re: Faurot reno coming along

Lighting is much improved. So is the appearance of the East Side. Especially from the outside, looks much more imposing. Suites will also be a moneymaker.

For those saying they are unimpressed...

1. You should be, it's a massive improvement.

2. This is a phased renovation. The hope is to start the south Endzone expansion in a couple of years, also hope to add a larger board and move it closer to the field. Seats on the hill and additional seats in the west side have been discussed.

Not to mention the new indoor facility. It will be a process. We didn't have 400M

One thing no one is mentioning; Will enough Mizzou fans show up to warrant building all those seats?

Mizzou is going to have to grow the attending fan base to make much more expansion worth the investment.

Technically, up until this season 63k was a sellout because that is how many seats there were. Mizzou sells out a LOT of home games. Everything over 63k is SRO and is not under consideration for a sellout qualification.

80k is a good number for us. The master plan is between 78-82k with all the renovations I mentioned above.

Not true. KC fans always show up.

Several points brought up, first, largely due to the hill, the difference between sell outs of seat tickets and SRO to capacity is a large delta at Faurot. It's not and won't be uncommon to sell out the seats in the SEC games now, and even a game against a near winless Arky team is likely to bring a sell out. Another strong season should keep fan interest nearly peaked for the foreseeable future and the common thought that there is no way Mizzou can justify a real capacity increase is becoming less of an axiom.

Once the big SEC Network money rolls in, I'm talking the annual 40+ million, it is more feasible to talk about adding another approx. 10k seats without having to fret about not selling out a game vs Toledo or Directional U. In the SEC, when we reach the point of saying "if you build it, they will probably come" then you are reaching a viable break even point, assuming you didn't spend a half billion dollars to rebuild the stadium alla AtM, and grats to AtM, (must be nice)! The current project is about fan comfort, economic reality and simply keeping up with the rest of the SEC. The long over due refurbishment of the East Side at Faurot is already generating good will and respect from the SEC community, look at the renovation thread on SEC rant and see for yourself.

The south end of Faurot is basically a big pile of concrete, nearly a half century old now and is ready for a make over of the same magnitude or greater that is transforming the east side. It would be short sighted to undertake such a project without reviewing the real need for more seating capacity vs the tradition of just selling a lot of SRO tickets after the seats run out. After all wouldn't it make more sense to offer the public an actual real seat vs SRO/ground, with as good or better a view, and only for a few dollars more than the chance to sit on grass?

If you read the financing plan for the new East Side, it's almost a study in how to build a stadium at cost with the new luxury loge level being able to pay for the entire project, I commend Mike Alden and MU for doing such an outstanding job in that regard. It's likely the south end renovation won't bring the same economic upside in paying for itself, and I'm not suggesting a 10k seat increase from an end section renovation, but at least a moderate increase would be part of the project, say a minimum of a few thousand seats. The project would also include an enclosed level like the new East addition, not so much for selling private luxo suites but for more mixed use functions. For instance a coaches office complex where at least a few of the primary coaching staff would have an office next to the glass over looking the field. Imagine the benefit of having a visiting recruit sitting in your office while looking out at the newly renovated Faurot. Maybe a small theatre sized suite where High School teams from around the state can come watch a game each year as a promotion.

The point is, due to the luxury of being in the SEC now, this phase of the project can be as much about promoting good will to the fans and public as much as being an "economic no-brainer" like the current project is. Basically, we need to look at refurbishing the south end not from an approach of "how can this pay for itself", but from doing it the SEC way, not just making it better, but making it absolutely top notch. I'm not suggesting taking a direction of fiscal irresponsibility like our federal government, but going forward we can afford to start thinking more like a top SEC program as much as a state school that needs to account for how we will pay for every nickel and dime.

Definitely an improvement. Not a finished product but definitely looks good.

Welcome smoked.

And does look good.

Looks like we practiced outdoors under very cloudy skys today. Much of the SEC was indoors today.

On another note, has anyone seen the latest "master plan" for the sports park? I read about bits and pieces here and there, it seems like we may need to consider having another architect(or the same architect) just revisit the "plan" and think about what we could do from the standpoint of building the best facility park possible.