Unprecedented demand for NDSU Football Season Tickets

[BisonBacker]

Season tickets in the 18,700-seat Fargodome are capped at 12,100, which was approximately what was sold last year. NDSU took applications through April 15, and after all the renewals were completed, it had 1,364 additional requests.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/404299/

[kdinva]

Would be nice if you could snap your fingers, and increase seating capacity to 25,000 or so.........

[TheRevSFA]

now I bet NDSU wishes they played in an open air stadium in which they could expand seating..but alas..

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Another 5k would be grand but you should have seen it back in the Bob Babich days. Barely half full.

[AmsterBison]

now I bet NDSU wishes they played in an open air stadium in which they could expand seating..but alas..

Or a bigger dome. The original plans called for 30000 seats.

On the flip side, due to the FargoDome's small size, NDSU fans are very unlikely to drop season tickets because if they do, they might never be able to get them again. Proof: Only 64 tickets out of 12100 weren't renewed so a season ticket holder is more likely to have somebody in their group die than to give up a ticket.

[Hammerhead]

I wonder how many fans would buy season tickets if NDSU still played outdoors. The regular season ends before winter really kicks in and it's hard to compare fan interest from 20 years ago in the D-II heyday when I was a student and the metro area's population was much smaller.

[Uncle Rico's Clan]

I wonder how many fans would buy season tickets if NDSU still played outdoors. The regular season ends before winter really kicks in and it's hard to compare fan interest from 20 years ago in the D-II heyday when I was a student and the metro area's population was much smaller.

What kind of temperatures are average for the late November and December days in Fargo? In Missoula it we seem to lose some attendance in the playoffs. Thanksgiving weekend is always the worst, but makes some sense due to the holiday. I think the cold weather keeps some fans at home during quarterfinal and semifinal games in the past. Do you think you guys would have that issue?

[Bisonator]

What kind of temperatures are average for the late November and December days in Fargo? In Missoula it we seem to lose some attendance in the playoffs. Thanksgiving weekend is always the worst, but makes some sense due to the holiday. I think the cold weather keeps some fans at home during quarterfinal and semifinal games in the past. Do you think you guys would have that issue?

More then likely. The temps can be anywhere from 60's to 0 from about mid November. Plus the famous ND wind which always blows 10-20 with gusts to 40. I would say we could probably fill a 30,000 seat stadium right now and probably through the playoffs against quality teams like Wofford or GSU no matter the weather. Although not many would show up for a last game of season snowstorm game against say a USD.

I would like to see them just add seats in the corners of the dome for now. Even with the posts hampering a few views you could still probably fit another 1000-1500 seats or more in those areas right now. Obviously a new stadium will need to be in discussion soon and more then likely has been the past couple years. A full stadium is nice to see, play in and a good problem to have, but sooner or later the money being left on the table will need to be addressed!

[Bisonator]

I wonder how many fans would buy season tickets if NDSU still played outdoors. The regular season ends before winter really kicks in and it's hard to compare fan interest from 20 years ago in the D-II heyday when I was a student and the metro area's population was much smaller.

Fan interest is definitely at an all time high right now. I think you could easily sell 15,000 season tickets with the way the team has performed, the amount of tailgating now and the population size of the FM area. Another 3-8 season and those numbers go down, but I don't see that happening in the near future. The problem is where to put an outdoor stadium. You know the dome will stay where it is if an outdoor stadium is planned. An indoor facility like the FD is a must for concerts, conventions, etc.

[Southern Bison]

Fan interest is definitely at an all time high right now. I think you could easily sell 15,000 season tickets with the way the team has performed, the amount of tailgating now and the population size of the FM area. Another 3-8 season and those numbers go down, but I don't see that happening in the near future. The problem is where to put an outdoor stadium. You know the dome will stay where it is if an outdoor stadium is planned. An indoor facility like the FD is a must for concerts, conventions, etc.

That's the predicament for the University...they can't go west because you'd have a Delta flight doing a direct flyover with 6:23 left in the 3rd quarter. One option I can see is to expand the campus to the east across from the BSA/SHAC and pick up 4-6 city blocks between around 15th Ave. and build there. Other may be on the south side of 12th Ave across from Askanese Hall. Either way, they'd be displacing a few blocks of residential housing.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Fan interest is definitely at an all time high right now. I think you could easily sell 15,000 season tickets with the way the team has performed, the amount of tailgating now and the population size of the FM area. Another 3-8 season and those numbers go down, but I don't see that happening in the near future. The problem is where to put an outdoor stadium. You know the dome will stay where it is if an outdoor stadium is planned. An indoor facility like the FD is a must for concerts, conventions, etc.

I wouldn't even bank on a bad season dropping it too much. People always said that same thing about Montana but I knew we weren't gonna have people leaving in droves with a couple of bad seasons. Same reason people don't want to give up their seasts now is that they know the demand is there and they might not get em' back. Having a waiting list is a powerful tool for a school.

[Bisonator]

I wouldn't even bank on a bad season dropping it too much. People always said that same thing about Montana but I knew we weren't gonna have people leaving in droves with a couple of bad seasons. Same reason people don't want to give up their seasts now is that they know the demand is there and they might not get em' back. Having a waiting list is a powerful tool for a school.

Agreed. xthumbsupx

I'm not familiar with Wa-Griz history. What was the original seating capacity and how many times has it been expanded?

[MplsBison]

Two things:

1) why on earth are season tickets capped where they are now??? Make it 15k. That leaves 3.7k for students. That should be just fine.
Why do we need any as GA? Sorry...if you can't afford or get season tickets, then buy a single ticket from someone's season package online. That's too readily available and easy these days - you get no sympathy from me. Plus all the SRO tickets are sold as GA. Didn't get a season ticket and couldn't find one online? Hopefully you can get in line early and get a SRO ticket.

2) make the university purchase every student seat from the athletic department as a season ticket. Then give out those season tickets to students on a lottery basis. This doesn't have to be a permanent thing. But those seats are just too valuable right now. The Dome isn't going past 18.7k anytime soon and those are tickets that could really be sold right now as season tickets. Make the university purchase them.

[MplsBison]

Fan interest is definitely at an all time high right now. I think you could easily sell 15,000 season tickets with the way the team has performed, the amount of tailgating now and the population size of the FM area. Another 3-8 season and those numbers go down, but I don't see that happening in the near future. The problem is where to put an outdoor stadium. You know the dome will stay where it is if an outdoor stadium is planned. An indoor facility like the FD is a must for concerts, conventions, etc.

That's easy: the parking lot north of the freshman dorms.

[344Johnson]

Two things:

2) make the university purchase every student seat from the athletic department as a season ticket. Then give out those season tickets to students on a lottery basis. This doesn't have to be a permanent thing. But those seats are just too valuable right now. The Dome isn't going past 18.7k anytime soon and those are tickets that could really be sold right now as season tickets. Make the university purchase them.

No. Giving out the student tickets on lottery? Absolutely not. The first 3800 or whatever(not sure on the actual number) students should get to go. Someone like me who is willing to get up early on Monday the week of the game should not get shafted by some dumb lottery system.

[darell1976]

Fan interest is definitely at an all time high right now. I think you could easily sell 15,000 season tickets with the way the team has performed, the amount of tailgating now and the population size of the FM area. Another 3-8 season and those numbers go down, but I don't see that happening in the near future. The problem is where to put an outdoor stadium. You know the dome will stay where it is if an outdoor stadium is planned. An indoor facility like the FD is a must for concerts, conventions, etc.

If NDSU had back to back 3-8 seasons I still think the dome would be packed. Its the biggest show in town.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Agreed. xthumbsupx

I'm not familiar with Wa-Griz history. What was the original seating capacity and how many times has it been expanded?

Originally when it was completed in 1986 is was at 12K or so. The EZ's were grass and had people sitting there sometimes. EZ's were then turned into seating with the large NEZ being done for the 1995 season. The start of a second level came in with the seating above the East side being done for the 2007 season.

When it was built by Washington Corp. (Dennis Washington) in 1986 I remember them saying that this model was built with expansion already in mind for the future.

Seating is now at somewhere around 26K. There are almost 20K season ticket holders with those being sold out usually in March (I think that the deadline for renewal was 03/31) and there is a couple thousand laying n wait for anyone that drops their spot.

[Bisonator]

Originally when it was completed in 1986 is was at 12K or so. The EZ's were grass and had people sitting there sometimes. EZ's were then turned into seating with the large NEZ being done for the 1995 season. The start of a second level came in with the seating above the East side being done for the 2007 season.

When it was built by Washington Corp. (Dennis Washington) in 1986 I remember them saying that this model was built with expansion already in mind for the future.

Seating is now at somewhere around 26K. There are almost 20K season ticket holders with those being sold out usually in March (I think that the deadline for renewal was 03/31) and there is a couple thousand laying n wait for anyone that drops their spot.

Can it be expanded more or has it reached it's limit? What would be the max before an entirely new stadium would be more cost effective?

I think this is the direction NDSU should be heading with an expandable outdoor stadium. Say start around 25,000 and add as needed in the future. The questions as always is where to put it and how to pay for it!

[Bisonoline]

More then likely. The temps can be anywhere from 60's to 0 from about mid November. Plus the famous ND wind which always blows 10-20 with gusts to 40. I would say we could probably fill a 30,000 seat stadium right now and probably through the playoffs against quality teams like Wofford or GSU no matter the weather. Although not many would show up for a last game of season snowstorm game against say a USD.

I would like to see them just add seats in the corners of the dome for now. Even with the posts hampering a few views you could still probably fit another 1000-1500 seats or more in those areas right now. Obviously a new stadium will need to be in discussion soon and more then likely has been the past couple years. A full stadium is nice to see, play in and a good problem to have, but sooner or later the money being left on the table will need to be addressed!

Almost all big time programs leave money on the table due to seating issues. The cost- ROI to build a new stadium or expand isnt there for just 1-2000 seats. You NEVER want too many seats. Its called ceating a market.

[AmsterBison]

What kind of temperatures are average for the late November and December days in Fargo? In Missoula it we seem to lose some attendance in the playoffs. Thanksgiving weekend is always the worst, but makes some sense due to the holiday. I think the cold weather keeps some fans at home during quarterfinal and semifinal games in the past. Do you think you guys would have that issue?

It can get pretty brutal. It's the wind more than anything. Temps would have to pretty low to keep people away, but throw in a 20mph wind and suddenly watching on TV seems like a pretty good option.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

Can it be expanded more or has it reached it's limit? What would be the max before an entirely new stadium would be more cost effective?

I think this is the direction NDSU should be heading with an expandable outdoor stadium. Say start around 25,000 and add as needed in the future. The questions as always is where to put it and how to pay for it!

Yes it has room for more upper deck expansion and even across the South EZ and around the West Side of the stadium. Only the middle portion of the East Side has been put up and that added 4K. I'd think another 3K could be added to the E. side yet and then 6-7K on the West Side before even touching the SEZ. WaGriz probably won't be going anywhere for a long time and that is the way I like it. Don't mind em' augmenting it but tearing it down would make my eyes water.

[bisonboone11]

What kind of temperatures are average for the late November and December days in Fargo? In Missoula it we seem to lose some attendance in the playoffs. Thanksgiving weekend is always the worst, but makes some sense due to the holiday. I think the cold weather keeps some fans at home during quarterfinal and semifinal games in the past. Do you think you guys would have that issue?

Temperatures for late November/early December are probably around 30 for the average high and low teens for the average low.