Doak Campbell Stadium Improvements

Doak Campbell Stadium Improvements

"I have confirmed that FSU has selected option #2 and will present the plan to the BOT during their June meeting and to the BOG for approval. Expected completion date is Fall 2016.

A little bit on the project and future projects from different emails from a VP of Seminole Boosters:

If this project sells and is approved the revenue generated by it will enable us to pay the bond issue to enhance all of Doak.
You have to have a revenue generator to pay for stadium improvements. The club seat project, along with a Capital Campaign, will be revenue generators so that we can make $80-100 million in necessary improvements at Doak.

Expanding seat width in the main stadium is strongly under consideration to the point we brought in the architects who designed Jerry World and other stadiums. We've even looked at simply renumbering the seats to make them wider but there are a lot of complications, costs, fan displacement and if we make construction changes there will be stadium down time (missed season on one or both sides).

The Club Seat section in the South Endzone is relatively easy to do as phase 1 and will give us a gauge of interest. It will also help fund stadium improvements in the rest of the stadium that everyone can enjoy.

imagine two levels of club seats with a 30,000 square foot room, running the length of the endzone in between. That room will be one of the air-conditioned club spaces with food, beverage, televisions, WiFi, etc. with a glass wall looking out at Bobby Bowden Field. Your assigned club seat will be outdoors, in the heat and the gameday atmosphere, but you won't be trapped at your seat. If you want to, you can walk inside or onto the rooftop terrace, to network with friends and still keep visual contact with the game. You'll also be able to keep up with games from around the country on the many video screens in those indoor rooms or on the terrace.

The stadium design experts tell us that with all the changes we are making to the facility that we will exceed the square-foot per person requirement by nearly 30 percent.In order to make this a premium experience, we will add two towers outside the UCC with six high-speed elevators to carry people to the various levels and add some 40,000 square feet of air-conditioned space as well as activate the fifth floor which has never been used on gameday before.

As a guy who owned and ran a business for 18 years I am highly cognisant of projections. The proformas on this project look really good even with "priced to market" seat prices and very conservative first year sales calculations. The break even point is VERY attainable year one for the project by itself. If sales go well we will be able to bond more than what is needed to build the project and create a revenue source that will enable us to bond the improvements for the rest of the stadium. I've had several CFOs from the public sector looking over my shoulder on this project, as well as our internal people, and plan to spend even more time with them as the project progresses. Our next big step is showing the project to the Board of Trustees.

We think Gameday Experience is a huge factor and that was one of Andy Miller's first concerns after hearing about that happening at the Jags stadium. Our concerns about that probably delayed the project for a year or more.

But from talking to our collegiate counterparts, what they tell us is that their club seats remain full during the important games and during the important moments. For the less signifcant games, some of the club seat people will bounce between their seat and the club to cool off or to grab a cold one or to watch other important games in progress. The experience at Clemson and Tennessee is no different than our ticket sales experience which is that the grandstand people are less likely to come to those hot games against a less attractive opponent now so, like us, they have empty seats in the endzone just like we do on those kinds of games. With the club they are at least able to get those types of people to the stadium and in the club seat for part of the game. They have not had problems with seats being full for big games.

We think we can help that too by offering in-seat concession service, wi-fi at the seat, etc.

As for the people who are now buying are cheapest season ticket, we will find another section for them, that they will likely find more attractive yet. Most of the seats in that area are reserved for the Gators and opponents who bring 5000 or more. Historically we have unsold season tickets to the East of the proposed club section that we can push the opponents into. Also, many of the endzone bleacher seats that will be replaced were sold only by offering group packages to youth groups, bands, etc. so those are not your die-hard Seminole fans. They are important however as those types of sales become sampling opportunities. Some of those people, kids even, get a taste and want more. We will always have seats for group sales.

I am a big advocate for having 7 or more gameday experiences, not just one person's definition. I want a student section that never sits. I want the bowl filled with crazies who don't care what the temperature is, they are there. I think its okay that there be a place for the older Seminole fans who want to be a part of the crowd but can't stand the whole game. I think the skyboxes fill a need to for many people. I want cheap seats for that young family of four. I prefer it to be a family-friendly section, where mom and dad don't have to worry about a drunk cursing behind them (very hard to accomplish in our stadium).

I think collectively we all want Doak to be for everyone, not just one faction or the other who wars with each other about "their rights".

Second Major Factor
Some will say we are building the club seat project to make money and they are exactly right. The club seat project will make money that we will turn around and plow right back into Doak Campbell Stadium to improve the gameday experience for everyone.

In order to improve the gameday experience in Doak we have to spend a lot of money to repair, paint, improve concourses, bathrooms, concessions, add WiFi, etc. -- more than the club seat project itself -- and you have to have a funding source in order to borrow the money to make those stadium improvements. We are committed to making those improvements so we looked at our options to fund the money we will have to borrow: 1. raise ticket prices substantially, 2. increase the donation requirement substantially, 3. find alternative revenue streams.

Ideally, the ticket revenue and Booster contribution should go to funding our athletics programs whose costs continue to rise, so any increase in those two areas should be directed primarily to those funding needs.

The club seat project has the potential, if approved by the BOT and BOG and effectively sold, to not only fund itself but to fund a great deal of the improvements to the rest of Doak Campbell Stadium to improve the gameday experience for everyone.

Hope this explanation, though long, helps you understand that the Club Seat project can benefit everyone and not just those who are looking for a club experience."


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