American Athletic Conference

[Kel Varnsen]

Renovate Cessna to allow football to be played for 3-5 years there, the renovations would be made with the intention of turning it into the track facility/football practice field. Then construct a new stadium either on a portion of the old golf course, or build it somewhere over by k96 by Koch.

I always thought the space by the old Wild West World would be perfect. Incredibly expensive, but plenty of parking and areas for tailgating. And right next to the highway.

[ShockBand]

I always thought the space by the old Wild West World would be perfect. Incredibly expensive, but plenty of parking and areas for tailgating. And right next to the highway.

WSU could buy the greyhound park, put in a new stadium there west of the dog track, and ask the legislature for permission to run the doggies again to support our football habit!

[1972Shocker]

Attendence of Tulsa FB games is really bad. One of the worst in FBS.

I don't know if Tulsa is a good benchmark or not for what WSU might be able to expect attendance wise. Over the last 5 years they have averaged 20,345 per home game with a high of 22,541 in 2011. Attendance has dropped a bit each year since 2011 to 19,622 in 2015. Records over the last 5 years beginning with 2011 going forward were 8-4, 11-3, 3-9, 2-10 and 6-7 (30-33 during that period).

The Tulsa MSA population is 981,000. Wichita's MSA is 638,000.

Tulsa seasaon ticket prices range from $78 to $330. The $330 is for their skyboxes and is the only level that requires a seat license contribution. Individual game tickets range from $15 to $50 dollars. Group pricing discounts are also available.

Tulsa seating chart and ticket price schedule.

[bleed yellow]

Here is an old 1992 article from the Wichita Eagle indicating cost to refurbish Cessna at $24m
A couple of interesting points:
30,000 seats are required for FBS
$1,000 per seat for a new stadium (in 1992 dollars)

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college...e49017480.html

Sounds like Cessna has always been maintained well enough to barely meet the code.. You can walk by the structure and tell from a mere glance that it needs some serious work. Kind of surprising though that the school president back in 1992 wasn't even aware that he was basically dealing with ruins.

[1972Shocker]

Tulsa's big problem is being relatively close to and in the middle of OU and OSU country. The Shockers face some of the same problem being relatively close to OU, OSU, KSU and KU and the KC Chiefs although Tulsa is closer to OU and OSU than WSU is to Manhattan, Lawrence and KC.

And, of course, almost everyone is just a few feet away from a big screen, high def TV that usually provides a much better seat then most fans in attendance at the game have.

[1972Shocker]

FYI here is Tulsa's combo Track & Field/Soccer facility.

[Dave Stalwart]

I always thought the space by the old Wild West World would be perfect. Incredibly expensive, but plenty of parking and areas for tailgating. And right next to the highway.

And now that NIAR is out at the Coliseum, it wouldn't feel too out of place out there in that general area.

[SHOCKvalue]

You wanna put a nail in the coffin of WSU football before it has even been resurrected then a great idea would be to put a new stadium way the heck up in BFE Park City. I can just see the promos now... free meth night... section 8 night... how to train your pit bull night... best practices to remove the wheels from your house night.

Effing-A man! Worst idea ever!

[AndShock]

Putting a football stadium off campus takes away some of the reasons for bringing back football in the first place.

[SHOCKvalue]

Tulsa's a terrible analog and comparable to hypothetical WSU football, with regards to attendence. Their enrollment is one of the smallest in D1 (they're about the size of Newman), and the majority of their students aren't even from the state or area. Further, as a private school, they are much less able to engage and grow their fan base locally with people and families with no connection to the school. Their proportion of alumni in their metro area has got to be a mere fraction as compared to WSU alums and Wichita.

It's really apples and oranges.

[ShockBand]

BTW, my proposal was in jest, in case anyone's meter was off. IF we were to bring back football (and that's a huge IF), the stadium should of course be on campus.

On a separate item, I hope that they build up the roads and surface parking on the Innovation Campus even before the buildings are in process. It would add a lot of spaces and would help us really ferret out whether we have a parking problem or a walking problem.

[1972Shocker]

Tulsa's a terrible analog and comparable to hypothetical WSU football, with regards to attendence. Their enrollment is one of the smallest in D1 (they're about the size of Newman), and the majority of their students aren't even from the state or area. Further, as a private school, they are much less able to engage and grow their fan base locally with people and families with no connection to the school. Their proportion of alumni in their metro area has got to be a mere fraction as compared to WSU alums and Wichita.

It's really apples and oranges.

Good points. Who would you suggest for the best oranges?

[kcshocker11]

Good points. Who would you suggest for the best oranges?

Florida

[AndShock]

Good points. Who would you suggest for the best oranges?

Memphis

[SHOCKvalue]

Good points. Who would you suggest for the best oranges?

Well, what are we comparing exactly? I don't see much correlation with Tulsa except for geography and a past rivalry.

If we're looking at metro size and similar academic mission, then a potential model might be Boise, although they are admittedly a best case.