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Northwestern building new stadium

Beautiful, will be quite the upgrade. But $800 million, wow.

I also think they’re pretty smart going smaller, most are. Even our Hawks….Kinnick’s capacity shrank with the most recent renovation. Didn’t it used to be 72,000, then 70585 and now under 70k?

College football attendance is decreasing across the board…it’s more than a blip.
Yes. I think Kinnick is now around 69,000 and will lose some more if and when they update the south endzone like the north one....My best friend from grade school through college is an architect and VP for one of the firms that does these stadium rebuild designs. I know he was a designer on one of the ones at Kinnick. Not sure if it was the last one for the north endzone.
 
They would….for a OSU vs Wisconsin or Iowa title game. By dropping to 35k they can play to a much fuller stadium made up of mostly NW fans. When iowa plays there now its probably half Iowa fans....

More than that as far as rival fans go…Like Wisconsin Nebraska Iowa etc. come to town… I was at the southern Illinois game first time ever at Northwestern..really like the quaintness of the stadium. With that said it wasn’t a third full it might not have even been a quarter full.
 
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Tbf, some stadiums can look massive but seat way fewer people than you'd expect depending on the layout of the building.

The Fargodome is a prime example. It only seats 19,000, but looks fairly big from the outside.

2009-0518-Fargodome.jpg
Just got the vip tour of that place.

Got in the tunnel, coaches office, etc.

Their trophy case is insane!
 
They “fixed” the issue this season by putting in a bermudagrass field right before the season started. Brilliant.

Making it the only athletic field in the north/Midwest to use bermudagrass, which thrives in the south and in tropical climates. Can’t make this stuff up.
Well evidently you can make it up like you are since you didn't seem to even read the article that you linked in a thread you started about the soldier field turf. The same company that installed this field put the same stuff in Kansas City and Baltimore. It held up way better than anything previously would have in that monsoon VS niners and looked great Sunday. That bluegrass would get super stressed early in the season when it was hot so it didn't hold up well

They said they are prepared to replace it if they have to but Kansas City's lasted all year, the field is also heated. We will see how it goes but here's that article if you want to read it. The fact they have so many concerts and the kickball team playing there are why it looked awful preseason and part of why the Bears are bailing and building their own stadium in Arlington Heights

 
Well evidently you can make it up like you are since you didn't seem to even read the article that you linked in a thread you started about the soldier field turf. The same company that installed this field put the same stuff in Kansas City and Baltimore. It held up way better than anything previously would have in that monsoon VS niners and looked great Sunday. That bluegrass would get super stressed early in the season when it was hot so it didn't hold up well

They said they are prepared to replace it if they have to but Kansas City's lasted all year, the field is also heated. We will see how it goes but here's that article if you want to read it. The fact they have so many concerts and the kickball team playing there are why it looked awful preseason and part of why the Bears are bailing and building their own stadium in Arlington Heights

Have you ever managed turf in Baltimore or Kansas City vs. Chicago? It may not look like a big difference on a map, but going 150 miles south into the transition zone is a big deal. It changes everything from a turf management standpoint.

Bermuda DOES hold up better to traffic, so it absolutely makes sense on a field that’s used heavily. At least they’re prepared to replace it; Chicago winters are different than KC winters; heated field or not.
 
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Have you ever managed turf in Baltimore or Kansas City vs. Chicago? It may not look like a big difference on a map, but going 150 miles south into the transition zone is a big deal. It changes everything from a turf management standpoint.

Bermuda DOES hold up better to traffic, so it absolutely makes sense on a field that’s used heavily. At least they’re prepared to replace it; Chicago winters are different than KC winters; heated field or not.
Field sure looked damn good today for December. They also use Bermuda at Ross-Ade stadium in West Lafayette.... I guess the people in charge knew what they were doing on this one. Glad they finally got it right
 
Looks like a nice setup NW is building. I like the approach - especially given their mediocre attendance. Make it a more intimate experience. Sort of like what Texas did for its BBall program. Personally, I’d like to see Iowa basketball build a smaller, more modern arena. But wrestling fans wouldn’t be happy!
 
Looks like a nice setup NW is building. I like the approach - especially given their mediocre attendance. Make it a more intimate experience. Sort of like what Texas did for its BBall program. Personally, I’d like to see Iowa basketball build a smaller, more modern arena. But wrestling fans wouldn’t be happy!

Minnesota went smaller and their attendance has dropped by an average of 6,000 compared to the Metrodome. Even at a capacity of 50,800 for Huntington Bank, the Gophers are averaging 89% capacity or 45,261. That’s down from around 51,000 back in 2005-2008 when Minnesota won a total of 21 games in four years and going 0-8 one season in the B1G.

Northwestern’s average attendance over the last five years is 37,300. The new stadium’s capacity is expected to be 35,000. That would be like Iowa Basketball building a new arena around 12,250.

Speaking of Texas’ new Moody Center. You want to go to the Texas Tech at Texas game on January 14th? The cheapest ticket on Stubhub is $300. If you’d like to sit on the sides, there’s two for $570. Everything else is $690+ each.
 
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