The Texas Tech Board of Regents approved a $6-million, 6,000-seat addition to Jones AT&T Stadium on May 8, which pushes the stadium capacity to nearly 60,000 seats, placing it in the middle of the Big 12 Conference.
However, in order for the move to work, Tech must be careful with both pricing and scheduling.
Last season was a record year for Tech football attendance. For the first time in program history, Tech sold out all of its season ticket allotment and had the first-, third- and seventh-largest crowds ever for the stadium - Texas, Oklahoma State and Nebraska, respectively - and sold out all but two games. The attendance figures seem to beg for a stadium expansion, but upon further inspection, is it really worth it?
Last year Tech sold out five of its seven home games, suggesting an increasing market of fans desperate to catch Mike Leach's entertaining act, eventually eventually rose to a No. 2 national ranking in one of the best seasons in school history.
According to the Tech ticket office, however, two of the five games sold out within three days of the game itself (UMass and SMU) and one sold out just a week before (Nebraska). The Texas game - an annual sellout - was billed as the biggest game in program history, while the Oklahoma State game was just a week later, after Tech defeated then-No. 1 Texas.
This is not to say Oklahoma State usually doesn't bring a large crowd, but in any other year the hype surrounding such a matchup would be far less.
Thus, out of these five games, only two - Texas and Oklahoma State - could have benefited greatly from another 6,000 seats.
While the UMass, SMU and Nebraska games probably would have sold additional seats had they been available, these seats could easily have been provided with temporary seating similar to the Texas and Oklahoma State games.
Let's say for example, the UMass and SMU games each brought in an additional 2,000 fans, the Nebraska game brought in 3,000 more and the Texas and Oklahoma State games brought in 6,000 more.The Eastern Washington and Baylor games were short of selling out by 3,000 seats for each game. This in addition to the 6,000 seats in the addition would make 12,000 empty seats between the two games.
Add these together, and Tech would have had 29,000 empty seats, addition seats included, throughout the year, an average of 4,100 seats per game.
And this mind you, is in Tech's best season ever.
Looking toward 2009, similar projections can be made. Currently, only the Texas A&M and Oklahoma games definitely can be assumed to sell out. The Kansas and Kansas State games should be close to sellouts while the Rice and New Mexico games should bring around 50,000 tickets each.
Assuming the season opener against North Dakota brings a less-than-capacity crowd, Tech would still have more than 4,000 empty seats at every game, and this is assuming the demand for Tech football is at its peak.
Certainly the football team's recent success, along with an increasing student population, would lead to an increase in the demand for Tech football tickets. But, if in Tech's best year ever, with a top-5 ranking and high profile matchups every week, the team only generated a demand of 2,000 additional seats, then why build 6,000?
This is not to say Tech football isn't an elite or national power, rather Lubbock and the surrounding community simply isn't large enough to provide 60,000 to 80,000 fans like other national powers.
Nor is it a bad thing, as Tech has proved time and time again, Jones AT&T Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in the Big 12. The Red Raiders went undefeated at home in 2008.
The move also makes sense from a financial standpoint. An additional 6,000 seats sold at the Texas A&M and Oklahoma games would bring in more than $1.2 million in revenue.
Despite these figures, the move centers on the assumption that Tech can maintain its national prominence for years to come.
If for some reason the football program falls from the ranks of the country's elites, the university may find itself with increasing construction and interest costs to top the $25 million East Side Stadium Expansion Project.
But if Tech were to rise to even greater heights, 6,000 seats may not be enough.
Be the first to comment on this article!