Northwestern’s New Stadium

[RoseBowl1942]

Looks amazing and will decrease the number of seats (yes you read that correctly) to 35,000 from the current 47,000. Candidly I actually think this is a really, really good idea. Obviously too late for us given we just funded a big modernization and expansion project, but would have loved to turn the GA section into a grassy hill (like Wake, UVA) and cut down the seats so it feels less dead. Maybe even add a canopy too like NW to help fans stay out of the rain. Don’t love this for cross-recruiting purposes, but if we do play NW on the road when this is done (which I think we might?), makes the trip a little more appealing than the current dump that is Ryan Field

[budwom]

Looks amazing and will decrease the number of seats (yes you read that correctly) to 35,000 from the current 47,000. Candidly I actually think this is a really, really good idea. Obviously too late for us given we just funded a big modernization and expansion project, but would have loved to turn the GA section into a grassy hill (like Wake, UVA) and cut down the seats so it feels less dead. Maybe even add a canopy too like NW to help fans stay out of the rain. Don’t love this for cross-recruiting purposes, but if we do play NW on the road when this is done (which I think we might?), makes the trip a little more appealing than the current dump that is Ryan Field

The irony being that their football team is a mess right now and the fans are largely fed up with Fitzgerald, be that reasonable or not.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I remember watching how great the stadium in Charlotte looked when Duke played the 49ers. Great crowd, which had they been in Durham with the same number of fans would have had Wallace Wade looking like it does on an above average night. (Fairly empty)
By the way, Cameron Indoor agrees that less is better, too.

[Billy Dat]

This article talks about the college hoops powers that, so far, are having good football years, and hpw their head coaching job ranks among the group being discussed.
https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...ketball-school


Job rank and feedback: Most industry insiders polled listed Duke as the worst of the remaining basketball schools. A combination of high academic standards, which reduce the recruiting pool, a small fan base and poor facilities puts Duke at the bottom. "The stadium sucks," one person said. "And it's such a small fan base." Another source noted that Duke has more advantages with its location -- North Carolina is a fertile state for recruits -- than similar schools. "As long as the staff is willing to work with you to get kids in, it's actually better than people think it is," the source said. "And no pressure there."

[HoKogan]

Does it have a berm though?

WW could still reduce the seating available by getting rid of the bleachers in GA and replacing them with chair back seating. I havent been to WW since 2017 so I assume they still have the bleacher seating.

When Cutcliffe first came to Duke, WW had a more inviting atmosphere, and all the food trucks gave the venue a county fair feel. Not high class I guess, but it was fun and the food was good (COME BACK MINI DONUT TRUCK!!!!!)

The reno improved the overall aesthetic, but it increased the price, reduced the food variety, and the environment was just more sterile.

WW's strengths are the natural bowl and the concourse. Those things should be capitalized on. I also think Duke should advertise to the triangle and triad areas as a fun way to spend a saturday, watch football and eat some good food (they need to bring back the trucks).
The weaknesses are the smaller fan base, the lack of gameday atmosphere, and the brutal sun exposure, and I don't know how you mitigate some of these.

Whereas Duke BB is a primo ticket with limited access, Duke Football is not, so I hope they have a team of people brainstorming ways to improve the experience. I might would market Duke football the same way Durham markets the Bulls. They are close enough to enough metro areas to get a better fan turn out. Just have to cast a wider net and better incentives.

[DU82]

Does it have a berm though?

WW could still reduce the seating available by getting rid of the bleachers in GA and replacing them with chair back seating. I havent been to WW since 2017 so I assume they still have the bleacher seating.

When Cutcliffe first came to Duke, WW had a more inviting atmosphere, and all the food trucks gave the venue a county fair feel. Not high class I guess, but it was fun and the food was good (COME BACK MINI DONUT TRUCK!!!!!)

The reno improved the overall aesthetic, but it increased the price, reduced the food variety, and the environment was just more sterile.

WW's strengths are the natural bowl and the concourse. Those things should be capitalized on. I also think Duke should advertise to the triangle and triad areas as a fun way to spend a saturday, watch football and eat some good food (they need to bring back the trucks).
The weaknesses are the smaller fan base, the lack of gameday atmosphere, and the brutal sun exposure, and I don't know how you mitigate some of these.

Whereas Duke BB is a primo ticket with limited access, Duke Football is not, so I hope they have a team of people brainstorming ways to improve the experience. I might would market Duke football the same way Durham markets the Bulls. They are close enough to enough metro areas to get a better fan turn out. Just have to cast a wider net and better incentives.

Good summary of issues. You are correct that the benches remain in the end-zone sections as well as the last couple of sections on either side.

I’ll note that there are food trucks outside during pregame (in the Card Gym lot) but of course no food/drink is allowed in for the game.

We’ll see how the concessions are next week with a full house (almost a sell-out, but I’d expect more people in seats than NC A&T.). They were terrible for A&T, but there were a lot of concession credits issued with tickets. That’s not happening next week. But stadiums not used to big crowds seem to suffer long lines. Kansas might have been the worst I’ve seen in a long while.

Maybe we should sell tickets in Costco, like a certain bb team 8 miles down the road.

[Bluedog]

Looks amazing and will decrease the number of seats (yes you read that correctly) to 35,000 from the current 47,000. Candidly I actually think this is a really, really good idea. Obviously too late for us given we just funded a big modernization and expansion project, but would have loved to turn the GA section into a grassy hill (like Wake, UVA) and cut down the seats so it feels less dead. Maybe even add a canopy too like NW to help fans stay out of the rain. Don’t love this for cross-recruiting purposes, but if we do play NW on the road when this is done (which I think we might?), makes the trip a little more appealing than the current dump that is Ryan Field

While providing shade/rain protection is also a benefit, Northwestern is hoping the canopy "keeps noise in" more as they want to host concerts and other non-football events in the venue. And it keeps fans "closer to the action." They need to get city approval for such events and there has been a backlash by nearby residents for similar proposals in the past. Unlike Wallace Wade which is within a sprawling Duke campus without nearby homes, Northwestern's football stadium is surrounded by non-university owned property and residential homes abound.

Renderings look pretty nice to me:
ryan field rendering.jpg
Link to higher res:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r0Ca...24.45_PM.0.png

[HereBeforeCoachK]

While providing shade/rain protection is also a benefit, Northwestern is hoping the canopy "keeps noise in" more as they want to host concerts and other non-football events in the venue. And it keeps fans "closer to the action."

Renderings look pretty nice to me:
ryan field rendering.jpg
Link to higher res:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r0Ca...24.45_PM.0.png

Why this wasn't part of the WW plan....is just beyond me. Along with removing the track...this should have been non negotiable.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

While providing shade/rain protection is also a benefit, Northwestern is hoping the canopy "keeps noise in" more as they want to host concerts and other non-football events in the venue. And it keeps fans "closer to the action." They need to get city approval for such events and there has been a backlash by nearby residents for similar proposals in the past. Unlike Wallace Wade which is within a sprawling Duke campus without nearby homes, Northwestern's football stadium is surrounded by non-university owned property and residential homes abound.

Renderings look pretty nice to me:
ryan field rendering.jpg
Link to higher res:
https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r0Ca...24.45_PM.0.png

“Keeping noise in” can actually be bad for concerts. Intentionally or unintentionally, Cameron keeps the noise in and I found it to be horrible acoustically for concerts. I assume that if having concerts is the goal Northwestern will keep this potential issue in mind when designing it.

That being said, it does look nice. I went to the old stadium when visiting Northwestern in the early 90s. They stunk back then and I think they were playing Indiana so it was not a great atmosphere, but I enjoyed it.

[cato]

This is an odd topic for a stand alone thread on the basketball board.

[budwom]

“Keeping noise in” can actually be bad for concerts. Intentionally or unintentionally, Cameron keeps the noise in and I found it to be horrible acoustically for concerts. I assume that if having concerts is the goal Northwestern will keep this potential issue in mind when designing it.

That being said, it does look nice. I went to the old stadium when visiting Northwestern in the early 90s. They stunk back then and I think they were playing Indiana so it was not a great atmosphere, but I enjoyed it.

They get a lot of "automatic" atmosphere at Northwestern, because many (if not most) of their Bit 10 rivals are located very nearby and have enormous in state fan bases...I've been going to games there since the Spurrier years...it's a bit of an antiquated dump, but fine for our purposes (primarily watching Duke beat NW). The people are nice, the town is nice...I don't need a big flashy stadium to please me (I am a man of the people).

[BigWayne]

“Keeping noise in” can actually be bad for concerts. Intentionally or unintentionally, Cameron keeps the noise in and I found it to be horrible acoustically for concerts. I assume that if having concerts is the goal Northwestern will keep this potential issue in mind when designing it.

That being said, it does look nice. I went to the old stadium when visiting Northwestern in the early 90s. They stunk back then and I think they were playing Indiana so it was not a great atmosphere, but I enjoyed it.

Cameron used to have sound absorbing panels up high that made the acoustics better for concerts. I was told they were removed at the request of an influential person.

[HoKogan]

This is an odd topic for a stand alone thread on the basketball board.

Thank you, thread police. We will aim to not deviate further.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Thank you, thread police. We will aim to not deviate further.

Hah, yeah...
Not to mention...during FB season, there are TONS of stand alone FB threads. The name notwithstanding, I would not call DBR a "basketball board" in any exclusivity kind of way...

[Bluedog]

“Keeping noise in” can actually be bad for concerts. Intentionally or unintentionally, Cameron keeps the noise in and I found it to be horrible acoustically for concerts. I assume that if having concerts is the goal Northwestern will keep this potential issue in mind when designing it.

That being said, it does look nice. I went to the old stadium when visiting Northwestern in the early 90s. They stunk back then and I think they were playing Indiana so it was not a great atmosphere, but I enjoyed it.

It's less about acoustics for them and more about keeping neighbors happy...It's still open air enough, though, that it wouldn't be like Cameron, but the goal would be to limit sound travel to an extent so you can't hear it miles away. I actually CAN hear the loudspeaker from over a mile away today...the sound travels particularly well if it's a day with a nice lakefront breeze ...

This is an odd topic for a stand alone thread on the basketball board.

Yep, agreed.

Hah, yeah...
Not to mention...during FB season, there are TONS of stand alone FB threads. The name notwithstanding, I would not call DBR a "basketball board" in any exclusivity kind of way...

Usually, it's DUKE football though. Although we do have a thread for ACC football/all college football and the like. But a single university renovating its stadium would typically be included in one of those other threads.

But given the closeness of this topic to me, I do have a more vested interest/perspective than most on it, so I'm happy to contribute to it.

[cato]

Hah, yeah...
Not to mention...during FB season, there are TONS of stand alone FB threads. The name notwithstanding, I would not call DBR a "basketball board" in any exclusivity kind of way...

I am an active participant in the Duke football threads, being a Duke football fan.

[DU82]

Usually, it's DUKE football though. Although we do have a thread for ACC football/all college football and the like. But a single university renovating its stadium would typically be included in one of those other threads.

But given the closeness of this topic to me, I do have a more vested interest/perspective than most on it, so I'm happy to contribute to it.

Of course, this was first brought up on the general college football thread about a week ago. The mods could merge this back into that thread.

[HoKogan]

Usually, it's DUKE football though. Although we do have a thread for ACC football/all college football and the like. But a single university renovating its stadium would typically be included in one of those other threads.

But given the closeness of this topic to me, I do have a more vested interest/perspective than most on it, so I'm happy to contribute to it.

I mean the connection isn't that hard to discern. Northwestern is one of the closest P5 analogues to Duke. Duke went through a stadium reno 7 years ago (7 years!?!? Oh jeez....) Northwestern is doing one now. I've not met any shortage of people who were not satisfied with how the renovations played out, I heard enough about berms, Bostock and field lowering to last a lifetime.

Its interesting to compare what Northwestern has planned and how thats going to work out for them, especially compared to what Duke did.

One can also, just not click on the thread and move on to another topic that interests them.

[Bluedog]

I mean the connection isn't that hard to discern. Northwestern is one of the closest P5 analogues to Duke. Duke went through a stadium reno 7 years ago (7 years!?!? Oh jeez...) Northwestern is doing one now. I've not met any shortage of people who were not satisfied with how the renovations played out, I heard enough about berms, Bostock and field lowering to last a lifetime.

Its interesting to compare what Northwestern has planned and how thats going to work out for them, especially compared to what Duke did.

One can also, just not click on the thread and move on to another topic that interests them.

All true! I don't have a strong opinion. I like the topic myself but can understand why some might think a standalone thread isn't warranted...

We'll also see how Northwestern actually executes it. Right now, it's very early stage and just a couple drawings...But I personally like the strategy of reducing the capacity and trying to make it feel more intimate.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

i mean the connection isn't that hard to discern. Northwestern is one of the closest p5 analogues to duke. Duke went through a stadium reno 7 years ago (7 years!?!? Oh jeez...) northwestern is doing one now. I've not met any shortage of people who were not satisfied with how the renovations played out, i heard enough about berms, bostock and field lowering to last a lifetime.

Its interesting to compare what northwestern has planned and how thats going to work out for them, especially compared to what duke did.

One can also, just not click on the thread and move on to another topic that interests them.

this ^^^