What would you change about Michigan Stadium?
Excluding what goes on on the field.
There needs to be more of a historic presence on the concourse. We need a statue garden/wall of fame. Statues of players, coaches with bios. Crisler Center and Yost I’ve Arena both do great jobs of showcasing the history of the teams that play there.
Plaques underneath the covered concourse that people just walk by aren’t enough.
I’d like to see Michigan Stadium opened up for drop-in visits again. I know it used to happen awhile ago but now you can only do it if you pay $100 for a guided tour.
No. Open one gate and have security checkpoints when you walk in and have some security on the field. Close off the tunnel, just open the NE gate. I feel like Bo and specifically Yost would be disgusted on how closed off things are to the fans. Most outdoor facilities at Michigan you can walk through and walk on the field. The Big House used to be this way. Michigan Football is for all of us.
Curious to hear other suggestions.
I am only measuring degrees of awful. Not saying it would’ve attained a level that anyone considers good or attractive.
honestly wish it wasn't built into the ground. that's it.
Before the renovations (which I like BTW) I actually loved that it was in the ground. When you walk up to it for the first time you can't fathom how it's a 110,000 seat stadium. Then you walk inside and it's amazing. It only had that shock value once, though, and it's lessened with the new façade outside.
Grass field.
Agreed. That field was crap by The Game, which obviously would prevent anyone from scoring 56 points on us.
more macaroni
A bunch of posts and no one has addressed an obvious weakness of the stadium: Sight lines. It's true that there's not a bad seat in the house, but there aren't any really good ones, either. It's a big, shallow bowl.
I really like Michigan Stadium, but if I could change only one thing I'd crank up the angle / pitch several degrees so I could see over the sun-blocking guy that is sometimes in front of me at games.
Oh, and I'd also give the thousands of self-appointed cheerleaders an SRO section where they could stand and scream at each other.
I had hoped they would address that when they reconstructed the bowl before adding the towers. I had hoped they would give a better rise per row, even another inch or so higher per row and give wider seats. I also thought they could have built upper decks in the endzones to move much of the displaced from expanding seat width to a more modern acceptable level. And done so with the ability to add seating. Idk.. still loved the onion image of Michigan stadium...
As a self-appointed cheerleader, separate SRO sections would be an excellent setup.
Have you tried asking the sun blocking guy in front of you to get down? :P
Drains running the length of every row so you can just pee without leaving your seat.
April 28th, 2020 at 11:15 PM ^
I once saw a guy pee at his seat. Security took took him out real quick. Some MSU guys got a little wet.
Beer sales.
Simple: placing a pit of death in there so the officials know what's up. Oh you don't wanna throw the flag on that obvious PI?! You aren't making it out of here alive broski. Blow the play dead instead of letting play continue and reviewing afterwards?! Hope you don't land on the spikes down there...but watch out for the crocodiles and cobras.
One of my colleagues posted this on our intranet. Pretty interesting diagram of how social distancing would effect fans. Can’t imagine what it will do to ticket prices.
I actually agree with WD on the tours point. I was a student during the Brandon era and it was incredible to see the transformation of the student/AD relationship during that time. My freshman year, everyone I knew had tickets and we would go run around the stadium in the middle of the night. By my senior year, some of my peers were completely priced out, the stadium was under heavy guard, and the entire athletic department felt like it was actively self-segregating from the rest of the university and student body.
This is a long winded way of saying that I really do wish our school actually approached its role as a public university that exists to serve the students rather than a barely concealed for profit enterprise that has an active disdain for the people funding it.
I should say that my frustrations illustrated by the second paragraph are obviously not exclusively driven by the AD, but are also influenced by skyrocketing tuition, constant unnecessary campus renovations, obfuscation regarding student legal affairs, and an attitude of looking down on folks that aren't on board. Just my two cents.
Though I value all student season ticket holders having access to every game, it's quite rare when that corner is filled to the top. I think they should slightly decrease the size of the student section and sell GA seats to the public in that top corner, around sections 29-31.
I'd honestly love it if they made the student section smaller than then number of student tickets allotted. If you scan your ticket after the max has been hit, you'll be directed to an auxillary standing room area to watch the game.
That would get the students in the stadium on time.
Or they would just pack in tighter for big games...as someone who spent 4 years in the student section, I can tell you that, especially the first 40 or so rows ALL have more people in them than the allotted number of seats. I never once sat in a row as high up as my ticket was assigned, even for big games. That's part of why the section looks so empty at the top.
Certainly true. Bottom 30ish rows are always packed.
The people who sit behind me who tell me to sit down.
I enthusiastically agree that increasing the bowl rise angle would make a huge difference. Any child under 5' tall can barely see if you're in rows 3-45. Plus, even with the structures now helping greatly, it destroys our ability to intimidate via volume.
I'd increase the width of the bleachers seats, even if the reduction reduces the bowl capacity by 10K+. It's too cramped. It's not comfortable to either sit or stand, especially when you add in cold-weather clothes. Lack of space equals less noise.
I'd then finish the club level suites all the way around the stadium, only breaking for the scoreboards. I'd mimic the architecture from the existing structures, using brick whenever possible. I would slightly angle the glass downwards as well for maximum noise trapping. I'd attempt to offset the seat reduction in the bowl with equal seats in the new suites.
I remember back in the 80s, the stadium was just open a lot of the time. I might be a part of the reason it’s closed. We didn’t have a lot of money, so my dad would take us kids to the stadium just for fun. We got locked in one time and could only go out by walking through Crisler, which, too, was unlocked. The team was practicing, (I was young, so don’t remember perfectly, but I believe this was during the Frieder era), and we watched the team practice unbothered for a short while before making our way out another exit to get outside the gates. It’s funny how different things are today.
IIRC 9/11 is when it was closed forever. Maybe it happened before that. It definitely was open at all times in the late 90s.
It closed temporarily for 9/11, but by my senior year (04), it was open daily. Used to go on the field often and kick field goals with my roommates.
I’m not sure if that’s the case because in the Michigan Football Memories documentary from 2004 Lloyd says there’s nothing better than walking in when no one is there during a game week and feeling the history.
That it's closed is bullshit. If nothing else, open up the entrances directly across from Crisler so you can walk over during whatever is happening at Crisler. I always loved just looking at the empty stadium, how massive it looked from that one, lonely, corner entrance. You could feel the history smack you in the feels. That lonely view built lifelong fans. Bring it back!
Add a halo and more display ads. That'd go over well. /s
I'll ditto the space constraints. At 6'3" and not small, it is a challenge to sit comfortably. C'est la vie.
The only other thing I'd change is allowing food and an empty water bottle. You should be able to bring a sandwich and snacks in. Also, you should be able to bring in an empty water bottle, just like in airports and on airplanes. The prohibition is not about safety: it is about forcing you to buy overpriced food. Which completely stinks.
I'd like to see adjustments that will improve the home field advantage, which means a way to make it louder and keep the noise in. The boxes on the sides have helped, but something above the end zone stands to reflect sound back in. Maybe a structure with retired numbers, or all americans or something.
Bigger seats.
Wifi. I figure the price I pay for seat license fee should include some type of wifi. Provide password to season ticket holders. You take time inside stadium and its probably 3 1/2 hours. Plenty of down time where it would be nice to use phone/internet.
Some type of in game highlights from other games on video scoreboard. I see this at other stadiums and I enjoy that. See above why it is difficult to get scores of other games and catching scores on video scoreboard at stadium can be difficult if you aren't watching the video screen.
Sell beer. That would solve a lot of the problems with the atmosphere.
Like the problem of not being puked on at games?
The fact that I've never stepped foot IN it?
AstroTurf on Ann Arbor Golf & Outing. I'm tired of them telling us to stay off their lawn because of rain!
:::End rant:::
fewer Ohio State fans on the day of the Game
A second deck. We need a second deck.
Make the Scoreboards the length of the opening box to box. Embarrassing how small they are.
I really wish they would add a second exit for the endzones. It takes stupid long to get out at the end of the game and halftime.
Less play by play from the announcer. He over does it.
Carl Grapentine slander will not be tolerated here.
Well, well, well, that is an interesting comment. Rumor has it that it is not impossible to watch the marching band practice at Michigan Stadium on the evening before the game while in the company of Carl Grapentine.
Actually, I don't recall ever thinking there is too much play-by-play. I fondly remember the days when the crowd cheered for a proper pronunciation of Tshimanga "Tim" Biakabutuka. Of course, having a 4-year old daughter follow suit is a blessing.
I’ll take my negs, but I love domes. They’re louder and for wimps in the crowd such as myself you don’t have to worry about sitting in the rain all night long. Michigan stadium could use some extra noise; time to add on a roof.
Item 2, set-up craft beer bars around the concourse and don’t charge $13 for an 8 oz cup. Beer + roof = louder, rowdier crowd and that helps the team.
Yeah! Just tear it down and build something like the Vikings or the new LA stadium, except bigger with 113k capacity!
Make red illegal.
That’s a wonderful idea.
the week before the next Ohio State home game release a bulletin that states something like.... “Due to an increase in local gang activity, the color red has been barred on campus until further notice. We thank you in advance for your understanding and compliance moving forward... Violaters will be shot on site.”
Take the towers off both sides. Disconnect all the wires into the sound system except Carl Grapentine's. Replace the old press box and put the Michigan Stadium sign on top.
Michigan Stadium is as close to perfect as can be in my mind. Possibly because I only make it back to UM for one game every few years, the entire day is one of nostalgia as opposed to thinking about ways the stadium could improve.
With that in mind, I always wished they did more to honor and recognize the history, legendary coaches, and amazing teams / players that have played for the program. While there are a few honors here-and-there, I (irrationally) want the stadium to be the Louvre-equivalent of college football, complete with amazing tributes and collections to the past.
I haven't been to many college stadiums, so I have no frame-of-reference for how other schools may recognize their past (at the stadium). However, there are a couple NFL teams that do it really well, including the Packers, Cowboys, Niners, Seahawks, and a few others...