RES expansion a topic at Utah's first ever Social Media Day

by JazzyUte on Aug 18, 2011 3:09 PM MDT in Football

Utah football will begin looking at expanding Rice-Eccles Stadium in the next 2 to 3 years, Chris Hill announced today during the school's first ever Social Media Day.

Though nothing concrete was released, he did mention there are plans to expand capacity to around 55,000 and add more luxury suits. He did not say if those luxury suits would be added to the east-side, mirroring the press box to the west or if they'll be integrated into the expanded SEZ in similar fashion to TCU's Amon G. Carter or So. Mississippi's Roberts Stadium.

Roberts-stadium-900w_medium

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Lower the SEZ

I hate having the fans so far elevated away from the field.

Also I hope when they do start talking about it, they look at these stadiums that are loud and see how they do it, by making the noise come down onto the field.

by UnHoly Ram on Aug 18, 2011 3:16 PM MDT reply actions

Yeah, SEZ being elevated the way it is detracts greatly...

Especially with the band there. Hopefully the new expansion mirrors the NEZ there, because I think the NEZ is perfectly done (though I wouldn’t hate if it went a few more rows up).

by JazzyUte on Aug 18, 2011 3:24 PM MDT up reply actions

I agree, the SEZ sticks out like a sore thumb!

They definitely need to address the SEZ. I’m not a big fan of it at all. Plus the locker rooms are extremely outdated. I think a mirror image of the NEZ would look awesome! There were a couple of pics looming out on the internet somewhere that showed what an expanded RES would look like. Matter of fact I’m pretty sure I saw those pics on BlockU.

by UtesFootball on Aug 18, 2011 4:18 PM MDT up reply actions

Yup!

I made those shoddy renderings last year when Hill hinted at expansion.

This is what it could possibly look like at 55,000:

by JazzyUte on Aug 18, 2011 4:28 PM MDT up reply actions

I like it, and it's simple, but probably not the most cost effective.

Unless we do luxury boxes in the end zone like TCU, the East side is probably first, although I’d like to see them do both together (enclose the SEZ and add luxury boxes on the East side).

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by displacedute on Aug 18, 2011 4:33 PM MDT up reply actions

It's possible that is what they do...

I made these last year, when there wasn’t anything really definitive about expansion plans. But now we know expansion will include suits, so it’ll either be like the So. Miss stadium I posted above (or TCU’s) or your idea of having a set of luxury boxes on the east side.

The thing that might deter that, though, is the sun setting to the west. I can barely handle it when sitting on the east side and I’m down low enough that it is blocked quickly by the press box.

With that said, it’d be awesome to have suits on that side. While it might not make the stadium much bigger in terms of capacity, it would in feel.

by JazzyUte on Aug 18, 2011 4:40 PM MDT up reply actions

I wonder if we would do something similar to Ohio State.

I would simply tear down the current South Endzone stands and build a much larger facility that would fill the entire “gap” on the south side of the stadium. If you look at Ohio State’s stadium, the stands above the “Buckeyes” endzone is not connected to the rest of the stadium. However, it is a large enough facility to fill the entire “gap”, which basically encloses the entire stadium. I could see us doing something similar. It would be the simplest solution to me.

by pappyman on Aug 18, 2011 10:48 PM MDT reply actions

Whoops. Typo.

It should say “the stands above the ‘Buckeyes’ endzone ARE not connected to the rest of the stadium.” Grammar is a huge pet peeve of mine.

by pappyman on Aug 18, 2011 11:01 PM MDT up reply actions

Maybe I'll be able to get some real season tickets

instead of the season’s worth of sub-par single-game tickets I had to mass together this year. When you’re getting a 98% renewal rate on your capped season tickets, it’s definitely time to start thinking about expansion.

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by CrimsonUte on Aug 19, 2011 10:20 AM MDT reply actions

You should buy season tix on KSL

Though mine in row 9 of N25 went for 3x the price.

Can’t wait to close the SEZ, it’ll make it the loudest side of the stadium for sure with the student section there..

by Thlete on Aug 19, 2011 1:02 PM MDT up reply actions

Only when it happens for multiple years

98% once, especially in such a unique situation as this is great, but it is definitely not a sign that expansion is required.

However if 2 or 3 years go by and we’re still in that 95ish or even 90ish percent renewal rate then it’s time.

I also think that’s why Chris Hill has said that it won’t be for a couple years before any real talks begin. He wants to make sure the demand is really there.

by UnHoly Ram on Aug 22, 2011 7:55 AM MDT up reply actions