something like this would be a dream for our stadium…One of the worst experiences was going to a soccer game in Frisco. It gets so hot the crowd is on one side of the stadium. Looks like they are getting some shade in their approved renovation.
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Frisco just approved $182M renovation to add shade to their soccer stadium (among other amenities), so it CAN be done. Here’s a rendering:
A rendering of a proposed $182 million renovation at FC Dallas’ Toyota Stadium in Frisco. The stadium will have a distinctive new roof so all seats are shaded.(fc dallas)
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They had a roof when UH was playing at the Astrodome.
Attendance was still dismal other than games against UT and A&M.
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I remember the days of you bringing an empty Coca Cola bottle or can to recycle for a $1 ticket to an Astros game decades ago.
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On the other hand, the Dome wasn’t on campus, and both on-campus residents and overall enrollment are higher now.
Making the stadium more comfortable won’t guarantee sellouts, but would definitely increase attendance all other things being equal. It would raise the attendance floor, for sure.
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Do you think NASA might also influence SpaceX, since they typically launch from NASA sites?
Both are contractors, but the success of one is all them and failure by the other is NASA’s fault…
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^ X1000
But they fill it up, if it’s 85 degrees our fans whine and cry lol
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$182M for UH? Fertitta would personally see that expense never sees the light of day. This rationale of adding awning to the roof to block the sun will somehow add to our attendance is comical. The next excuse for fans not to attend will be to replace the stairs with escalators. And after that fans will complain about having a clear view of the stadium from Scott St. and will advocate knocking down the Football Only Facility. After that fans will not come back because the drinks are too watered down. Rather than excuses, we need to recognize that UH’s fan base is the problem.
Something that is affordable and sensible. Change the turf to real grass to make it safer and cooler for the players.
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Our fans would want uncle Tillman to pay the $182 million, Tillman said he is done, all remaining funds should got to NIL or bust. It is coming down to the have’s and have not’s, and while it is fun playing the big boys, we may have to start facing facts, our NIL and fans base is not big enough to compete. You can say but if we win we will get there, programs that are there do not have to win. Nebraska was terrible for years, always sold out. Texas A$M was average under Jimbo, even loosing to App St. still 100K. It will be interesting to see Florida and Florida State go through bad years and if attendance drops to where ours is. Doubt it.
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I don’t see us taking on any more expensive capital projects anytime soon, we can’t absorb anymore debt. It just isn’t financially prudent. Maybe after we have 5 or 6 sellouts per year for about 10 years we can consider expanding the stadium, the demand just isn’t there now.
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Florida reportedly has a $15M NIL and Florida St. reportedly has a $10M NIL. Both are circling the porcelain this season. At least UH does less with less.
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No one has argued it can’t be done as much as we can’t afford to do it and the multi-hundred million price estimates are not crazy. Toyota Stadium had an upgrade in 2018 which added the shade over south end which cost $55 million and now they are looking at doing the rest of the stadium for an additional $182 million. This is a stadium that seats 20,500 people or roughly half the size as ours in an area that does not get hurricanes the same way we do. They are also adding suites, enlarging and upgraded their club and adding more POS because at this point all renovations revolve around making more money.
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I’d be interested in knowing why that stadium is spending $180MM to add shade if it doesn’t make financial sense.
I think the weather is a non-issue (with regard to deciding whether to make that improvement). Hurricanes aren’t really much more of a statistical threat to us than the severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes that hit that part of the state.
I live about 15mins from this stadium and can tell you that burning money is a sport in itself here. Lots of property tax money and citizens approve any bonds on the ballot.
They kept us out by telling recruits you can’t play for a championship here. Now they moved the goalpost again and are saying we can’t pay as much as they do.
These college towns will always sellout (in any weather conditions) since there isn’t any competition. We’re competing with the Astros and Texans for people’s attention. I think a canopy would make the experience better. Playing at the astrodome isn’t comparable since it wasn’t on campus, it’s easier for students to get hammered at their dorms and walk over to the stadium haha. At these college towns, a portion of the crowd didn’t even attend the University. I was at the UH - OU game and a significant chunk of the crowd was there because they live in Norman/OKC and wanted to do something on Saturday. I remember when the Astros were bad, their attendance numbers were abysmal. They redesigned their logo/branding and built a winning team. UH athletic department will need to be creative and develop a competitive advantage over these other options (fan experience/marketing/promotions) and combine that with a winning team. We’ve seen that being the case with 2015/2016 teams. I remember that standing room tickets were getting sold out for the Louisville game. We need people to come for the experience and then redirect that revenue to NIL/coaching salaries which will make us competitive (it’s a loop).
See response above
“At these college towns, a portion of the crowd didn’t even attend the University.”
Could say the same thing about Horn lol (or Aggie too lol)… I’m sure a lot of the folks that go to the home games didn’t even attend the university. (Not saying you have to be an alumni to be a fan/or to go to the games)
But in Austin, you only have Austin Fc (soccer) to compete with and soccer is no where near as popular as Football.
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The students have come out for two games against UNLV and rice. Nothing wrong with their excitement thus far. Get a W at Cincinnati and the home game followed vs a ranked opponent will start to showing at the gates.
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