Facilities Improvements......dream a little dream.

[HerdBot]

IF/when the SHAC is built, and they fix the softball field up, my one dream is a 40k seat retractible roof football stadium. That's not too big for FCS, but big enough in case the program ever makes the move to FBS. Maybe make it so there can be a 5k expansion (when needed) somehow. No idea where we could put it, but it's my dream. By the time that any serious conversations of stadium expansions happen (10-20 years IMHO), the metro will be at least 300k. At that time the state/ region would be able to support such a stadium of that size without it being a waste of time and money... I hope

I like the idea of a 40k seat stadium but the retractable roof makes it a "dream" just based on cost alone. But I think a 40k seat dome is a more realistic option with room for expansion. A retractable roof for 2 maybe 3 games per year seems unneccesary. Maybe fit it for a future retractable roof. In 15 years your spot on for population. Heck NDSU by itself could be 25k in 15 years. (Especially if they change the funding model like they've talked about) Of course it would take 10-15 years to raise that type of money. If we plan on jumping to a smaller conference like the MAC we would need to expand the dome slightly in the short term. Problem is that costs money too and expanding 20k seats overnight and expecting to sell out is kind of unrealistic. Maybe starting with 30k seats with room for expansion makes more sense

[TheBisonator]

IF/when the SHAC is built, and they fix the softball field up, my one dream is a 40k seat retractible roof football stadium. That's not too big for FCS, but big enough in case the program ever makes the move to FBS. Maybe make it so there can be a 5k expansion (when needed) somehow. No idea where we could put it, but it's my dream. By the time that any serious conversations of stadium expansions happen (10-20 years IMHO), the metro will be at least 300k. At that time the state/ region would be able to support such a stadium of that size without it being a waste of time and money... I hope

40K is WAAAAAAY too big for FCS by that point. With 40K, there's no point being FCS, especially if you're able to get a minimum of 30K to every game. By that time, you're making enough money that benefits outweigh risks for FBS and vice/versa for FCS.

James Madison has 2/3 of a new stadium seating 25K and they aren't planning on being FCS for very long.

It's possible that Montana with 26K may be wanting to move up together with Mont. State (18K), and they could be waiting for the Bobcats to do another stadium expansion before they pursue it.

[MNLonghorn10]

IF/when the SHAC is built, and they fix the softball field up, my one dream is a 40k seat retractible roof football stadium. That's not too big for FCS, but big enough in case the program ever makes the move to FBS. Maybe make it so there can be a 5k expansion (when needed) somehow. No idea where we could put it, but it's my dream. By the time that any serious conversations of stadium expansions happen (10-20 years IMHO), the metro will be at least 300k. At that time the state/ region would be able to support such a stadium of that size without it being a waste of time and money... I hope

could be the worst post ever on this site.

[HerdBot]

could be the worst post ever on this site.

Cut Strommer some slack. The thread is called "dream facilities" so it requires a "dream" response. What makes the post so bad? Yeah the retractable roof is definitely way out of normal thinking but a 40k seat stadium in 20 years is not delusional thinking at all.

Its no more delusional for someone in 1985 to think some day the Bison will go from Dacotah Field to the Dome, move up to D1, win the National Championship in football, go 3-2 vs BCS teams, outdraw the Gophers in their own stadium, make the Big Dance and almost beat Kansas in front of a mostly home crowd... and have our softball team go to the sweet 16 and our baseball team will beat the eventual National Champions (and move into a stadium as nice as Newman). throw in an Olympian and as you can see Strommer isnt that off

[bisonaudit]

Here's the catch-22 on any football stadium, including the current one, in Fargo.

Anything that you put a roof on is not going to be easily or cheaply expandable. But you need to partner with the city in order to get a facility and that means that you have to have a roof.

[HerdBot]

Here's the catch-22 on any football stadium, including the current one, in Fargo.

Anything that you put a roof on is not going to be easily or cheaply expandable. But you need to partner with the city in order to get a facility and that means that you have to have a roof.

Good point. And without a roof there is no way we see the same level of success at the box office late in the year. You have cold and you have "Fargo Cold." I recall a few playoff games in the 80s that had 5-6k people at them even though the regular season drew 12-15k

[NorthernBison]

Nothing wrong with dreaming. But, I would assume that Fargo is done building football facilities. Anything in the future will be an NDSU obligation

[HerdBot]

Nothing wrong with dreaming. But, I would assume that Fargo is done building football facilities. Anything in the future will be an NDSU obligation

30 million over 4 years trends to 60 million over 8 years ... is 100 million over 10 years possible? Naming rights, field turf rights...

[NorthernBison]

30 million over 4 years trends to 60 million over 8 years ... is 100 million over 10 years possible? Naming rights, field turf rights...

I'm not sure what your getting at. Politically, Fargo is not likely to support a football facility for NDSU as the population grows. Contrary to popular belief, I don't think the percentage of NDSU fans in Fargo will match the population growth. Certainly, alumni won't get it done when you look at graduation numbers and retention vs total population estimates.

So, if you're looking at NDSU to fund a $300 Million stadium, that's a TALL order. I can assure you that $100 Million won't do much if you want an indoor facility with the capacity you are talking about.

[bisonaudit]

So, if you're looking at NDSU to fund a $300 Million stadium, that's a TALL order. I can assure you that $100 Million won't do much if you want an indoor facility with the capacity you are talking about.

This is half the reason why NDSU is a lot farther away from a newer bigger football stadium than some people think. They're expensive and the bigger you want to make it the higher the marginal cost of each additional seat becomes.

The other half of the equation is that the marginal revenue generated by each additional seat decreases at the same time.