August 22, 2007
Rutgers planning $116 million stadium expansion
Hot on the heels of an 11-2 season that saw the Scarlet Knights win their first bowl game in the school history, Rutgers is considering a $116 million stadium expansion that would add more than 12,000 seats and luxury boxes to the football stadium.
The plans are outlined in documents obtained by The Record of Bergen County and come at a time when programs and staff at New Jersey's university have been cut.The school signed a contract in April to pay HOK Sports nearly $1 million for design work for the expansion of 42,000-seat stadium.
Plans call for building suites, boxes and club seating first. An additional 12,000 seats would be installed in the open end zone.
Rutgers says they have 6,000 people on a season ticket waiting list, hence the stadium expansion.
And -- in flash forward news from 2015 -- Rutgers is investigating what to do with 20,000+ empty seats in the football season.
Cart. Horse.
Comments:
gatorstud said:
posted on August 22, 2007 7:30 PM — 72.69.14.26 — link — abuse?
let's see...rutgers can come up w/ the money to renovate their stadium, but the U of M won't.........hhhmmmm...there is something wrong is sloboboia.......("up the creek")......good for rutgers.....
go gators......and hokies
cardman steve said:
posted on August 22, 2007 8:55 PM — 74.131.212.190 — link — abuse?
HAPPY TO SEE THAT HAPPEN AND TO SEE TEAMS IN THE BIG EAST PUTTING MORE EFFORT IN FOOTBALL AS WELL.
james higgs said:
posted on August 22, 2007 11:09 PM — 12.213.80.55 — link — abuse?
How much does the texas bowl pay ?
Mr.McAteer said:
posted on August 23, 2007 1:02 AM — 71.206.247.138 — link — abuse?
no way c-dogg
Schaino has finally tapped into the new jersey or what he calls "state of Rutgers" high school talent base. He's gonna start keeping those top prospects in their home state while he can also use his Miami job to get recruits in the Florida
Rutgers, WVU, UofL, and now South Florida are gonna stay around the top for a long, long time
Papa johns stadium is gonna get even bigger and nicer also
Tomcat said:
posted on August 23, 2007 2:12 AM — 69.154.241.130 — link — abuse?
Heck-Yes Why not They are located in one of the biggest metropolian areas in the United States.
I know that these kids are raised on concrete and have never hauled hay or watermelons,But there are millions of them.In the NYC area what do they have Jets & Giants? Hello Scarlet KnightsTrojanHorse said:
posted on August 23, 2007 6:09 AM — 75.75.86.11 — link — abuse?
adding 12 more seats just brings them on par with the rest of the BCS schools who avg 60K seat stadiums or more...
the 64k dollar question is this a flash in the pan or not... one, one stinking good year, does not make a program..
Tom Blogical said:
posted on August 23, 2007 8:39 AM — 24.95.77.153 — link — abuse?
If you build it, they will come...as long as you keep winning.
SCBuck said:
posted on August 23, 2007 2:47 PM — 206.253.152.21 — link — abuse?
Sorry guys, this isn't directed at this topic but just wanted to throw out some observations. Been reading these blogs for a long time and haven't posted much. Love college football, am a Buckeye from way back. Totally respect the thoughts and opinions of MOST on here. When I began following OSU way back, the top twenty, give or take a few, year in and year out were, OSU, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, ND, USC, Alabama, Arkansas,etc. Don't get upset Georgia, Tennessee, UCLA, etc. No disrespect intended. 30 years later it is still, like them or not, the same group with a few additions, Florida, Florida State, Miami. The point is that this group of 30 or so schools get all the talent they want and pretty much win every year. West Virgina, Louisville, Rutgers and others, awesome teams but can you maintain it year after year after year? Frankly, I hope so. Florida, you kicked our asses, do hope we can play you again in the near future, just remember, every team gets their ass kicked now and then. Two things that I am really tired of though. First,Every day, you can go onto ESPN, Sports Illustrated or any other web site and see the same old crap... __(choose any number) football players arrested for_________(choose any crime) Very few schools are left out of this crap. Second, CockandFire, don't even try to place your pissant school in the same league with these other schools. Your best 2 years in history were when you beat 2 mediocre OSU teams. By the way, moron, we won the title the next year. What did your team do?......silence. Hey, I see Blake is suspended again.
Cape Cod Tom '84 Rutgers said:
posted on August 23, 2007 5:14 PM — 24.60.228.158 — link — abuse?
I'm a huge critic of Rutgers sports. I've lived through hell pullng for them over the years. It wasn't easy. One thing is clear to me...expansion is not a mistake. It's a must!
True, RU had only one good year; however, Rutgers is here to stay. Every sport program this schools offers is doing very well in the Big East Standings.
Don't mess with Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights mean bussiness!
james higgs said:
posted on August 24, 2007 1:15 AM — 12.213.80.37 — link — abuse?
Woooooooooooow! know that is some stout kool-aid thier drinking there. You play in one bowl game an you start talking about expansion. Imagine if they were good at other sports what they might want to build. Doesn't temple play in a nice stadium.
posted on August 24, 2007 10:33 AM — link — abuse?Kevin Donahue said:
Yeah... totally cart -> horse.
Zac said:
posted on August 25, 2007 9:36 PM — 64.12.116.136 — link — abuse?
I don't know. Maybe it's not such a bad idea. Though, I'm curious how renovating Rutgers stadium will cost 116 million as compared with the 208 million it's supposed to cost to renovate the Orange Bowl.
Still, given 116 million is no small piece of change, if nothing else, it's got to help the local economy. You can do quite a bit over a fair stretch with that kind of money. That means jobs and all the fall-out from the influx. Cart before the horse or no, it'll help somebody. (Being that's this is Jersey we're talking about, I'm not about to go into mob polotics, kick-backs, et. al. No doubt somebody has made somebody else an awfa day kan not refuze. Just be glad some good will come out of it.)
Jimbo said:
posted on August 30, 2007 9:18 AM — 69.68.88.33 — link — abuse?
You realize there are more people within a 25 mile radius of Rutgers Stadium than the entire state of Nebraska ? Rutgers will have no problem filling those seats for years to come. In fact, I'd say 55K is on the conservative side.
Jersey George said:
posted on September 2, 2007 12:32 AM — 68.192.48.183 — link — abuse?
You nay sayers know nothing of Rutgers or the Metro NY/NJ Area. Rutgers is here to stay and the investment in 12000 new seats is pretty conservative. I am not saying the Scarlet Knights are going to be a powerhouse every year, but they will remain very competative and be a top 35 team from now on. More and more of the rich Jersey and New York talent is staying. Besides, in football, New Jersey knows how to support its teams (Jets/Giants).....even when they are average or worse they sell out. It will be no different now that Rutgers has an identity.
Slickear said:
posted on September 4, 2007 1:39 PM — 162.129.27.85 — link — abuse?
Rutgers sponsors, boosters and fans have been awaiting the opportunity to put money into the program for a very, very long time. Someone asked why Rutgers would be able to renovate their stadium before Miami. The answer is simple; Rutger's can afford it.
Tampa Hurricane
posted on September 4, 2007 2:13 PM — 24.96.199.254 — link — abuse?
said:
Slickear, is it that Rutgers can afford it, or is it that the state of New Jersey can afford it? Rutgers bills itself as the "State University of New Jersey" which means that the state funds the university. Miami is a private university that doesn't receive funding like a public university.
Also, with a program that didn't average a sellout last year (more than 1,000 empty seats per game on average) are the additional 12,000 seats even going to be used?
Slickear said:
posted on September 4, 2007 2:34 PM — 162.129.27.85 — link — abuse?
Tampa, I think it is a little of both. Certainly the state of NJ will pour money into Rutgers program. Their tuition is so high, they lose homers to my alma mater, WVU, left and right. That being said, Rutgers has some boosters and alum that have disgusting money to throw around. Like I said, regardless of whether or not it's a brilliant business decision, this is something they've been waiting a long, long time to do... Now is better than never I guess.
Tampa Hurricane
posted on September 4, 2007 2:44 PM — 24.96.199.254 — link — abuse? said:
Slickear, if the boosters have been wanting to do it then coming off a sucessful season is the perfect time to do it. Is this expansion going to be fully funded by boosters and alumni or are taxpayer dollars going to be used? With the budget crunch with many governments, one just has to wonder if NJ has better uses for taxpayer money. If boosters and alumni want to throw their own money into seats that might not be filled, then there is nothing wrong with that, but if they are using taxpayer funds then there might be millions of people pissed off if (or when) Rutgers returns to their old form.
Graystork said:
posted on September 10, 2007 2:28 AM — 68.81.214.74 — link — abuse?
Think about this guys. LA has the Coliseum which USC sells out and the Rose Bowl which UCLA almost fills. Both of these hold about 91,000. There is NO major college football team within 90 miles of NYC other than Rutgers. If Schiano is successful, these tickets will be harder to get than Jets or Giants tickets
Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.
SEMINOLE_NATION said:
posted on August 22, 2007 6:48 PM — 71.14.108.232 — link — abuse?Ummm...
This sounds a bit premature IMO. I mean, it was ONE good year. Granted, they may be just as good next year. However, they could also easily be a flash in the pan.