Cajun Field Expansion ??

[racajun54]

_ Closer to the product.

Proven fact!: Attendance rises at new and improved stadiums.

Build it and they will come sounds cliché but is proven true every year everywhere. _

Your are correct attendance does go up for a new or greatly imporved facility but only in the short term. If the team that plays there doesn't win then the newness wears off quickly and the attendance goes back to its previous level. This happened in Cleveland after they built Jacobs Field. Attendence was up initally and the team did go to a World Series but when they started losing again attendence went down. You still have to win to bring the people in. The University of Miami in thier hay day played in the Orange Bowl which was a dump. But it was filled up because they won and that is all that counts. They are now going to the Dolphins Staduim to play but if they don't win people won't show up no matter how nice the place is.

[HoustonCajun]

_ Your are correct attendance does go up for a new or greatly imporved facility but only in the short term. If the team that plays there doesn't win then the newness wears off quickly and the attendance goes back to its previous level. This happened in Cleveland after they built Jacobs Field. Attendence was up initally and the team did go to a World Series but when they started losing again attendence went down. You still have to win to bring the people in. The University of Miami in thier hay day played in the Orange Bowl which was a dump. But it was filled up because they won and that is all that counts. They are now going to the Dolphins Staduim to play but if they don't win people won't show up no matter how nice the place is. _

It all depends our expectations for our program. There were no expectations in the past 10 years. Football was underfunded, losing, and barely survived under an administrative regime that had little vision for what athletics could do for a university. That is changing. Look at what has happened in the past year or so - new Indoor Practice facility, new field turf, new weight room, RCAF, now plans for upgrading track & field, softball and baseball. And, most importantly because it drives the whole athletic program, the football stadium is getting updated. Gerald told me personally that the plans are to build a press box the length of the stadium with box suites, the revenue from which would pay for the stadium improvements. He said Dr. S wants to enlarge the stadium by bowling it. He expects football to win and when we do win, the fans will come. We are positioning ourselves for future conference reallignment and a larger stadium will be necessary for that. We can win at UL and when we do, we will see support like we've never seen before. Why can't we average over 45,000 a game like they do in places like El Paso, Starkville, Oxford (barely the size of Abbeville), and Boise? UCF built a 45,000 seat stadium, averages 40,000 per game and hosted Texas. Boise State has a 32,000 seat stadium, is enlarging to over 45,000, hosts a bowl game, played in a BCS bowl and enjoys Top 25 status each year.

Why can't we dream and plan for bigger and better things and achieve similar success? If it can happen in Boise, ID, it can happen here. UL needs to prepare now for success, provide the tools necessary to be successful (and that includes facility upgrades), create new expectations of success and settle for nothing less. If our new administration is willing to so proceed, why are we not willing to follow? Isn't this the athletic guidance we have all been waiting for from UL? We have to change our mindset. It is no longer business as usual at UL. We have a new direction and we are building the tools to get us there. You can maintain the old thinking that kept us back all these years. Or, you can choose to adopt a vision of success that we all dreamed of and hoped that UL would one day achieve.

[racajun54]

_ It all depends our expectations for our program. There were no expectations in the past 10 years. Football was underfunded, losing, and barely survived under an administrative regime that had little vision for what athletics could do for a university. That is changing. Look at what has happened in the past year or so - new Indoor Practice facility, new field turf, new weight room, RCAF, now plans for upgrading track & field, softball and baseball. And, most importantly because it drives the whole athletic program, the football stadium is getting updated. Gerald told me personally that the plans are to build a press box the length of the stadium with box suites, the revenue from which would pay for the stadium improvements. He said Dr. S wants to enlarge the stadium by bowling it. He expects football to win and when we do win, the fans will come. We are positioning ourselves for future conference reallignment and a larger stadium will be necessary for that. We can win at UL and when we do, we will see support like we've never seen before. Why can't we average over 45,000 a game like they do in places like El Paso, Starkville, Oxford (barely the size of Abbeville), and Boise? UCF built a 45,000 seat stadium, averages 40,000 per game and hosted Texas. Boise State has a 32,000 seat stadium, is enlarging to over 45,000, hosts a bowl game, played in a BCS bowl and enjoys Top 25 status each year.

Why can't we dream and plan for bigger and better things and achieve similar success? If it can happen in Boise, ID, it can happen here. UL needs to prepare now for success, provide the tools necessary to be successful (and that includes facility upgrades), create new expectations of success and settle for nothing less. If our new administration is willing to so proceed, why are we not willing to follow? Isn't this the athletic guidance we have all been waiting for from UL? We have to change our mindset. It is no longer business as usual at UL. We have a new direction and we are building the tools to get us there. You can maintain the old thinking that kept us back all these years. Or, you can choose to adopt a vision of success that we all dreamed of and hoped that UL would one day achieve. _

I don't disagree with the above statements but remember some of the programs you mentioned already had large stadiums but didn't start to fill them until they started winning. The other key thing at any school the money people have to keep their nose out of the coaches business. Most schools that have problems in their athletic programs is due to people who don't have a clue wanting to tell the coaches who to recruit and how to run their team. If they truly love the school give them the money, go to the games, but they need to keep their noses out of the athletic department's business. But again if the Cajun's football team wins on a consistant basis there is no reason why they couldn't average 40 to 45 thousand a game. In this day and age that would probably mean averaging 8 regular season wins per year. I don't think teams will attract a large following at 6 to 7 wins per year.

[anhil8tor]

So the better idea is to sit on our hands and let our stadium to continue aging while waiting for sellouts?


Think about what some of you are saying... we have a state of the art turf in our stadium... imagine if our press boxes and suites matched that. Imagine what it would be like to have the ability to seat 46K for a game vs a BCS school......



Wasn't the saints moniker a few years back "Have Faith"

[HoustonCajun]

_ I don't disagree with the above statements but remember some of the programs you mentioned already had large stadiums but didn't start to fill them until they started winning. The other key thing at any school the money people have to keep their nose out of the coaches business. Most schools that have problems in their athletic programs is due to people who don't have a clue wanting to tell the coaches who to recruit and how to run their team. If they truly love the school give them the money, go to the games, but they need to keep their noses out of the athletic department's business. But again if the Cajun's football team wins on a consistant basis there is no reason why they couldn't average 40 to 45 thousand a game. In this day and age that would probably mean averaging 8 regular season wins per year. I don't think teams will attract a large following at 6 to 7 wins per year. _

I think that is why UL athletics remained under the heavy hand of Dr. Authement all these years, i.e. the death penalty in basketball and outside involvement in athletics. He took over as President right when that happened and micro-managed athletics from that point forward. Times have changed and we have new leadership with a different management style. Hence, the RCAF is now in existence, something we never could do under Dr. A. You are right in that we must win to develop interest and increase attendance. But, I think we are positioning ourselves to start winning on a regular basis. Improving and enlarging facilities, in my mind, will improve recruiting, change the perception of UL, increase revenue and position us for reallignment to a bigger and better conference at some point in the future. It all starts with winning, but it becomes the chicken and the egg thing. I like to think that if we increase expectations of winning with improved and enlarged facilities and better tools to win with, we will see the kind of success we have awaited for so many years.

[Boomer]

I talked to Luke at the RC and said that McN had a great Alumni deal at the place----What happened to our GREAT alumni chapter in Houston???? I am going back to our first game with Rice with Clarance Verdin!!!!!

[HoustonCajun]

_ I talked to Luke at the RC and said that McN had a great Alumni deal at the place----What happened to our GREAT alumni chapter in Houston???? I am going back to our first game with Rice with Clarance Verdin!!!!! _

I was President of the UL Houston Alumni Chapter for a couple years several years ago and we had a very active chapter with great attendance at our functions. We had an annual Chapter Event at the Polo Club attracting as many as 400 people with a band, silent auction, UL coaches as speakers, local Cajun restaurants providing food, etc. We had monthly meetings at the Ragin Cajun that were well attended. That was a few years ago. Things have changed as the Houston Alumni Chapter was fragmented. With approximately 4,000 alumni in the greater Houston area, it is sad that things have fallen so badly. It would certainly help to play a football game vs. Houston or Rice every year here in Houston, not only for alumni but for recruiting and university recognition. None of that happens, UL athletics have not been successful, and people have nothing locally to get them excited. That, plus the factions that I mentioned, have sadly left the Houston Alumni Chapter practically null and void.

[racajun54]

_ So the better idea is to sit on our hands and let our stadium to continue aging while waiting for sellouts?


Think about what some of you are saying... we have a state of the art turf in our stadium... imagine if our press boxes and suites matched that. Imagine what it would be like to have the ability to seat 46K for a game vs a BCS school......



Wasn't the saints moniker a few years back "Have Faith" _

I am not saying sit on your hands but some think that just expanding will bring wins don't know what they are talking about. If you want to begin the process toward expanding go ahead but the team has to win while you are waiting so that when the stadium is ready the people will be there. But its got to be 8 wins 5,6, or possibly even 7 wins isn't going to do that no matter what is built. The press box with suites is probably the best place to start.

[DrumRoll]

Attendance averaged 21,468 last season. 9 teams that went to bowl games had worse...

[Hammer58]

_ So the better idea is to sit on our hands and let our stadium to continue aging while waiting for sellouts?


Think about what some of you are saying... we have a state of the art turf in our stadium... imagine if our press boxes and suites matched that. Imagine what it would be like to have the ability to seat 46K for a game vs a BCS school......



Wasn't the saints moniker a few years back "Have Faith" _

I believe part of the reasoning behind this move is that our new leadership feels it is bvetter to do all of this at one time (suites, pressbox and expansion) rather than in phases. As I understand it the original plan was to do the suites and press box first and then a few years later do the second phase which would be the expansion of seating capacity. I believe Jay Walker spoke about this and the thinking now is that rather than jump through all the hoops the state requires just to get the pressbox and suites done and then plan to have to do it all over again in a few years (their expected timetable for the second phase) it is probably better to present it all as one project and just go through the approval process once. That is probably a good plan. Remember how long the state dragged out the approval process on the indoor facility?