Press Box Question
- Thread starter TDclones
- Start date
Private/club seating is missing?
*36 concourse suites (west)
*9 tower suites (west)
*Jack Trice Club (east)
*Sukup End Zone Club (south)
*Jacobson VIP (north), level 1 and level 2
No, rather the issue is that people still fail to grasp that the sum total of all of this area is already equivalent to having one 3-level, full-field length structure. Other venues have all of it in one place. ISU has it spread out. But the total area is still the same.
I know this topic comes up once a month with the same things being said but I'll throw out my thoughts as well.
I understand we already have plenty of suites throughout the stadium, however, just from a visual standpoint our press box looks very small (insert stupid joke). But in all honesty just to have that big time feel in our stadium we will need to replace it. Even if it is not as tall as it currently is but have it run the full length of the stadium. Have multi use space in it that can be used for other events as well (Although I believe this kind of space is being put in the new building next to the Jake? Not sure though). I think it would help from a recruiting standpoint to have a bigger time feel.
I'm fine with this being put off for a few years as more immediate needs are addressed, but do think it is a must to continue moving up relative to our competition.
As ISU moves more into the Des Moines market, and the fan base continues to expand, ISU will be ready and need that extra club seating. I am not talking about for the average fan, but for corporations and well to do people that are willing to pony up the dough for private seating.
A good CEO is always looking down the road,
Why did Iowa put so much club seating in their new North Endzone, they did not need it, they did it because they realize its a way to bring in more money for the athletic department. Right now ISU brought in a little over 17 million in donations, Iowa brought in 32 million.
Pollard can go after that corporation dollars if we have more skyboxes and premium seating. That money is out there, we just need to go out and get it. Invest money now to make even more money in the future.
I've heard before that all of our existing premium seating would fill a field length 3 level box. What I haven't really seen is how that compares to other schools in the league. What does everyone else have for number of suites and club seats?
Barta did it because he copies JP. We did it so he thought he had to rework the north side.
Ive seen the game day layout of the booths and literally half of them are empty, and seen pictures of it during game day and there are many open spots. And a lot of extra space.
Most stadiums have their suites and club sections in their Sky box, Jack Trice has those sections on other areas. Many stadiums do not. At this point until there is a need for suites or club sections that can not be more easily or economically built in other areas I dont see it happening. As soon as there is a need for a larger skybox simply because of the need for suites and club sections it will happen. But just for looks and press/coaches it is not needed. There is plenty of room for what is needed at this point. With extra space from what I have seen. There are a lot of stadiums with just as small or smaller press boxes too. Its probably 50/50.
Edit: So I spent a little time and looked. Here Is a list of the schools, just in P5 conferences that have no sky box, smaller sky box or one similar in size to ours. These are only the P5 schools and I could have missed a couple but this is most of them. Because this comes up so often and I know its just because there are a few stadiums well known for giant skyboxes. Why these stadiums do not have large sky boxes I do not know, It could be for the same reason we do, in that they have it all in other areas, which I know for sure some do.
Here is the list:
LSU None
Alabama None
Texas none
La coliseum smaller
Cotton bowl same
Auburn None
Clemson None
South Carolina smaller
Arkansas None
Washington None
North Carolina Smaller
Virginia None
Miss St None
Louisville None
West Virginia Smaller
Georgia Tech none
Indiana Same
Rutgers None
Stanford Same
Northwestern Same
TCU None
Vanderbilt Smaller
Washington St smaller
Edit#2: Yes I know all of these do have suites and press boxes, and i realize a few have built new skyboxes, since my data, But this post was about true skyboxes. As Jack Trice also has suites, club sections etc in other parts of the stadium. The skybox is mostly just press, save for a few suites. Usually the stadiums with Giant skyboxes have little to no other suites, and in some cases no other club sections in other areas, and the skybox includes all of this not just press.
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Why do so many fans care about the press box? The press box is number 86 on things I want ISU to spend money on
Here is a link to Alabama's sky boxes that supposedly do not exist.
https://rolltide.com/news/2006/11/1...es_Provide_Alabama_s_Most_Luxurious_Look.aspx
A link to the ones in Texas.
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/1996-10-04/524680/
Link to the ones at TCU
https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/1996-10-04/524680/
Link to the ones at LSU
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=211661630
The University of Iowa added 17 skyboxes to its football stadium last year. The boxes lease for between $10,000 and $18,000 per year. Mark Jennings, of the school's athletic department, says "the demand was coming from the donors, not from us." And he says the skyboxes have become an important marketing tool for the school. "It's not just good for athletics," he said. "It's good for the whole University of Iowa. If you can chat with friends of the university on a casual basis during a football game, you get your foot in the door for other things. I wish we had more boxes. I could probably sell 10 tomorrow." This article was printed before Iowa redid their North endzone which added another 1,570 premium seats. https://kinnickedge.org/
ISU needs to expand the press box to bring in more sky boxes and the added revenue. Not for the coaches or the press, but for the fans, revenue and increasing the look of the stadium.
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Because it never looked "big time" on the NCAA Football video games...Guess that's not a concern anymore!
Kidding of course.
The Alabama and Texas skyboxes are between levels of the stadium just like Jack Trice.
The TCU pressbox was removed when the stadium was renovated in 2010. They have clubs between levels now just like Jack Trice.
LSU's "skyboxes" aren't even boxes! They're open-air bleachers.
You know who doesn't give a f*** about the press box? Recruits.
Sorry old dudes and Hawkeye fans (for some reason they use this as smack talk) but our press box is fine.
Sorry old dudes and Hawkeye fans (for some reason they use this as smack talk) but our press box is fine.
You need to update your sources.
Washington State:
Vanderbilt:
TCU (future expansion):
Ryan Field:
Stanford:
South Carolina:
LA Coliseum (new this year):
And finally- the needle on top of the haystack:
& when you say "none" you really should be saying: "Field-length luxury suites with a THIRD upper deck for a roof."
Knock off the generational generalizing. This is not a generational issue. I'm an "old guy" and I recognize that there is a long, long list of other priorities. We should only be worrying about adding suites if demand catches up and it is clear that ISU would regularly sell most of them. At this point that isn't the case. Making the stadium "big time" is one of the dumbest reasons out there.
You need to update your sources.
Washington State:
Vanderbilt:
TCU (future expansion):
Ryan Field:
Stanford:
South Carolina:
LA Coliseum (new this year):
And finally- the needle on top of the haystack:
& when you say "none" you really should be saying: "Field-length luxury suites with a THIRD upper deck for a roof."
You don't add press boxes unless you've got people lined up waiting to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the suites. My guess is that there hasn't been enough interest to warrant it (not enough obscenely wealthy rich people residing in Ames).
Oh, I agree- spend the money on more important things first. I just had a problem with @2speedy1 's list. We definitely have one of the smallest press towers in the Power 5 and it's not even close. Too bad Enzyte went bankrupt; maybe they would have sponsored an expansion.
Iowa actually has donors willing to donate to fill them. Unfortunately we don't, we have a few family's who are willing to donate and buy suites but not enough to justify building more.
Every room in the tower is occupied on game day. There are 2 or 3 where the occupants probably need more space due to equipment/technology changes, but still not enough to move the needle.
