Tues @ 8:30: stadium lights, including the lighting of 4 stadium scoreboards!

[umnhcky]

You really stole the thunder of those of us with lame "not-cool-enough-to-be-inside" pictures

I wasn't expecting to be able to go in. I had taken a bunch of photos from outside the fence like several others. I stuck around and was talking with a couple of the athletic dept folks I know and got lucky and was able to tag along as they walked through the building.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

So was Nervous Gopher the guy that spent about 45 minutes walking around the stadium in a Wisconsin jacket yesterday?

what a douche!

 

[Gopher4life15]

My Stadium Questions

1. Did we spend enough money? I sure hope we did not cut any corners to save money that we will regret 10 years down the road. 255 mill does not seem like much compared to other stadiums being built these days.

2. Is the Bowl steep enough? I hate being at an event and having a 6 footer sit in front of me and having to dodge his head all game. It does not look from the pic that the bowl is very steep. I am a bit worried about this and I hope that someone who has been there can fill me in that it is steep enough.

When these get answered I will have a few more.

 

[16FeetUnder]

1. Did we spend enough money? I sure hope we did not cut any corners to save money that we will regret 10 years down the road. 255 mill does not seem like much compared to other stadiums being built these days.

2. Is the Bowl steep enough? I hate being at an event and having a 6 footer sit in front of me and having to dodge his head all game. It does not look from the pic that the bowl is very steep. I am a bit worried about this and I hope that someone who has been there can fill me in that it is steep enough.

When these get answered I will have a few more.

1. It was $288 mil. They added 33 mil to make sure we got it right, as you would have wanted.
2. The bowl is steep enough. Don't worry.

 

[Dr.Gopher]

Thanks for the photos! I am so pumped, this will be great on a fall night.

 

[GoAUpher]

1. Did we spend enough money? I sure hope we did not cut any corners to save money that we will regret 10 years down the road. 255 mill does not seem like much compared to other stadiums being built these days.

As someone who has toured TCF I can say without hesitation that you have nothing to worry about. I'm sure everyone will be able to find things that they would have done differently, but the U spent a lot of time and effort making sure they got everything (big details and little details) right. The price tag seems small when you compare it to a pro stadium, but keep in mind that a pro stadium includes things that TCF doesn't need that drive up the cost.

Here's how TCF stacks up cost wise against recently completed college stadiums:
University of Minnesota
Full name: TCF Bank Stadium
Opened: 2009
Surface: Synthetic
Cost: $288 million
Capacity: 51,000 (current); 80,000 (future)
- Includes: 37 suites, 54 loge boxes, 250 indoor club seats, 1250 outdoor club seats

University of Akron
Full name: Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium
Opened: 2009
Surface: Synthetic
Cost: $61 million
Capacity: 33,000 (current); 44,000 (planned)
- Includes: 522 Club Seats, 152 Loge Seats, 17 Suites

Links: Wikipedia; Premium Seat Info (PDF file that includes renderings of the stadium)

University of Central Florida
Full name: Bright House Networks Stadium
Opened: 2007
Surface: Grass
Cost: $54 million
Capacity: 45,301
- Includes: 800 Club Seats
Links: Wikipedia; Stadium Website

University of Connecticut
Full name: Rentschler Field
Opened: 2003
Surface: Grass
Cost: $91.2 million
Capacity: 40,000
- Includes: 645 Club Seats; 34 Suites
Links:[/] Wikipedia, Stadium Website

Southern Methodist University
Full name: Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Opened: 1999
Surface: Synthetic
Cost: $42 million
Capacity: 32,000 (current); 45,000 (planned)
- Includes: 600 Club Seats; 24 Suites
Links: Wikipedia; Stadium Website

University of Louisville
Full name: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
Opened: 1998
Surface: Synthetic
Cost: $63 million
Capacity: 42,000 (current - all chairback), 80,000 (future)
- Includes: 27 Suites
Links: Wikipedia; Stadium Website

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Full name: Rutgers Stadium
Opened: 1994
Surface: Synthetic
Cost: $28 million
Capacity: 41,500 (current); 54,000 (2009)
- Includes: 968 Loge/Club Seats
Links: Wikipedia

Looking over the other stadiums I think that TCF has some things that these other new stadiums lack. Specifically I'm thinking better recruiting/team facilities, a WAY better scoreboard, and better premium seating options. I suspect the U could have gotten TCF done for much less if they didn't include the band space, skimped on the premium areas a bit, toned down the scoreboard, smaller locker room, less brick, etc. There were plenty of ways/places to cut corners to save money and overall the U avoided them.

As a side note, I really like the new Akron stadium (minus the name). It looks like it will be a great facility, especially for a MAC school. Also, for anyone who hates the name TCF Bank Stadium...It could be way worse. Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium? Ick.

 

[GoAUpher]

2. Is the Bowl steep enough? I hate being at an event and having a 6 footer sit in front of me and having to dodge his head all game. It does not look from the pic that the bowl is very steep. I am a bit worried about this and I hope that someone who has been there can fill me in that it is steep enough.

I apologize in advance if you end up behind my goofy 6'9" frame. No angle is going to help much if you've got me in front of you.

 

[mnboiler]

GoAUpher good research on all the other stadia but I will point out that most of these stadia are at a different level than Big 10 play. Most are non-BSC conferences and the other 3 are in the Big East which is a basketball conference and not so much on the football side. I'm not saying Minnesota didn't do it right. But Gopher4life15 is right this is a one shot deal and if it is messed up people will regreat it until the cows come home.

 

[ulfr]

1. Did we spend enough money? I sure hope we did not cut any corners to save money that we will regret 10 years down the road. 255 mill does not seem like much compared to other stadiums being built these days.

2. Is the Bowl steep enough? I hate being at an event and having a 6 footer sit in front of me and having to dodge his head all game. It does not look from the pic that the bowl is very steep. I am a bit worried about this and I hope that someone who has been there can fill me in that it is steep enough.

When these get answered I will have a few more.

1) have you seen our stadium lately?!? It more than stacks up against the 5 closest FBS stadiums! Have you seen ISU or Iowa city in person? Definitely no palaces of football. Not a big fan of Champaign's remodel either, and don't get me started on Camp Randal. They made it expandable for the future and it is the right size for the U's needs now, has a gargantuan pixelrific screen and looks great.

2) I love being that "6 footer" (with change to spare)... There are are still plenty of first row of the upperdeck spots. Choose wisely or bring a phonebook, short-stuff, this is football! I hate football stadiums that look like an NBA arena design.

 

[GoAUpher]

GoAUpher good research on all the other stadia but I will point out that most of these stadia are at a different level than Big 10 play. Most are non-BSC conferences and the other 3 are in the Big East which is a basketball conference and not so much on the football side. I'm not saying Minnesota didn't do it right. But Gopher4life15 is right this is a one shot deal and if it is messed up people will regreat it until the cows come home.

Definitely no argument on this from me. But I think its clear by looking at these stadiums that the U could have gotten TCF done for WAY less. Someone better with numbers than I am could probably do us all a favor by given us the costs of these stadiums adjusted for inflation. That would be a more accurate picture.

 

[maroonfive]

Yes they could have

but when you look at these stadiums the outside is where they did not put the money. You can see under the seats from the outside and they look like glorified high school stadiums.
TCF Bank Stadium with the bowl looks like a Division One college football stadium and the others do not.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GoAUpher]

but when you look at these stadiums the outside is where they did not put the money. You can see under the seats from the outside and they look like glorified high school stadiums.
TCF Bank Stadium with the bowl looks like a Division One college football stadium and the others do not.

Go Gophers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly. The U had a vision for what they wanted to do and they made it happen.

 

[Gopher4life15]

Freak out much?!

Wow, some people here are a little too sensitive about that new stadium being built. All I was doing was asking a few simple questions. Relax! I am a huge Gopher fan and I am very excited about the stadium as well. I just wanted some reassurance that this was going to be a top notch facility and not a half ass job. Thanks to those of you with solid answers and info.

What makes pro stadiums so much more expensive then a college stadium? The Vikings are talking about 900 mill to 1 bill for there new gigs that they want. Why so much if you can get a top notch facility for 250 mil?

As far the angle of the bowl goes . . . still not convinced it is steep enough. The steeper the better. For one you don have to worry about the people in front of you, and second you are closer to the field. I get the feeling some of the seats in the top rows of both decks are a good ways away from the field.

Now relax people don't bite my head off over a few innocent questions. Let's reason peacefully.

My new questions
1. When is turf being installed?
2. When will the public be allowed in for tours?

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

My new questions
1. When is turf being installed?
2. When will the public be allowed in for tours?

1. Mid-May was the latest news I heard on the Turf.

2. Maybe 6 moths ago I remember hearing that the asst. AD said that there would be no public tours before it opened in order to drive even more buzz for the opener.

 

[Ski U Mah 55]

What makes pro stadiums so much more expensive then a college stadium? The Vikings are talking about 900 mill to 1 bill for there new gigs that they want. Why so much if you can get a top notch facility for 250 mil?

I think the Vikings price is so high because their place will be larger (60-70k), our price didn't include seating to 80k, also I believe they wanted a retractable roof which adds hundreds of millions in additional structure to support.

 

[koppco1]

I think the Vikings price is so high because their place will be larger (60-70k), our price didn't include seating to 80k, also I believe they wanted a retractable roof which adds hundreds of millions in additional structure to support.

Not to mention probably four to five times as many suites and club seats. This is where the pros make their money. They also include a lot of high end crap in the suites that isn't necessarily needed.

Here's a better comparison. Heinz Field (Steelers open air stadium) cost $281 million to build in 2001. In today's dollars its probably around $340-$350 million and it seats 65,000 with 129 suites (about 4 times as many as TCF) and 7300 club seats (about 4 times as many as TCF). Another comparison would be the Baltimore Ravens open air stadium. Built in 1998 for $220 million it has a capacity of 71,000 and would probably cost around $300 million in todays dollars. Based on this, I think our spending of about $290 million on a smaller college stadium with much less premium seating is right in the ballpark for a very high quality venue.

 

[mnboiler]

I think the Vikings price is so high because their place will be larger (60-70k), our price didn't include seating to 80k, also I believe they wanted a retractable roof which adds hundreds of millions in additional structure to support.

Actully the Queens have said they don't need the retractable roof. The group who owns the Dome want the retractable roof, mostly for the Final Four but there are many other thing you can bring in with retractable roof. The first link is to Minnesota Momentum a Vikings organized grass roots stadium drive and the second is to a list of reports idea for a new Vikings stadium. The last link is the newest idea being floated(Note it is a rather large PDF file) the newer cost is about 850 million compared to the 950 before. Couple of cool drawing too, if you have a few free minutes it is worth looking at.

http://www.minnesotamomentum.com/index.jsp
http://www.msfc.com/tour.cfm

 

[GoAUpher]

Wow, some people here are a little too sensitive about that new stadium being built. All I was doing was asking a few simple questions. Relax! I am a huge Gopher fan and I am very excited about the stadium as well. I just wanted some reassurance that this was going to be a top notch facility and not a half ass job. Thanks to those of you with solid answers and info.

What makes pro stadiums so much more expensive then a college stadium? The Vikings are talking about 900 mill to 1 bill for there new gigs that they want. Why so much if you can get a top notch facility for 250 mil?

As far the angle of the bowl goes . . . still not convinced it is steep enough. The steeper the better. For one you don have to worry about the people in front of you, and second you are closer to the field. I get the feeling some of the seats in the top rows of both decks are a good ways away from the field.

Now relax people don't bite my head off over a few innocent questions. Let's reason peacefully.

My new questions
1. When is turf being installed?
2. When will the public be allowed in for tours?

Sorry if you took any part of my responses as an attack. I'm just really excited about the stadium. I actually liked that you asked the question because I enjoyed doing my little Google search. Now I want to check out a game at Akron one of these days when I'm in Ohio visiting my wife's fam.

Answers to your 2nd set of Q's:
1) Sometime this summer. I know that's pretty obvious, but I don't know the dates offhand and can't do any better. I'm pretty sure someone else will chime in with more details.
2) I don't we've heard anything about this yet. When I toured TCF last fall I asked Phil Esten this question. Here is what I wrote about it at the time:

Phil also talked to me about how he wants to see the U improve their interaction with season ticket holders. He thinks that they aren't doing enough to maximize the energy and support of the fanbase. One idea he floated was to limit tours of the finished stadium prior to the Air Force game to season ticket holders, big donors, etc. Reward those with ties to the program...those with an investment in the program. Also, this would help keep the mystique in place until the big unveiling on 9/12. After that he could envision more public tours.​

I'm not sure if this is the route the U is going with or not. Hopefully some of the folks who took more recent tours heard a little more.

As for why a pro stadium costs so much more...all I have is supposition. My guess is that it hinges a on a few factors:
1) Retractable roof - that's like 20% or more of the cost of the proposed Vikings stadium
2) More luxury areas (suites, club rooms, etc) that are done even more nicely than TCF. An example would be bathroom facilities for suites. TCF suites don't have their own bathrooms. Pro stadium suites do. While the fixtures in TCF are great, I'm sure you'd see them taken to another level in a pro stadium. The best example I can think of is the new Cowboys stadium. Check out the ridiculousness here: http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/
3) The way a pro stadium is built would just seem to cost more from a materials perspective. While TCF isn't as minimal as BrightHouse stadium (the HS stands look) its still more minimal than a pro stadium. I'm guessing that simple open bowl design (which TCF is at its core) has to be less expense than the multi-level, closed end style of a pro stadium. These two picture illustrate what I'm thinking pretty well.

(A newer image of the proposed Vikes stadium here: http://www.vikings.com/DAM_public/9863.jpg It was too big to insert.)
4) Electronics. While TCF has that amazing scoreboard, a pro stadium is going to have an even bigger one plus more ribbon boards, etc. More flat screen TV's everywhere, etc.

As far as the steepness of the 2nd/main level seating at TCF goes, I'm betting that the maximum allowable angle is probably mandated as part of the ADA type accessibility rules (just like the height of handrails is mandated, etc). I know from my tour that they paid for studies that looked at how to best keep sound in to (as Phil put it) "make it sound like TCF seats 100K", but I'm guessing there were limits to what they could do and still meet the applicable regulations/rules.

 

[mnboiler]

GoAUpher that is one impressive stadium the Vikings came up with. It's a beautiful building.

 

[GoAUpher]

GoAUpher that is one impressive stadium the Vikings came up with. It's a beautiful building.

I know. I'd love it if it were to get built (and here's where the thread prob goes anti-Viking/pro-Viking) just because I love cool stadiums and HATE the dome. But I know the money isn't there and I wouldn't want the state to use it for the stadium if it was...too much else needs fixing right now.

 

[16FeetUnder]

From what I've heard that version of the Vikes stadium is history. They were looking at a much cheaper option as of a couple of months ago when I saw some stuff. My office did some proposals on an open air version of the Vikes stadium that looked terrible (in my opinion, obviously).

 

[ditt1605]

Back to why TCF cost way more than those others: A bunch of money went to the environmental clean up of the site. Also, you have to factor in the adjustment of existing streets and utilities in the area. I don't think that these were huge factors in any of those other stadiums.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

I think the Vikings price is so high because their place will be larger (60-70k), our price didn't include seating to 80k, also I believe they wanted a retractable roof which adds hundreds of millions in additional structure to support.

i believe the number was closer to 80K people in the new vikings stadium. to your other point. it was not the vikings that demanded a retractable roof. from the beginning it was in fact the metropolitan sports facilities commission who has been insisting that the additional cost for a retractable roof be included. the vikings have never demanded that and understandably don't feel it is a cost they should have to compensate for alone.

 

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Actully the Queens have said they don't need the retractable roof. The group who owns the Dome want the retractable roof, mostly for the Final Four but there are many other thing you can bring in with retractable roof. The first link is to Minnesota Momentum a Vikings organized grass roots stadium drive and the second is to a list of reports idea for a new Vikings stadium. The last link is the newest idea being floated(Note it is a rather large PDF file) the newer cost is about 850 million compared to the 950 before. Couple of cool drawing too, if you have a few free minutes it is worth looking at.

http://www.minnesotamomentum.com/index.jsp
http://www.msfc.com/tour.cfm

mnboiler - i am not sure who the queens are? i do know who the minnesota vikings are though!

 

[tjgopher]

Back to why TCF cost way more than those others: A bunch of money went to the environmental clean up of the site. Also, you have to factor in the adjustment of existing streets and utilities in the area. I don't think that these were huge factors in any of those other stadiums.

Some of that is true, but not totally. TCF Bank has many more suites, a much larger press box, and an immense number of additional exterior bricks/architecture that added to the cost when compared to the others new ones mentioned in this thread. On the Louisville Stadium, for example, you can see the bowels of the stadium from the outside. TCF Bank has a much more "college" feel because of the added expense of outside architecture. Louisville's has a more "NFL/NASCAR" feel to it.

 

[koppco1]

Some of that is true, but not totally. TCF Bank has many more suites, a much larger press box, and an immense number of additional exterior bricks/architecture that added to the cost when compared to the others new ones mentioned in this thread. On the Louisville Stadium, for example, you can see the bowels of the stadium from the outside. TCF Bank has a much more "college" feel because of the added expense of outside architecture. Louisville's has a more "NFL/NASCAR" feel to it.

+1 The clean-up and rerouting of streets came at some cost but it was very little in the grand scheme of things (single digit millions). bottom line is that TCF was multiple times more costly than these other stadiums because it is multiple times better. It was designed to be a collegiate stadium that will stand the test of time, fit into the campus, and allow for future expansion. It is not an erector set stadium done on the cheap. I commend the U for thinking longterm in its design (both structurally and aesthetically).