yea, negative bob over here -- I have zero confidence in our current athletic department doing this right.
I've heard praise for the Green Monster seating addition too. What I'm curious about is the rest of the work done...they seem to only want to highlight the Green Monster work on their graphics page, but nothing about the rest which seems to have made up the bulk of the renovation.
Except that somehow BHG still sells out and fills up. Even with pathetic teams. That really should not be ignored and thrown out along with the bath water.
I (unfortunately) was in the Swamp for the Arkansas game this season. It was my first game since pre-covid and wow, the metal bleachers were killing my back and backside, the whole row had to stand up and people at the end had to empty out into the aisle every time someone needed to enter or exit our row, guy behind me had his knees in my back and mine were in the back of the dude in front of me. I don’t know how much modern magic can be worked in a classic old stadium but I was fantasizing about what having chairs with cup holders would be like. There’s nothing like the 90,000+ strong experience in the Swamp, but with attendance trending downward across pro and college sports in general, I understand the reasoning behind reducing capacity/making the experience more comfortable, and of course that provides the excuse to charge more. I’m definitely getting old.
No need to be negative. After all, look at the wonderful job that they did with the O Dome. What’s that? Cameras are backwards you say? How much to fix it?? Um,.. Never mind
What would you like to see done? The seating thing is going to be a problem with any big renovation because once they go so far, everything will have to be brought up to code. Would you rather them do nothing? Or just a few smaller things?
A) Stay at home and watch it on the Widescreen if you can't hang anymore. B) Rent a stadium seat with a nice comfy pad on it to soothe your inflamed hindquarters. C) Insist that the powers that be spend zillions to change the entire character of the Swamp by putting an erector set over the current cement stands and reducing capacity by about 25% in order to increase the width between the rows for comforts-sake. Your choice....what's it gonna be?
I like the o dome reno. I don’t love that our biggest spenders spend their time up in the club area instead of in their seats. The cameras were facing the benches like they do in most arenas. They did get them flipped to show the student section like people wanted though, so that’s a non issue at this point.
Yes, they will have to address modern codes, as they should. Yes, there will be a slight reduction in seating, mainly due to widening of seats which is WAY overdue. Stricklin has already stated much of that reduction will be visiting team allotment. Are people unhappy with the new football facility? The new baseball stadium? The softball stadium renovations? That's the stuff the current admin has spearheaded.
They could put permanent chairbacks in the first 30 rows between the 20's without changing the structure of the stadium at all. The lower rows are on a much less acute rise down there and provide more knee room than the upper 60 rows. Then replace all the old metal bleachers with something plastic or fiberglass that is molded for comfort. Lastly, re-number the bleachers to provide a couple more inches of rear-room per seat. That's it. We would lose a few thousand seats, and the fatcats would have their armchairs but nothing in the realm of what the UAA has been discussing.
For most of the games it will be choice A. For the 1-2 games I can make it to each season I should try choice B. I don’t like choice C but am resigned to it happening.
They took away thousands of good seats to create a club and to make the aisles wider and did nothing to make those folks displaced have a better experience in their new nose-bleeder seats. They turned the place from a snakepit into a good place to take a snooze. Is that what you think the Swamp should emulate?
Hmmm...I'm unhappy that the new football facility was 20 years late and no longer a game changer in recruiting when it finally came online. I'm unhappy that the UAA prioritized renovations of a stadium that was newer than the baseball stadium in a non-revenue sport over the baseball facility AND the football facility AND upgrades (not downgrades) to the Swamp. Otherwise, I'm just as happy as a clam!
I’m not petitioning for anything, and don’t have any control over it any way. If you haven’t figured me out yet, I generally just roll with the punches. The big money is going to do what it does no matter what I say about it. I do like being comfortable though.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with comfort (and have the worn-out LazyBoy to prove it). I just think there is very little they can do with the Swamp to provide that (I listed the things I think they could do in a post above) without completely ruining the nature of the stadium. I envy your ability to roll with the punches....i generally like to complain if I perceive things not going my way!
My understanding is that triggers ADA, and I believe that is also a very likely scenario for that portion of the stadium....both lower and upper levels
Do you know what "sell out" means? It means the tickets for the game were all "SOLD". That doesn't mean that every SOLD ticket had an actual person that showed up for the game with said ticket. How do you think Mick Hubert etal., could announce "sell out crowd" hours before the game? Universities across the country have tracked the ACTUAL attendance, and it is in decline everywhere, not just at UF. I haven't been to a UF game in years where seats were all full. Anyone can see this. They aren't ignoring diddly squat, and they most certainly aren't throwing the baby out with the bath water. You just don't understand the numbers. People are staying home or going to sports bars and watching on TV. Proactive athletic departments recognize this and are reconfiguring their stadiums to provide for fewer, but more comfortable seats, and for more amenities such as food service, beverage service, more boxes, etc., among others. They hope to entice more people to attend as a result, and undoubtedly ticket prices will increase to make up for the lost seats. But, hey, if you like sitting on a bench seat wedged in between a bunch of fatties, maybe our new stadium isn't for you. You gotta love Gator fans. For years posters here bitched, moaned, whined, and complained about how Foley didn't upgrade our facilities and we were falling behind in the "arms race" and losing recruits and football games as a result. Now that the UAA and our AD is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to do just that, everyone has suddenly become an engineer/architect with expertise in how to properly redesign our stadium given current market conditions and is bitching, moaning, etc., once again. LMAO.
I try to control what I can control. Things within my control, I do like to get my way. Things out of my control, I try my best to just let it ride.
