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Stadium capacity might not be a big deal
Posted on: May 11, 2012 at 20:01:16 CT
90183 MU
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I for one am not certain that expanding the number of seats is that big a deal. We play seven home games a season, three nonconference and four SEC.
If we continue to follow the current scheduling policy, two or perhaps all three of the nonconference games will be against lesser opponents. Those games haven't sold out in the past. Will they sell out in a bigger stadium in the future just because we are in the SEC?
The majority of SEC games will be against very attractive opponents, but some will also be against the likes of Vandy, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Miss St. Will those games sell out? Past experience causes one to question the assumption they will. I.e. OState was ranked third in the nation this past season and didn't sell out. Texas, a storied program suffering a difficult season, didn't sell out in a game that Mizzou expected to win.
Many talk about SEC fans travelling, but Gainsville, Athens, Knoxville and Columbia are a lot closer to each other than any of them are to Columbia, MO. Travel for a lot of SEC East division fans to Mizzou will be more costly in both time and money than to a number of other SEC East road games.
The wild card of course is how well Mizzou does. If the Tigers are in fact a "player" in the SEC East, i.e. consistently in contention for the SEC East title year after year, then interest will be high and all the SEC games are likley to be very well attended. However, if they are merely a .500 team in the SEC, I'm not certain the fan support will be enough to consistently sell out an expanded stadium.
So it would seem to me the Athletic Department faces a double edged sword. The have the raise the money to renovate and expand the stadium and then they have to consistently produce a good enough team to sell it out.
There may well be games when 81K turn out, but there may also be games where 10K of that 81K of seats are vacant.
Edited by 90183 at 20:01:51 on 05/11/12
If we continue to follow the current scheduling policy, two or perhaps all three of the nonconference games will be against lesser opponents. Those games haven't sold out in the past. Will they sell out in a bigger stadium in the future just because we are in the SEC?
The majority of SEC games will be against very attractive opponents, but some will also be against the likes of Vandy, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Miss St. Will those games sell out? Past experience causes one to question the assumption they will. I.e. OState was ranked third in the nation this past season and didn't sell out. Texas, a storied program suffering a difficult season, didn't sell out in a game that Mizzou expected to win.
Many talk about SEC fans travelling, but Gainsville, Athens, Knoxville and Columbia are a lot closer to each other than any of them are to Columbia, MO. Travel for a lot of SEC East division fans to Mizzou will be more costly in both time and money than to a number of other SEC East road games.
The wild card of course is how well Mizzou does. If the Tigers are in fact a "player" in the SEC East, i.e. consistently in contention for the SEC East title year after year, then interest will be high and all the SEC games are likley to be very well attended. However, if they are merely a .500 team in the SEC, I'm not certain the fan support will be enough to consistently sell out an expanded stadium.
So it would seem to me the Athletic Department faces a double edged sword. The have the raise the money to renovate and expand the stadium and then they have to consistently produce a good enough team to sell it out.
There may well be games when 81K turn out, but there may also be games where 10K of that 81K of seats are vacant.
Edited by 90183 at 20:01:51 on 05/11/12
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Stadium capacity might not be a big deal - 90183 MU - 5/11 20:01:16
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