NDSU to AAC prepare theyself.

[HerdBot]

The Fargodome may seem right sized based on demand for tickets but the big issue I still have with it is there's no room for entry level seats/prices. There are plenty of factors that have led to decreased ticket demand but I still say price is the main issue. Beyond the price keeping people away the lack of entry level price points also doesn't allow the program to cultivate younger fans to replace aging fans whose life situations are changing and are dropping tickets. Someone is far more likely to pony up for more expensive seats if they've gotten a taste of it in the cheap seats versus never going to games at all.

The only way they can get entry level price points for NDSU football tickets now would lead to a reduction in ticket revenue - at some point they'll likely have no choice as selling tickets for something will be better than leaving them unsold but, in my opinion, the venue isn't right-sized in a market the size of Fargo if there's no room for cheap seats.

If we had a club level seating on the 50 that overlooks the field and has private restrooms, food, a bar etc... those would raise as much money than the fancy 50 yard lime seats. It would slightly boost capacity. If they remove thr north press box, that opens up some cheap seats. You can sell those for cheap. They could do corner raised party decks and sell those for cheap. Make like $10 standing room

[southcliffbison]

If I told y'all NDSU had a free $300M to use in athletics, where would you use it?

A new 40k football stadium? Or an additional $12M per year in athletics budget using that money as an endowment?

Endowment......without a doubt. A stadium without a roof? No, thanks. I'll stay home; I'm an old guy and I hate going to football games dressed like I'm going ice fishing.

[GreenfieldBison]

Endowment......without a doubt. A stadium without a roof? No, thanks. I'll stay home; I'm an old guy and I hate going to football games dressed like I'm going ice fishing.

Got to keep in mind you are not going to games after Thanksgiving. Open stadium down here for the local B!G team. It's slightly warmer in the metro than Fargo but not that much warmer.

[HerdBot]

i am not the expert on a lot of football things like most of you guys are BUT...I would have a concern if NDSU overbuilds or overreaches on a new stadium or a large addition. Remember the touted 18,000 student attendance goal of Dean Bresciani several years ago, and all the apartments that sprung up surrounding campus to absorb that?. What are we at now, 12,000+. What happens if we overbuild this stadium and the same thing happens. Maybe I am catastrophizing, but we don't want a White Elephant. I am guessing the group that runs the FargoDome will take a lot of factors into account. Sorry, but I think the mantra "build it and they will come" is just a glib and flippant phrase. I would think that a reasonable upgrade is in order, however. More bathrooms and some more inspired and cool seating. The FargoDome logo on the outside with that yellow sun-thing is kind of dumb, too. Put a Bison there instead, even if it is city-owned. Everyone knows it is the home of Bison Football. Why were the seats painted blue by the way? Why not GREEN? If they were green, the empty seats would not be so obvious! And don't get me started on some of the unimaginative/tired concessions and "dated" GameDay experiences. NDSU has a lot of great and very talented and CREATIVE people. They can do better than this. [U]And I do think there needs to be a process for the AD to take more feedback from us and to take it to HEART. [U] Does the coaching staff even read Bisonville? I have not been a Teammaker for a while, not proud of that fact but I have given a LOT of money to my alma mater for fully-funded endowments so I DO CARE, and would like our voices to be at least listened to. We are in the trenches so to speak.

Theres nothing the matter with the FD. All the bitching is about minor inconveniences.

The dome is fine. It just needs some upgrades because its 30 years old.

Priorities
- Club seating on the west side. Huge donors
- Wider concourses
- more restrooms
- Minor cosmetic changes, like the Mills Fleetfarm looking marquee
- wifi
- corner suites or party decks
- hotel on site

Large indoor facilities typically break even or lose money. We have a unique arrangement in the dome that benefits the city and NDSU. They need each other. Without NDSU, the dome probably breaks even at best.

All these other FBS teams dont need 30k seat stadiums. Would it be nice to have an indoor 30k seater? Yeah but city doesnt need 2 domes and good luck funding a 500 million dollar facility, minimum

[EndZoneQB]

This is a really, really expensive endeavor. We're not going to demolish a building objectively worth $150-200M to spend $350-500M so that we can get 5,000 cheap seats in addition to the really good ones that currently exist. It's impossible to make that up in concessions and ticket sales in a way that makes business sense.

I should point out I was NOT advocating for tearing it down. More so, a cheap way to add some seats. I saw bench seating floated(Dare I say standard in college stadiums?), adding some kind of SRO decks overlooking the field like the Bud Light Party deck. I obviously don't have numbers and how the math would work, but I feel like that would be low risk money to spend that allows some ability to get more people in the doors for peanuts. Obviously, not everyone wants to stand, but it's a start. We know for a fact people stopped trying to get tickets because 1. Prices increased on the second hand market 2. The information about availability does not permeate to the general public very well and 3. People just don't know where to even look(ties back to both 1 and 2) - tickets were always available at tailgating, even during the height of it.

Speaking of tailgating - allowing people to tailgate THROUGH the game would be an improvement as well. People could go to the game day event and not worry about finding tickets(and hopefully find some).

[HerdBot]

i am not the expert on a lot of football things like most of you guys are BUT...I would have a concern if NDSU overbuilds or overreaches on a new stadium or a large addition. Remember the touted 18,000 student attendance goal of Dean Bresciani several years ago, and all the apartments that sprung up surrounding campus to absorb that?. What are we at now, 12,000+. What happens if we overbuild this stadium and the same thing happens. Maybe I am catastrophizing, but we don't want a White Elephant. I am guessing the group that runs the FargoDome will take a lot of factors into account. Sorry, but I think the mantra "build it and they will come" is just a glib and flippant phrase. I would think that a reasonable upgrade is in order, however. More bathrooms and some more inspired and cool seating. The FargoDome logo on the outside with that yellow sun-thing is kind of dumb, too. Put a Bison there instead, even if it is city-owned. Everyone knows it is the home of Bison Football. Why were the seats painted blue by the way? Why not GREEN? If they were green, the empty seats would not be so obvious! And don't get me started on some of the unimaginative/tired concessions and "dated" GameDay experiences. NDSU has a lot of great and very talented and CREATIVE people. They can do better than this. [U]And I do think there needs to be a process for the AD to take more feedback from us and to take it to HEART. [U] Does the coaching staff even read Bisonville? I have not been a Teammaker for a while, not proud of that fact but I have given a LOT of money to my alma mater for fully-funded endowments so I DO CARE, and would like our voices to be at least listened to. We are in the trenches so to speak.

I should point out I was NOT advocating for tearing it down. More so, a cheap way to add some seats. I saw bench seating floated(Dare I say standard in college stadiums?), adding some kind of SRO decks overlooking the field like the Bud Light Party deck. I obviously don't have numbers and how the math would work, but I feel like that would be low risk money to spend that allows some ability to get more people in the doors for peanuts. Obviously, not everyone wants to stand, but it's a start. We know for a fact people stopped trying to get tickets because 1. Prices increased on the second hand market 2. The information about availability does not permeate to the general public very well and 3. People just don't know where to even look(ties back to both 1 and 2) - tickets were always available at tailgating, even during the height of it.

Speaking of tailgating - allowing people to tailgate THROUGH the game would be an improvement as well. People could go to the game day event and not worry about finding tickets(and hopefully find some).

Tailgating has fallen off in recent years. Since the whole west side is reserved, it would be smart to allow people to tailgate on the east side or the RP lot with beer. When did they stop selling GA tailgating on the west? People used to wait in line for them

I've seen people do it east because they couldnt get a spot on the west and they dont know anyone. Its so dumb because they are setting up and trying to hide a beer

[EC8CH]

Theres nothing the matter with the FD. All the bitching is about minor inconveniences.

Holy shit, I agree.

[EP NDSU Fan]

Holy shit, I agree.

Not sure I would agree with minor inconveniences, FD is basically Target Center for football. View lines and usefulness of the structure are fine but updates to vanquish the early 90s are needed. This isn’t really a NDSU football issue, FD is the major regional venue and should be renovated. The real unfortunate part of putting the renovation out this long is we have real interest rates to deal with, but it might be a public development opportunity if we hit a recession and construction labor need a bump. I haven’t lived in State for years but does the city have gambling options as a funding source? I’m shocked how fast the Vikings were able to payoff US Bank with Epulltabs.

[IndyBison]

I realize that you're just goofing but if we went to bench seating on the existing concrete stadium, there's probably about 4,000 seats available as well but you'd keep the leg room.

As someone else said, most college football stadiums have mostly bench seats. I've been in Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, IU, Purdue, Arizona State. All mostly bench. The Michigan stadium claims to have a capacity of 108k. I contend you can't SEAT 108k. The game I attended, we stood sideways the entire game. If we were asked to turn and sit, there would not have been room.

I have no idea how many extra people you squeeze in if you put bench seats in the end zone and upper level sidelines, but I bet it's a significant number. That may not be good for concert goers, but all those stadiums I mentioned do occasionally hold concerts.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

[AlumniGreen]

I agree also about having tailgating allowed throughout the game. This could potentially attract new Bison fans, of which we do need. The new fans (or old fans, whatever) could get a taste of Bison fan life without tickets and might be able to be inspired enough to purchase tickets in the future. We need to constantly regenerate the fan base, bringing in a wide demographic, not just younger fans but anyone. Making the Bison Gameday experience more fun does not have to necessarily cost anything. What are other FCS or FBS fan bases doing in order to make their own Gameday experiences better. Those of you who travel for the Bison away-games might see some ideas. I hope the AD and others in charge of the FargoDome experience would be receptive to your ideas. NDSU has to meet the fans halfway. I see complacency in our fan base but I also see it is the Athletic department. Don't take the fans for granted!