Notes from today's event staff meeting (Stadium capacity to 120,000, "keep the red out", yellow cards)
Forgive the typos; I typed this list on my Atrix this morning during the annual Event Staff meeting at the Stadium. There were some really interesting things revealed, including that the Stadium's next expansion is already late in the design phase... Everything after I start citing Dave Brandon is from the AD himself. Everything else is from various Athletic Department admins. So without further ado, here is what was imparted to the event staff today:
The student section has expanded to end halfway through 34
Straws and lids are back
Event Staff gets new uniforms! They are a huge improvement over the nasty baggy yellow shirts they used to give us. They're mostly blue with maize accents. If they didn't say "EVENT STAFF", I'd be happy to wear it on non-game days. I'll post pictures later on.
There is a new level of event staff: Response Team. They act in place of law enforcent in minor incidents and can issue yellow cards to fans causing problems. These function the same way as soccer and collecting too many leads to ejection from the game. The cards are bright yellow and say" This is Michigan" on one side and list the fan policies on the back. The Response Team will wear an inverted uniform (maize with blue accents). They will also patrol the fence to keep out prohibited items.
Along with the Response Team, a new incident management program is in place. All incidents called in by ushers etc will be tracked on a map and followed up on post game. This group is responsible for dispatching Response Team members.
No Smoking will be enforced heavily on the concourse this year by ticket ta kers after everyone is in the Stadium and the Response Team.
Media parking moved from Pioneer to the dirt triangle lot near Crisler.
Event staff will have special hats for the night game, but no picture yet.
Pedestrian areas will be lit around the Stadium for the night game.
Our credentials now have bar codes on them so we can be scanned in.
Yellow cards have a unique number on them.
The Stadium is no longer open to the public on non game days. This has been the during renovations but is now permanent policy. Tours can be arranged through the Athletic Dept.
Seat cushions are a go and are fastened to the benches. They are managed by an outside company that has done this elsewhere (Alabama, most rcently)
Dave brandon showed up and says that every suite and club seat is sold out, there are not 2 seats.next to each other remaining for any home game this year, and that they could have sold 175,000 tickets to the Notre Dame game. He guarantees that it will be the highest attendance at the Big House in history. He says 115,000 and that the Stadium will be bursting with fans. Special things planned for each game planned already: There will be flyovers, "special flyovers", a parachuter, fireworks, a tribute to Desmond Howard, a tribu te to Lloyd Carr.
DB says night game is a test and it's for the fans and players. A bad experience would make this the only night game. Good experience = a night game per year.
DB confirms: design completed for filling out bleachers to top of scoreboard in south end. Capacity will raise to 120,000. Opponent tickets will be up at top next to scoreboard.
No number retirement due to large squads and number sharing issues.
ESPN put together a financial package that makes the 2012 vs Alabama game MORE profitable than a home game.
Scoreboards will be complete by Aug 5 and tested in all weather and lighting conditions throughout August.
Man that is all awesome news. Thanks for sharing all this insider information.
I live to serve.
Is it too late to apply to be on the response team? Do they get tazers?
It is too late and they do not get anything except better power trips than everyone else. They're still in desperate need of ushers, if you'd like a power trip of smaller magnitude.
That night game is gonna set the tone for every night game any sports team ever plays in the history of mankind.
Unless we fail the test. Then it gets taken away.
That's exactly how I read it. DB is the fun father...until someone screws up. Then it's back to strictsville for everyone!
and he won't be angry so much as he'll be disappointed
I too was at today's meeting. Brandon also made it clear that there will be measures to make sure the stadium environment is "enjoyable for everyone" - which I take to mean more staff and more cops to make sure the "knuckleheads" (Brandon's words) don't ruin the game for everyone.
However, like it's been pointed out, if things don't go smoothly, night games will be few and far between, if at all.
Are there really that many knuckleheads? I have been to nearly 50 games and have never had a problem.
Hoke has said hes not a fan of night games and if were winning games ....what Hoke says Hoke gets
If we beat ND at night, Hoke may become a fan of night games ;)
If OSU fans can pass the night game test, any fanbase can.
Have you forgotten? The OSU administration has VERY low standards. DB, Brady Hoke and U-M expect more.
Shouldn't that be "in the future of mankind"? If the night game could set the tone for games already played, that would be miraculous indeed!
this is MICHIGAN for God's sake!
If you're going to go all-time, that night game might still take second fiddle to the Priscus v Verus match of 80 AD that was so good that at the end Titus awarded them each the wooden sword, and declared both Victors. Both men got to walk through the Colosseum's Gate of Life.
Kind of hard to beat a game remembered for nearly 2,000 years.
And the first win-win situation.
Heh. I love it when I get the "wooden sword."
It's good to hear that DB is trying to keep Nebraska fans from getting too many tickets. Although I'm glad they're in the B1G, they would definitely try to take over our stadium...
"The Stadium is no longer open to the public on non game days."
Still think this is pretty ridiculous. I'll miss that steps workout.
Jane Fonda is more than willing to fill that void if you have a VHS player.
Yeah, but Fonda dont have a motor in the back of her Honda.
My Anaconda dont want none unless you got JLo buns hun!
(get it?)
You can do side bends or sit-ups, but please don't lose that butt
I hope the night game does go well. The atmosphere is so much better for a night game that I would love to have them every year.
Guh. And that accent. Some trollish wench screamed "gaaahhhhuuuu aaahhuuuu-haaaauuuyy-aaahhuuuu" (read: go ohio...), in my ear for 3 hours straight 2 years ago.
You're from Toledo. Must you speak like you're straight out of the ozarks?
my thoughts exactly
That would be great if they could test the scorebords for all weather conditions in August, but I would I be ok with them just keeping the webcam up throughout the testing.
I hope part of 'tightening ticketing channels' and partnering with stubhub includes flooding the Nebraska stubhub market with prime seats for low dollars in Sections 45 and 46!
Nicely done.
One night game a year is more than I'd like. When people get home at 3:00 in the morning on Sunday, I hope the enthusiasm is diminished.
They might have been able to sell 175,000 tickets to an ND night game. But if the Stadium is expanded to 120,000, will they even have a sellout, for Western? We don't have parking for 100,000, let alone 110,000 or 120,000. Mr. Brandon; tell us about the Master Plan for parking. Please.
Thank you Ero Gant. This post's detail is terrific; especially as regards the ushers/event staff. I have zero doubt that Dave Brandon reads MGoBlog; that he understands things like the "Down in Front/Up in Back" fights. And that he wants to take preemptive action to keep things cool.
Media parking improved: Too bad; I was hoping that Media Parking would be moved to somewhere close to Rynearson Stadium. Or Spartan Stadium.
IMG is the company that does the seat cushion business. Are they in already? I know the program is a "go." But I didn't think that they had been installed yet. If they are in already, could somebody please post a picture?
They're not installed yet, no. I meant that the program is all worked out. I also meant to type that season ticket holders who opt not to purchase the seat for the entire year will be able to change their mind and purchase them midway through the season for $4 per game.
They are right next to me now. When we win, it's fun to hear them silenced, but when we lose it makes it worse.
I wonder how long it takes to expand bleachers and if it's just something that can be completed in one offseason.
I'd love to see some mock ups of the stadium expansion. Does this mean the stadium will be in 2 levels? If you keep expanding to the level of the scoreboard you'd definietly be way too far from the field.
One level, just an even wider bowl. The new seats will certainly be the least desirable viewing angle, hence the opponents' section moving there.
Oh ok, so i'm also assuming that the south end will get an exterior facelift, like the sides. I'd love to see us top osu's rotunda exterior.
That looks awesome (and nice job on the rendering)...empty. There looks to be a few hundred obstructed view seats. Very curious as to how it would be done to insure no line of sight issues.
but forgot to render the nearside scoreboard.
It only has 4 posts, and our current scoreboards have 6.
Isn’t that that most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your cotton picking maze and blue life?
If.
You.
Build.
It.
They.
Will.
Come!
They need to build second decks on both ends.
My tickets are bought and paid for. Thanks for sending me that code so I could buy them direct last Monday. (I understand it's difficult to figure out which UM alums are also NU alums - this one slipped through.)
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone November 19!
Welcome to the Big Ten. I for one, am glad you guys are here.
I knew that coming here for graduate school would pay dividends.