LSU admits Fans are not showing up!!

This week I attended an event in TS (Bill Lawton Room)and TAD presented Stadium Expansion project details and updates.

Here are some details on what is being built in case some people missed it:

- 3,000 club seats
- 66 Premium Suites
- 400 SRO (Standing Room Only) patrons
- 1,500 General Public Seats
- 25,000 sq. ft kitchen, pantry, concession area
- Two (2) 39' x 67' HD screens

Target finish date September 2014 (YES they are behind on schedule - various reasons)

TAD admitted that they are competing with big screen HDTV's at home and the only reason they are putting 1,500 more general public seats is to utilize the roof area of 66 Premium Suites that would have gone to waste.

They also mentioned that parking has been one of the biggest issue that is discouraging fans from showing up. YES they have looked at adding parking garages in 4 different studies (1st study was done back in 1965) but there is some major disagreement on the location of these garages and that's the reason why no decision has been made till date.

They also mentioned that they don't want to have the biggest screens in the nation (mentioned Mississippi State screen) and therefore went with two(2)HD screens that will be placed on either sides of the premium suites.

Lastly, the number that has been overly debated on this site....Total Seating Capacity!!!!.....well folks there is none. Its not as simple as some think. They are still working on the layout (CAD Drawings) and they are trying to squeeze in as many as they can (also learnt that not all seats are the same dimensions). They will have a good estimate in coming months and once all the seats (tubs) arrive they will redo the numbers and see everything fits.

This is one messy project and there are so many moving parts, but the end product will be unmatched in SEC. I am excited.




NOTE:
To all the people who keep saying that the title is misleading. Please read the whole thing. I kept the posting short and hit some major points. I did not want to bore everyone.....then some of you bitches would have said TLDNR!!!!! WTF!!!!

TAD admitted that fans are not showing up and seats are going empty. They recognize the fact and they know the future is challenging. But they went ahead with the expansion because Price Waterhouse Cooper (Who did the market study) said the the market is strong. They know they are taking a risk and they know they have to fix other things (parking, etc.)to bring back fans. They also know that adding these new seats will make the parking worse, but they have identified 1500 parking slots on north campus to mitigate mess.