A ton of talk about RES stadium expansion right now….

[Ute Bc]

The debate is going on at the U (see SLTRIB).  My guess is IF they decide to expand it will be 5,000 at the most.  Frankly, I wouldn’t want them to expand much more than that.  

[SigEpUte]

I wouldn’t necessarily expand overall capacity.

I think they just need to close the south end zone to improve the optics of the stadium.

 

[jamarcus24]

A little bit of both.  Expand and fill in the south endzone by completely renovating the south endzone.  The SEZ could use new locker rooms and a med facility as well as a few thousand extra seats.

[Utah]

Yeah, I’d say a couple thousand more seats, but much more over 50,000 isn’t needed and is risky. Add in some more luxury suites. Fix the lockerrooms. 

We could have some of the best facilities in the country overall if we did this. 

[sweetgrass]

[TheJuggernaut]

I doubt we see suites on top of the bleachers due to the new jumbotron.

[Utahute72]

Optimum in this day in age (given the PAC 12 membership and western location) is about 55K, which can be done easily with filling in the southern endzone.

[Puget Ute]

That sure seems to be the best solution. The South End Zone should be condemned anyhow, it is falling down.

But there is almost no way the state legislature will pony up for it. Can the U raise $80M or so directly, or convince the UTLeg to bond all or part?

UW did a beautiful job with their new stadium and they were able to raise almost $300M for the renovation entirely through private donations. $60-$80M should be doable in Utah, I would think.

[rbmw263]

The endzone corners have to be filled in. That end of the stadium is embarassing. Bump it up to 55,000, call it good.

[KiYi-Ute]

Agreed with pretty much everything being said here. Locker rooms are also in need of a yuuuuge upgrade.

Make it tremendous.

[utefansince79]

Indeed would be nice to fill in the south stands.  While the MUSS does an impressive job supporting the team, the closed north stands get absolutely rocking at times.    The locker rooms and other rooms in the south of course are over 30 years old and are badly in need of replacement.

 

What isn’t desirable though is have an expanded stadium with huge sections of empty seats which is all too common at many of the other Pac-12 venues.

 

 

[Ute Bc]

A lot of truth to the empty seats problem – one we don’t have at the moment…  That said, I’ve always been amazed how some of those teams in the south, like TN, pack those huge stadiums with mediocre years…

[KiYi-Ute]

Agreed. Some of the first things that other PAC12 ADs told Chris Hill when we got into the league was not to expand the stadium much, if at all. No empty seats.

[TheJuggernaut]

The endzone seats are the cheapest in the stadium. They won’t be empty.

[Stradlater]

My guess is the split amongst fans between expanding and not expanding runs somewhere between season ticket holders and those who don’t have them.

[TheJuggernaut]

The SEZ is a WAC relic and will have to be replaced sooner rather than later, it’s not a question of if the U wants to replace it, it will happen.

This was a while ago, but what I heard was the frontrunner as far as plan options were concerned would completely demolish the SEZ, put in bleacher seats that would mirror the NEZ (this would have to be the case now due to the new jumbotron), and rebuild the SEZ facility to hold locker rooms, offices, etc. There were other plans to add suites along the top of the bleachers, but with the jumbotron I don’t think that’s an option.

This would put RES capacity somewhere in the neighborhood of 55K. The East side also has the capability of adding an upper deck someday, which would boost capacity to around 63K, but don’t expect that to happen anytime soon, if ever.

[UtahUteGuy]

We need to fill in the south end zone.  I feel sorry for them during the U-T-A-H chants.  The poor little buggers don’t even have a chance.

[BaldHatu]

5,000 is ideal.  Cleaning up the optics of the stadium, improving locker room, increase 5K and call it a day.  Leave in place structure for future skybox/corporate suite expansion.  That would be it.

 

While at it… Increase bladder emptying stations as well.

[Milton Vanderslice]

To be fair, the addition of the NEZ men’s room was well done. 

[UtahMan77]

My buddy works in the athletic office and has said that if they put in just bleachers it’ll add around 10,000, and if they put in seats it would increase it by 7,000 to 8,000. I think the capacity around 55,000 would be a good stopping point. As a season ticket holder in the south endzone I love that view. You see plays develop holes open although the depth perception is terrible. An upgrade would be nice indeed.