage of seats accounted for.

We should NOT have to have long waiting lists or even lines out on Bluestone Ave to be able to expand a stadium. JMU didn't have to and neither should we. Draw well through most of these games, leverage this differentiated schedule, attract and promote entry level seating and grow this thing. Just like every school in the AAC has done over the years.

This.

You can't successfully grow the fan base if there is no inventory available to sell them. We are also a victim of our previous success in that the false impression every game is sold out. The sooner we get to 30K+ the better.

Question about the custom bricks you can purchase. If you purchase one of the regular bricks will they be placed in the ground surrounding the "ODU" premium bricks?

(04-10-2019 07:33 AM)MonarchGirl08 Wrote:  Question about the custom bricks you can purchase. If you purchase one of the regular bricks will they be placed in the ground surrounding the "ODU" premium bricks?

I believe this is what it is supposed to look like...

(04-10-2019 07:46 AM)Punk Wrote:  

(04-10-2019 07:33 AM)MonarchGirl08 Wrote:  Question about the custom bricks you can purchase. If you purchase one of the regular bricks will they be placed in the ground surrounding the "ODU" premium bricks?

I believe this is what it is supposed to look like...

ok thanks!

(04-09-2019 03:31 PM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

There was a comment previously about how far back the light poles were allowing for a 3rd level in the future. I think you will see now that the existing construction is pretty close to the new poles. Any future construction on that side would force the light poles to be moves back.

(04-10-2019 08:01 AM)bigblueodu Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:31 PM)MonGNARch Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:28 PM)cmett003 Wrote:  

(04-09-2019 03:12 PM)bit_9 Wrote:  Nice! Going to look like big boy football finally. Albeit total capacity will be less than we all would like to see, progress is being made.

I would have loved to have had a sound engineer or someone with a decibel meter get a read in the old stadium vs new and how much more noise is held w/ the expansion.

Agreed, I am very excited for Phase 1. But I will really be happy when we have a completed north endzone, new scoreboard and east upper deck with total capacity of 30,000-35,000. Then we will be at big boy football.

I agree, and seeing the structure for the stands on both sides is getting me really excited to see the new finished product. In regards to another level on the East side, the current design leaves something to be desired especially when you see how tall the light poles are but hopefully the third deck comes sooner rather than later (as well as the North endzone and scoreboard of course)

There was a comment previously about how far back the light poles were allowing for a 3rd level in the future. I think you will see now that the existing construction is pretty close to the new poles. Any future construction on that side would force the light poles to be moves back.

I was thinking the height might just be newer designs/technology for better viewing on TV with angles and coverage, especially with the latest LED technology. Shadows and such. Might have nothing to do with stadium expansion.

New video from SB Ballard makes the stadium look pretty big.

Its going to be nice, but looking at that video, I still think strongly that it is going to take a nice end zone (hopefully that fills in the corners) and big scoreboard to tie it all together and look like a legit FBS stadium. I really hope that happens soon. Like before the 2020 season. It will simply look unfinished until then in my opinion.