Contact the City on Fargodome upgrades / poor operations

[Hammerhead]

Just wait until the Fargodome goes cashless like US Bank Stadium. It seems like that slows down the line while people are waiting for credit card processing compared to paying with cash when most often the change doesn't involve coins.

[Bisonguy]

I went to my first Wild game last month. There isn't a down second when the action on the ice isn't happening. Music! All kinds. Live interviews, trivia, quick stories about the team, players, coaches, alumni etc. great game atmosphere.

Maybe vendors walking the steps selling pop, water, popcorn, candy etc. may keep some of the stupid lines down.

Bring the tailgating inside. Have a video crew out shooting the tailgate lots. People like seeing themselves on the big screen. Do they do the tailgate group of the week? Have a contest. The winning group each week goes to a "playoff" at the end of the year and win a grill or tent or cooler or something.

Partner with some local restaurants. Have them set up in the concourse. I know I know. Everyone is short staffed. What a way to keep things local. Food, clothes, beer (there are like 50 brewery's in Fargo now.) One Herd could have a set up. Live bands on the West side during tailgating. one on the north side. one on the south side.

Get ML out walking the lots. Talking to people. The first year he was here he was at our spot a couple different time.

More fan interaction. Those stupid obstacle course races in the north endzone suck!

Make the 50/50 a 75/25 and must be at the game to win. Winner announced at the end of the game. I know it's for Teammakers but people may spend more and it would get people in the building and keep them there if they know they can get more money and have to be there to win it.

Pretty sure the 50/50 has to stay a 50/50 due to state law and to remain "charitable".

[GreenfieldBison]

Just wait until the Fargodome goes cashless like US Bank Stadium. It seems like that slows down the line while people are waiting for credit card processing compared to paying with cash when most often the change doesn't involve coins.

Just farm out the credit card scanning operation to the tech team at Kwik Trip. Like greased lightning.

US Bank card scanning goes pretty smooth too.

[AKBison]

My take is probably a bit different but any and all money spent on the Dome should be with an eye towards FBS.

1) We have to find a way to get official capacity over 20,000.

2) Upper west side suites. NDSU will need additional funding streams in FBS and the only way West side suites work is if we own them. That means we need to fundraise and pay for that portion of Dome renovations.

3) Obviously a new wider concourse with additional bathrooms/concessions is a must.

4) The East side press box needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt to cater to opposing coaching staffs, ESPN announcers, and digital streaming. The whole experience there needs to be a high level FBS experience. Don't believe me? Ever heard our guys complain about broadcasting at WIU/ISUb/YSU etc? Now imagine what the folks at Wyoming, Boise, Tulane, ECU, USF, Air Force, etc would say when they roll into the Dome.

4) Changing the game day experience will help keep the core Bison fans coming back but it's not going to sell out the Dome. A 2:00 kickoff vs a G5 opponent will do that. We used to have an us vs the world attitude and the crazy success in FCS has stagnated it.

5) Letterman/recruit hosting suite to replace North side press box. All the big time programs have a recruiting lounge to host recruits and their families on game day. We should tie that in with a letterman's suite in the same area. There is plenty of space up there to do both. Chase Morlock shouldn't have to sit in the stands during a semi final vs JMU. Putting him and others like him in a space where he can interact with recruits and coaches before a game is an FBS thing to do. It also gives space to former players who want to host a team or position group reunion on Game Day. Again, all big programs have that space, recruits see that and it sells Bison culture and why it's different. CMU, NIU, SDSU, KU, Wyoming, and other area FBS programs don't have that and can't use it as a recruiting tool, we can. That exposure to the Bison brotherhood along with a winning culture (CAS withstanding) should be the highlight of every recruits visit. If it's not, they probably won't fit here anyways. Obviously we would need to fundraise and own this as well. If given some ownership here, gotta think former players could raise this money quickly. This suite/lounge could be sponsored by different companies every week so food/drinks/tickets cost are covered.

6) I don't live in Fargo and am an NDSU first guy. I have been very against losing on campus to space to a large convention center. However, it would be awesome to host the world's largest indoor tailgate every other Saturday.

[HerdBot]

My take is probably a bit different but any and all money spent on the Dome should be with an eye towards FBS.

1) We have to find a way to get official capacity over 20,000.

2) Upper west side suites. NDSU will need additional funding streams in FBS and the only way West side suites work is if we own them. That means we need to fundraise and pay for that portion of Dome renovations.

3) Obviously a new wider concourse with additional bathrooms/concessions is a must.

4) The East side press box needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt to cater to opposing coaching staffs, ESPN announcers, and digital streaming. The whole experience there needs to be a high level FBS experience. Don't believe me? Ever heard our guys complain about broadcasting at WIU/ISUb/YSU etc? Now imagine what the folks at Wyoming, Boise, Tulane, ECU, USF, Air Force, etc would say when they rolled into the Dome.

4) Changing the game day experience will help keep the core Bison fans coming back but it's not going to sell out the Dome. A 2:00 kickoff vs a G5 opponent will do that. We used to have an us vs the world attitude and the crazy success in FCS has stagnated it.

5) Letterman/recruit hosting suite to replace North side press box. All the big time programs have a recruiting lounge to host recruits and their families on game day. We should tie that in with a letterman's suite in the same area. There is plenty of space up there to do both. Chase Morlock shouldn't have to sit in the stands during a semi final vs JMU. Putting him and others like him in a space where he can interact with recruits and coaches before a game is an FBS thing to do. It also gives space to former players who want to host a reunion on Game Day. Again, all big programs have that space.

I actually love the idea of making a west side addition, some sort of public/private partnership or a partnership with NDSU. It makes total sense. We were going to raise money to add a basketball arena to the dome, why not this?

You have NDSU pay for a suite and then the bar area and other suite areas are public

We need all that stuff if we drop down to D2, stay FCS or move to the FBS.

[PattyBison]

Just wait until the Fargodome goes cashless like US Bank Stadium. It seems like that slows down the line while people are waiting for credit card processing compared to paying with cash when most often the change doesn't involve coins.

Rookie move. Use contactless cards or Apple/Google/Samsung Pay. Way faster than using the chip.

[BigHorns]

4) Changing the game day experience will help keep the core Bison fans coming back but it's not going to sell out the Dome. A 2:00 kickoff vs a G5 opponent will do that. We used to have an us vs the world attitude and the crazy success in FCS has stagnated it.

It depends which G5 opponent you are talking about. Some G5 teams are poor competition, worse than the FCS playoff teams. JSU and SHSU aren't going to become magically much better because they wear the G5 label. A good number of MAC teams are scrubs too.

Now if you mean MWC teams, then yes I agree it would be a better competition and a better draw.

[BigLakeBison]

It depends which G5 opponent you are talking about. Some G5 teams are poor competition, worse than the FCS playoff teams. JSU and SHSU aren't going to become magically much better because they wear the G5 label. A good number of MAC teams are scrubs too.

Now if you mean MWC teams, then yes I agree it would be a better competition and a better draw.

There are still going to be "pud" teams (for lack of a better term) on the schedule whether we are FCS or FBS. The intent by moving to FBS would be to have the amount of them to be less and to have more teams that move the attendance needle both at home and away. The reality is that when we play on the road in front of 20,000 fans it is still more eyes on our program and our university than if we are playing in front of 2500. It's also way more interesting for fans to travel to away games that have an atmosphere. I agree wholeheartedly that SHSU and JSU aren't going to become something different than what they are currently. The reality is that their teams and their game day atmosphere's are currently in the top 10-15% of FCS. They would be at the bottom 10-15% of the G5. Overall the competition and the atmosphere at G5 schools is an improvement over the current FCS.

[MankatoBison]

I actually love the idea of making a west side addition, some sort of public/private partnership or a partnership with NDSU. It makes total sense. We were going to raise money to add a basketball arena to the dome, why not this?

You have NDSU pay for a suite and then the bar area and other suite areas are public

We need all that stuff if we drop down to D2, stay FCS or move to the FBS.

Please please please pleeeeeease do not Give Matt Larsen any ideas... Just imagine how many more "Championships" he could put on his resume if we went to D2!

[BigLakeBison]

My take is probably a bit different but any and all money spent on the Dome should be with an eye towards FBS.

1) We have to find a way to get official capacity over 20,000.

2) Upper west side suites. NDSU will need additional funding streams in FBS and the only way West side suites work is if we own them. That means we need to fundraise and pay for that portion of Dome renovations.

3) Obviously a new wider concourse with additional bathrooms/concessions is a must.

4) The East side press box needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt to cater to opposing coaching staffs, ESPN announcers, and digital streaming. The whole experience there needs to be a high level FBS experience. Don't believe me? Ever heard our guys complain about broadcasting at WIU/ISUb/YSU etc? Now imagine what the folks at Wyoming, Boise, Tulane, ECU, USF, Air Force, etc would say when they roll into the Dome.

4) Changing the game day experience will help keep the core Bison fans coming back but it's not going to sell out the Dome. A 2:00 kickoff vs a G5 opponent will do that. We used to have an us vs the world attitude and the crazy success in FCS has stagnated it.

5) Letterman/recruit hosting suite to replace North side press box. All the big time programs have a recruiting lounge to host recruits and their families on game day. We should tie that in with a letterman's suite in the same area. There is plenty of space up there to do both. Chase Morlock shouldn't have to sit in the stands during a semi final vs JMU. Putting him and others like him in a space where he can interact with recruits and coaches before a game is an FBS thing to do. It also gives space to former players who want to host a team or position group reunion on Game Day. Again, all big programs have that space, recruits see that and it sells Bison culture and why it's different. CMU, NIU, SDSU, KU, Wyoming, and other area FBS programs don't have that and can't use it as a recruiting tool, we can. That exposure to the Bison brotherhood along with a winning culture (CAS withstanding) should be the highlight of every recruits visit. If it's not, they probably won't fit here anyways. Obviously we would need to fundraise and own this as well. If given some ownership here, gotta think former players could raise this money quickly. This suite/lounge could be sponsored by different companies every week so food/drinks/tickets cost are covered.

6) I don't live in Fargo and am an NDSU first guy. I have been very against losing on campus to space to a large convention center. However, it would be awesome to host the world's largest indoor tailgate every other Saturday.

I really like the idea of the Recruit Hosting suite. Doesn't really add to the gameday atmosphere by itself but if they do some in game check-ins in the suite with some past players/alumni it is another thing that could fill some of the dead space within the game. Maybe there's a "ring of honor" aspect to it where they could invite past players back and have ceremonies for them. I was at the Vikings/Browns game earlier this season when Kevin Williams was inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor. It was really cool to see him there and see him and Pat Williams back for the ceremony. Occupied some of the downtime at halftime and also is another connection point to the team and it's history.