Telander on Ryan Field demolition

[NUCat320]

I disagree on many counts but let’s start with the most critical. The endpoint won’t be a 30-team league but more likely 36 with NFL expansion. Each of the 36 survivors pair with an NFL team and serve as a de facto farm team.

Picture the excitement had the Broncos not started Jarrett Stidham their last two games of the season but, instead, called up Shadeur Sanders from Colorado. That’s the future, making every game more interesting even when teams are out of the playoff chase.

As NU is left out of this scheme for obvious reasons, it remains with others who reconstitute a student-athlete conference (call it the Big Ten?) that plays before much smaller crowds. Hence NU’s plan for a small stadium better suited for concerts.

What the Iowas, Purdues and like school will do to maintain their big, increasingly empty stadiums I do not know. They will probably end up wishing they had something like our old Ryan Field. Perhaps those places will host NFL preseason games someday or other events on the periphery of the NFL minor league circuit.

Is your expectation that the NFL wishes to be in the player development business, when they currently get it for free? Your belief is that NFL teams wish to scout 15-year-olds?

Your belief is that the NFL — which has added four teams since 1977 — will be adding six teams in the near future? Have you seen nfl quarterback play?

It’s fun to be Debbie Downer sometimes, but your predictions seem highly improbable.

I just hope you get over your grumpiness and enjoy the games when the Cats return.

 

[Gatabowl]

The stadium that NU is building will be what Camden Yards was for baseball 30 years ago. (Nostalgia is played out. But everyone wanted their version.)

It will be a design slam dunk. In a world where universities — which (excepting DePaul) can’t threaten to go elsewhere for bigger tax breaks (or whatever DePaul’s incentive was) — NU’s facility will change the way people think about stadiums in college football. Everyone will want one, but nobody will have the donor cash or boldness to get one.

The renderings are beautiful. They’re design-forward. The stadium is smaller, a better fit in a residential neighborhood. Still tall, but in a functional, not towering way. (Nobody knows what the point of those towers is/was, do they?) It’s built to provide a home field advantage just like the building 50 yards North has.

College football stadiums are largely the same. Penn State is uglier and Michigan is more of a pit and Notre Dame Stadium has a 20-year-old shell around a 100-year-old stadium, but the set dimensions and age of facilities and the goals when they were built — cram as many in as possible, and fill the seats — left little room for variation. Renovations generally mean improved weight rooms or more donor suites and premium seating — but on that same basic shell.

What NU is doing is deciding that NU deserves better than what everyone else has. Having seen what Welsh-Ryan has done for people’s perception of NU, I’m excited that they’re trying to do it again.

I don’t know where college football is going. I think expansion is dumb, and I’d rather play Washington in January or not at all. But where we are not headed is to a 30-team league — there are too many TV deals for that to happen. If college football does condense to a 64-team format, NU’s connection to the B1G and the rewards from this facility commitment will ensure that NU stays there.

Something else that shouldn’t be lost in all of this: the level of enjoyment of to a football game vs. watching at home continues to narrow over time. Football stadiums are largely (largely) the same — and I’m not sure their improvements like in seat ordering a WiFi have outpaced the camera work and angles of home watching. The casual fan doesn’t want to sit in crappy weather eating crappy expensive food with a horrible view of the game for an expensive ticket and long long day.

I believe Ryan Field being small and better — better sight lines, the ring which makes it louder and protects from some weather, the intimacy factor, the state of the art signage, the premium seating options, etc will be a huge differentiator.

 

[CMcCat]

Is your expectation that the NFL wishes to be in the player development business, when they currently get it for free? Your belief is that NFL teams wish to scout 15-year-olds?

Your belief is that the NFL — which has added four teams since 1977 — will be adding six teams in the near future? Have you seen nfl quarterback play?

It’s fun to be Debbie Downer sometimes, but your predictions seem highly improbable.

I just hope you get over your grumpiness and enjoy the games when the Cats return.

Yes. And yes. It’s not the expense line but the revenue line behind this.

Imagine if you could consolidate the college and pro football television contracts.

Imagine if international expansion further expands revenue generation.

Alabama becomes the Mexico City affiliate.
Notre Dame becomes the Dublin affiliate.
Illinois becomes the Bears affiliate.
NU becomes no one’s affiliate.

NU is making a billion dollar bet that something like this is not going to happen.

 

[phatcat]

Something else that shouldn’t be lost in all of this: the level of enjoyment of to a football game vs. watching at home continues to narrow over time. Football stadiums are largely (largely) the same — and I’m not sure their improvements like in seat ordering a WiFi have outpaced the camera work and angles of home watching. The casual fan doesn’t want to sit in crappy weather eating crappy expensive food with a horrible view of the game for an expensive ticket and long long day.

I believe Ryan Field being small and better — better sight lines, the ring which makes it louder and protects from some weather, the intimacy factor, the state of the art signage, the premium seating options, etc will be a huge differentiator.

As a former Cleveland Indians fan who watched the hype over their new stadium circa 1994, I'm concerned that many long-time fans will be priced out of the new stadium. In Cleveland, the sellout streak lasted over 5 years. A lot of things came together to cause it (decades of prior futility, Browns leaving). But there was also a lemming effect, it was the place to be, in a stadium built smaller to create scarcity. If WRA is any indication, perhaps it won't be as bad as I think, but I reckon single game tix will be largely a thing of the past. It will be season tix plus donation/PSL.

I guess I will see a lot of away games 😀

 

[zeek55]

Yes. And yes. It’s not the expense line but the revenue line behind this.

Imagine if you could consolidate the college and pro football television contracts.

Imagine if international expansion further expands revenue generation.

Alabama becomes the Mexico City affiliate.
Notre Dame becomes the Dublin affiliate.
Illinois becomes the Bears affiliate.
NU becomes no one’s affiliate.

NU is making a billion dollar bet that something like this is not going to happen.

You're overreading all of this.

The NFL prefers not to be involved with the "minor leagues" of CFB because it's just a huge amount of problems without much financial gain.

Keep in mind that 93 of the top 100 US TV broadcasts in 2023 were NFL games.

The NFL already has complete dominance of US TV; it doesn't need to add a handful of college games to its contract; there's little benefit there.

They already get the full benefit of CFB without needing a farm system: thousands of 21-23 year old players available to draft that have spent 3-6 years training in college.

Look at MLB, the minor leagues don't add much to their bottom line, it's just a massive low profit business that they have to keep going to keep churning players.

 

[Darren72]

As a former Cleveland Indians fan who watched the hype over their new stadium circa 1994, I'm concerned that many long-time fans will be priced out of the new stadium. In Cleveland, the sellout streak lasted over 5 years. A lot of things came together to cause it (decades of prior futility, Browns leaving). But there was also a lemming effect, it was the place to be, in a stadium built smaller to create scarcity. If WRA is any indication, perhaps it won't be as bad as I think, but I reckon single game tix will be largely a thing of the past. It will be season tix plus donation/PSL.

I guess I will see a lot of away games 😀

I get your point. But that’s a good problem to have. We should be so lucky.

 

[CMcCat]

You're overreading all of this.

The NFL prefers not to be involved with the "minor leagues" of CFB because it's just a huge amount of problems without much financial gain.

Keep in mind that 93 of the top 100 US TV broadcasts in 2023 were NFL games.

The NFL already has complete dominance of US TV; it doesn't need to add a handful of college games to its contract; there's little benefit there.

They already get the full benefit of CFB without needing a farm system: thousands of 21-23 year old players available to draft that have spent 3-6 years training in college.

Look at MLB, the minor leagues don't add much to their bottom line, it's just a massive low profit business that they have to keep going to keep churning players.

The sea change in football is the compensation of players, however. This fouls up the NFL’s legacy outsourcing of player development to colleges. There will be increased pressures for elite prospects to be highly compensated during college, necessitating incremental revenues to those currently generated by colleges.

Where do those revenues come from? Ticket prices will be going way up at New Ryan but not enough to pay players what will become the market rate.

NFL teams will effectively replace the draft (or accelerate it to occur 4 years earlier in the player’s life as is the case in baseball) with these college partnerships that facilitate college player compensation via expanded television and licensing contracts. And do not underestimate ratings. If late-season NFL games become more interesting due to college call-ups (see Shadeur Sanders playing out the season last year for the Broncos) then TV contract revenue increases.

$$$ is the thing.

And NU thinks it can play this game because its new motto is Queacumque Sunt Avarus.

 

[phatcat]

I get your point. But that’s a good problem to have. We should be so lucky.

I understand your position, but I disagree. I'd rather like to attend some of the games.

Off topic, I wonder what the former STHs (that quit on the team last year) are going to do. I was at the MD game this year and it was the smallest crowd I remember seeing in decades.

 

[CMcCat]

I understand your position, but I disagree. I'd rather like to attend some of the games.

Off topic, I wonder what the former STHs (that quit on the team last year) are going to do. I was at the MD game this year and it was the smallest crowd I remember seeing in decades.

I missed that game as I was at a Patriot League game with my college freshman daughter on Family Weekend there. I have been thinking about attending more of those games in lieu of the NU games held at whatever venue will take us in.

I suspect there will a a LOT of attrition over the next two years. And sticker shock to follow when New Ryan pricing and required PSL-like donations price out the common fan.

 

[Darren72]

Who are these mysterious highroller fans that are going to shell out a lot of money for PSLs in the new stadium but weren’t coming to games in the old stadium?

I think there may be a little bit of a extrapolation here that’s not warranted.

 

[its_the_sauce]

I missed that game as I was at a Patriot League game with my college freshman daughter on Family Weekend there. I have been thinking about attending more of those games in lieu of the NU games held at whatever venue will take us in.

I suspect there will a a LOT of attrition over the next two years. And sticker shock to follow when New Ryan pricing and required PSL-like donations price out the common fan.

I'm amazed at some of these comments. People worrying about PSLs/seat donations fees. What did you think was going to happen? Folks on this board have been complaining about RF and clamoring for a new stadium for years. Did people honestly think they would build a new stadium and still let you sit on the 50 for $45/game???

 

[phatcat]

Folks on this board have been complaining about RF and clamoring for a new stadium for years.

Most have. I like(d) the old stadium and would have preferred a renovation and spend the extra on NIL and coaches. I need zero creature comforts.

 

[its_the_sauce]

Most have. I like(d) the old stadium and would have preferred a renovation and spend the extra on NIL and coaches. I need zero creature comforts.

Preaching to the choir. Other than concession quality I had zero complaints with RF.

Guessing concessions won't really change with the new stadium considering they're fairly lame at WR.

 

[Gatabowl]

As a former Cleveland Indians fan who watched the hype over their new stadium circa 1994, I'm concerned that many long-time fans will be priced out of the new stadium. In Cleveland, the sellout streak lasted over 5 years. A lot of things came together to cause it (decades of prior futility, Browns leaving). But there was also a lemming effect, it was the place to be, in a stadium built smaller to create scarcity. If WRA is any indication, perhaps it won't be as bad as I think, but I reckon single game tix will be largely a thing of the past. It will be season tix plus donation/PSL.

I guess I will see a lot of away games 😀

Today RF is embarrassingly underpriced. I’ve paid $2 for a ticket to allow me reentry after I chug a few beers and eat a hotdog at my car during halftime.

If the opposite ends up happening, so be it.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Yes. And yes. It’s not the expense line but the revenue line behind this.

Imagine if you could consolidate the college and pro football television contracts.

Imagine if international expansion further expands revenue generation.

Alabama becomes the Mexico City affiliate.
Notre Dame becomes the Dublin affiliate.
Illinois becomes the Bears affiliate.
NU becomes no one’s affiliate.

NU is making a billion dollar bet that something like this is not going to happen.

Your lawn might be larger than the standard football field.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I loved old Ryan Field and preferred a simple reno vs rebuild. And save the rest for NIL

Not mad at Reinsdorf for extorting the city for a replacement of a THIRTY year old stadium? He can go kick rocks.

Reinsdorf is foolish not to ask.

If the City/state caves (again), shame on them.

 

[phatcat]

Reinsdorf is foolish not to ask.

If the City/state caves (again), shame on them.

They have to cave. It's what cities do. Otherwise, uninhabitable places like Vegas steal your team. Everyone loves hockey in a desert

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

They have to cave. It's what cities do. Otherwise, uninhabitable places like Vegas steal your team. Everyone love hockey in a desert

Their baseball stadium is going to be incredible!

 

[CMcCat]

Your lawn might be larger than the standard football field.

Ha ha. I can mow my lawn with my push mower in 15 minutes.

 

[phatcat]

Their baseball stadium is going to be incredible!

So what? Why should taxpayers pay for it?

 

[its_the_sauce]

They have to cave. It's what cities do. Otherwise, uninhabitable places like Vegas steal your team. Everyone loves hockey in a desert

They don't have to cave. Cubs did initially ask the city for money and Rahm told to pound sand. How did that it turn out? The Cubs can now print money at will with concerts/hotels/rooftops/winter carnivals, money that they don't have to share with anyone.

Guessing the city is doing quite well with sales/hotel/amusement taxes etc..

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

So what? Why should taxpayers pay for it?

I am talking about Las Vegas.

 

[Gatabowl]

They have to cave. It's what cities do. Otherwise, uninhabitable places like Vegas steal your team. Everyone loves hockey in a desert

LV’s metro population is bigger than Pittsburgh’s, Cincinnati’s, and those of many other pro sports cities.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Telander became irrelevant at least 30 years ago.

 

[phatcat]

Telander became irrelevant at least 30 years ago.

Whew. I had him for a freshman seminar in 1981 so I'm ok

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Whew. I had him for a freshman seminar in 1981 so I'm ok

Bet you learned plenty.

 

[phatcat]

Bet you learned plenty.

It was pretty good. It was called something like "Literature of War", and included things like "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "Johnny Got His Gun". Really enjoyed it, and I had never heard of him, he seemed ok.