NDSU to AAC prepare theyself.

[AlumniGreen]

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.

[OrygunBison]

The math needs to work. I'm not suggesting that a new stadium is completely out of the question. I was just responding to the idea of building a new facility to add cheap seats. There is zero chance that a new stadium results is at-par or cheaper seating of any sort....no matter how you slice it. Honestly, I'm not sure why this part of the discussion has any traction at all.

[56BISON73]

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.

[NDSU92]

Just get the same architect who did the seating at the SHAC to redo the seats in the Dome. There's probably the extra 5k seats you're looking for right there.

In all seriousness, the FargoDome is fine. Someday hopefully it will be horribly undersized and by then we'll have our next move already in the works. If we're talking actual attendance, 19k actual butts in seats puts us in the top half of any G5 conference. Not bad for a lowly little FCS move-up.

Would love to have more for a conference championship/late rivalry game, but not at the cost of the $300M it would take to do it right.

[OrygunBison]

Just get the same architect who did the seating at the SHAC to redo the seats in the Dome. There's probably the extra 5k seats you're looking for right there.

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.

[56BISON73]

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.

You wouldnt need the extra seating if you went to bench seating.

[NDSU92]

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?

[Son of a Bison]

Some fans would rather go once and spend $500 than go 10 times and spend $50 each time. I am guilty of this especially at places like Vegas or Disney World. How can NDSU capture a good mix of each type is crucial going forward.

Maybe have some meet and greets with former players before the game in the dome meeting areas.
Do a VIP tent at tailgate with express entrance into the dome afterwards. Maybe sell a few experiences where get to go on field for warmups or visit a practice. Use a corner of the dome for a private lounge with something more than beer.

It does for a while only if the product on the field is worth it. Then the product on the field dictates the perceived value to the attendee. The Ralph will be 22 years old this fall. How do people feel about that venue as a whole. Nothing much has changed there with the exception of new scoreboard. But it has very nice suites for viewing games. Does a new larger stadium with improved suites and "cheap seat" help you maximize revenue while expanding your base of fans. It is still a huge financial outlay for the new building but it can be offset with the added features that people are wanting. I had buddies that attended a Vikings game this year and were in a lounge area with all kinds of things going on in it with all food and beverages. They got exclusive early entry into the game. Their comments were that is the only way they would like to go to a game vs just sitting in a seat. That all brings value and the game that day.

[tony]

The big question for NDSU is . . . All Sports, or just football. All sports would be a big deal. I assume you can’t goto the AAC as a football only.

They do already have one football-only member, but it's Navy.

[BigHorns]

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.

That is a quandry.

The problem is conferences like AAC are looking for markets where they CAN fill a 30k+ stadium like UCF, Houston, and Cinci did. Saying "no thanks, we're good with 19k" is telling that conference we're not a good fit for them. They want schools that have confidence in their growth.

And maybe we'll need to start off in the MAC for that reason.