Breaking: UF moving BHG capacity down to 75K

[GatorJ]

We’ve officially become Kentucky. Maybe Vandy.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium renovations set to move forward at UF

"There was a time when, probably when the north endzone was done in the early ‘90s was part of that time, when seat count is all anyone cared about," Stricklin said in 2018. "Just cram as many people as possible in there. Obviously that is not, when you talk to people who do facilities and stadiums theses days, that’s not as important as quality and making sure you’re creating an environment that people want to come and participate in.

"The days of fans being OK sitting three hours on really a piece of aluminum I think are gone. So we’ve got to find ways to upgrade the overall quality."

According to the documents listed at UF's Planning, Design & Construction website, Florida is looking to hire a construction manager for the outlined upgrades before the end of November.

Scoreboard and sound system upgrades are first on the docket with a completion goal tentatively set prior to the 2023 season, followed by seating renovations that tentatively would be complete before the 2024 season. The current Daktronics scoreboards in both end zones were completed in August 2009 as part of a $5.6 million renovation. The sound system in the stadium was installed prior to the 2004 season.

It's unclear how many seats Florida will lose in the seating renovations, but Stricklin has previously provided an outline.

"We want to be north of 75,000," Stricklin said in an interview with the Gainesville Sun in 2019. "Essentially, we have 88,000 seats. Of those, we hold 8,000 for the visitors. The way visiting teams travel now that’s probably 5,000 seats too many so right there you get rid of 5,000 seats and you’d never miss them because visitors aren’t coming.

 

[GatorJ]

These guys are idiots. They think the attendance is down because there’s not enough luxury. The attendance is down because the football program sucks.

 

[I Have No Friends :(]

I hate what these idiots did to our Gators. They can all DIAF.

 

[CU-UF]

You guys, anything to get you riled up. Quite the misleading title. But go ahead, carry on.

 

[soflagator]

You guys, anything to get you riled up. Quite the misleading title. But go ahead, carry on.

The fact remains, while every one of our rivals(and numerous others) are increasing their emphasis on football, trying to expand attendance, etc., we're going the opposite direction. Slice it any way you want, that's reality. The sentence below is so out of touch, and reeks of such arrogance, I don't even know where to begin. We are less than 3 weeks removed from a record home crowd of people who just did the very thing he's insisting they won't. Three weeks. You can't script that type of stupidity. Put a great product on the field and people will show.

"The days of fans being OK sitting three hours on really a piece of aluminum I think are gone. So we’ve got to find ways to upgrade the overall quality."

You want to eliminate wasted visitor spots? Give opponents a one week deadline to buy, and then give those tickets away to local underprivileged kids in Gainesville that often feel alienated from UF's gameday experience. Make it a grades incentive, or raffle them off. But there are people who never go to games but would do so in a heartbeat if it meant watching an exciting team.

This guy sucks. Period.

 

[bradgator2]

 

[Detroitgator]

Not defending SS, buttttt... there is reality. We have all talked about what the $600 70" 4K flat panel has done to ALL televised sports. It actually makes sense to improve what ya got. Expansion doesn't make sense, even for Bama.

So, for reference, and this was the first link that came up...

Ticket scans offer insight into Alabama crowd trends

 

[CU-UF]

The fact remains, while every one of our rivals(and numerous others) are increasing their emphasis on football, trying to expand attendance, etc., we're going the opposite direction. Slice it any way you want, that's reality. The sentence below is so out of touch, and reeks of such arrogance, I don't even know where to begin. We are less than 3 weeks removed from a record home crowd of people who just did the very thing he's insisting they won't. Three weeks. You can't script that type of stupidity. Put a great product on the field and people will show.

"The days of fans being OK sitting three hours on really a piece of aluminum I think are gone. So we’ve got to find ways to upgrade the overall quality."

You want to eliminate wasted visitor spots? Give opponents a one week deadline to buy, and then give those tickets away to local underprivileged kids in Gainesville that often feel alienated from UF's gameday experience. Make it a grades incentive, or raffle them off. But there are people who never go to games but would do so in a heartbeat if it meant watching an exciting team.

This guy sucks. Period.

Strick may suck but at the same time you are blind if you don't see some truth in the idea. The seating in the stadium sucks, and while there is not one overall factor that explains declining attendance, comfort and ease of access are one of them. Even when you pay for those crappy screw in chairbacks you still are stuffed together uncomfortable as hell. My wife stopped going with me because of the experience. And while in theory giving tickets to underprivileged kids sounds like a great idea, its less likely that these kids would have parents or siblings to take them to the game.

 

[Back Alley Gator]

Strick may suck but at the same time you are blind if you don't see some truth in the idea. The seating in the stadium sucks, and while there is not one overall factor that explains declining attendance, comfort and ease of access are one of them. Even when you pay for those crappy screw in chairbacks you still are stuffed together uncomfortable as hell. My wife stopped going with me because of the experience. And while in theory giving tickets to underprivileged kids sounds like a great idea, its less likely that these kids would have parents or siblings to take them to the game.

 

[soflagator]

Strick may suck but at the same time you are blind if you don't see some truth in the idea. The seating in the stadium sucks, and while there is not one overall factor that explains declining attendance, comfort and ease of access are one of them. Even when you pay for those crappy screw in chairbacks you still are stuffed together uncomfortable as hell. My wife stopped going with me because of the experience. And while in theory giving tickets to underprivileged kids sounds like a great idea, its less likely that these kids would have parents or siblings to take them to the game.

We just had our fifth largest attendance ever 20 days ago. Seating at a college football game isn't supposed to be perfect, and regardless the seats, the first 4-5 games are extremely hot. None of that is new. So while it's easy to manufacture catalysts, the only real variable that is proven is performance of the program. I can guarantee you there are more people in the stands at most home games than there were back in 2016-2017 because most of the games have been more enjoyable. And 2015-2017 was better than 2013-2014. Why do you think that is? This is his way of explaining the decline because it's a lot easier than saying "we haven't been very good on my watch".

On the last part, I've personally arranged this on several occasions, in an obviously very small capacity. I almost always arrange to get kids and/or people who've never been to a game to one or two home games a year. I'm one person, and usually drinking. The idea of a "field trip" type outing with chaperones is absolutely feasible with the resources UF has.

But to be clear, that's really irrelevant. I've been going to games since before I was born. I've never once heard anyone complain that opposing fans hadn't shown and were thus crowding the rest of us. Again, I understand that TV and other things have impacted attendance, and UF isn't unique to that. But just a year ago we were remarking about uga and A&M's attendance during a pandemic. People will show up if they feel there's a compelling reason. If there isn't, that's a self-reflection moment. Instead, like his coach, we kick the can and blame others.

 

[GatorJ]

Not defending SS, buttttt... there is reality. We have all talked about what the $600 70" 4K flat panel has done to ALL televised sports. It actually makes sense to improve what ya got. Expansion doesn't make sense, even for Bama.

So, for reference, and this was the first link that came up...

Ticket scans offer insight into Alabama crowd trends

The NCAA did not publish attendance for 2020 because of Covid.

Here is the data for 2019

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2019.pdf

Go to page 6. You can see everybody’s average attendance.

Bama was around 101,000. We were 88,000.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

We just had our fifth largest attendance ever 20 days ago.
.

You really believe that?

Despite the top third being scattered to empty?



Sure. Ole Dan fixed it. Even the attendance.

 

[GatorJ]

Michigan attendance is still very high.

Tennessee completely plummeted. That happens with 20 years of destruction to your football program.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Bama was around 101,000. We were 88,000.

And Miami's?

You see they can GIVE the tickets 20,000 at a time to the local YMCA and claim a "sellout".

Edit: Miami claims 53k is an average crowd for them. Uh huh.... sure.

There is nothing you can trust more than govt stats.

 

[AlexDaGator]

Just about every AD in the country would trade more crappy seats for fewer higher-level seats (club seats, box seats, etc.). Bull Gators used to want 12 seats. Now they'd rather have 4 chairbacks in Touchdown Terrace with shade and access to air conditioning, clean bathrooms, food, etc. There is more money in a single Gator Den than there is in 2 dozen bench seats. This isn't just us, it's everywhere.

That said...fcuk this cheap-ass bargain basement clown show athletic department.

FIRST YOU SPEND THE MONEY YOU NEED TO SPEND TO PUT A BETTER PRODUCT ON THE FIELD.

That means spending money on coaches, assistants, and the dozens of "quality control" types doing your recruiting and scouting grunt work, it means spending money on competitive facilities so you can recruit better, it means using your resources and brand to maximize NIL income for players.

You know who covers seats with giant tarps so the stadium doesn't look so empty? Miami. Not us. Miami. Lissen up you morons...we aren't Miami. Any jackass can rip out 10% of the seats to make the stadium look more full. That's rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We can do better. We must do better.

I've said it before and it's no exaggeration...I can name half a dozen GCMB posters who would do a better job running this athletic department than the people currently running it.


Alex.

 

[CU-UF]

We just had our fifth largest attendance ever 20 days ago. Seating at a college football game isn't supposed to be perfect, and regardless the seats, the first 4-5 games are extremely hot. None of that is new. So while it's easy to manufacture catalysts, the only real variable that is proven is performance of the program. I can guarantee you there are more people in the stands at most home games than there were back in 2016-2017 because most of the games have been more enjoyable. And 2015-2017 was better than 2013-2014. Why do you think that is? This is his way of explaining the decline because it's a lot easier than saying "we haven't been very good on my watch".

On the last part, I've personally arranged this on several occasions, in an obviously very small capacity. I almost always arrange to get kids and/or people who've never been to a game to one or two home games a year. I'm one person, and usually drinking. The idea of a "field trip" type outing with chaperones is absolutely feasible with the resources UF has.

But to be clear, that's really irrelevant. I've been going to games since before I was born. I've never once heard anyone complain that opposing fans hadn't shown and were thus crowding the rest of us. Again, I understand that TV and other things have impacted attendance, and UF isn't unique to that. But just a year ago we were remarking about uga and A&M's attendance during a pandemic. People will show up if they feel there's a compelling reason. If there isn't, that's a self-reflection moment. Instead, like his coach, we kick the can and blame others.

See but that is the narrative that you are fitting. Ya, I remember the days of standing sideways on the bench sweat, bourbon, sometimes puke. Everyone should go through that right? So get off my lawn!!!! I am all for improving the stadium, improving the stadium experience and making our football facilities better. I see it differently than some conspiracy.

 

[Bait'n Gator]

You really believe that?

Despite the top third being scattered to empty?



Sure. Ole Dan fixed it. Even the attendance.

I didn't notice any bare looking sections at the bama game. But I also consumed around $100 of miller lite in Ben Hill during the game not to mention what I drunk before hand.

 

[Sec14Gator]

This is a weak attempt at an eventual money grab at a time when they are (a) flush with cash already and (b) providing an inferior product. By reducing capacity and upgrading seats, the booster requirements are going to increase. If they don't have a coach that is turning this thing around at the time, I suspect they will lose more than they gain.

Regardless of attendance figures, they are missing the primary driver of all our sports programs - winning at football. Invest in that. It's just that simple. Commit these dollars to a recruiting center. Get the damn all in one done. Pay Lincoln Riley so much money he can't say no. Etc.

There was a study in the 90's and a similar one regarding Alabama recently, about how Spurrier (and then Saban) drove admissions numbers so high that it drastically improved the quality of the school. As UF focuses so much on its ranking, it should read its own history of how its rankings started taking off in the first place.

 

[soflagator]

You really believe that?

Despite the top third being scattered to empty?



Sure. Ole Dan fixed it. Even the attendance.

I don't care where it actually ranked. The Alabama game was packed. That was the larger point. And yes, it's slightly better than most of the JM and WM eras. Not what it once was, but that was never said. Is it really your contention that the right hire wouldn't pack the house?

Forget the actual numbers involved. The chart below is a perfect snapshot of the pattern, with even the mirage of 2015 seeing a brief uptick. What was it that was happening between 2005 and 2009 that created the high attendance, and what happened right around 2010 through 2014 that was the impetus behind the decline? I guess fans just realized in 2010 that the seats were aluminum and tried sitting back for the first time, only to fall into someone's knees.

 

[Bushmaster]

Get ready for wine tasting and cheese samples at halftime.

Attendance is down because the product fuching sucks ass. I was going to USC and f$u but I won't after UKnbecause our coach is a worthless ****head who plays down to his competition.