Neyland Stadium Question

[Buddr]

Premium seating. — You have to be “rich” to afford to sit there. — They are “jerks” because they don’t stay for the entire game!……

They might just be the ones that are helping with the NIL ever think of that?

 

[tbh]

More comfortable seats are bigger. I like being elbow to elbow personally. Adds to the experience. Especially if alcohol is involved and you're around good people. I've never wanted to high five strangers so fast.

Agreed, strangers or not. It has been pretty awesome in the seats my dad and I have been sitting in since the 2011 season, seeing our "Neyland neighbors' " kids grow up and attend (and in some cases, graduate from) UT and some of the older folk retire. Some of the folks my age (including myself) have started sprouting more gray hairs (no doubt a combination of excessive sun-bleaching at noon kickoffs and the program's overall zeitgeist up until recently).

Talking about strangers, there was a young couple in front of us for the Vols-Pachyderms game. They had a blast for their first game at Neyland. They picked a heck of a first game, and were invited back on the off-chance their presence was indeed lucky. Never can be too careful.

 

[HeavenUniversity]

Not everyone who is financially successful is a jerk. While I make a modest income, one of my sisters and her husband are quite comfortable ( no, not like Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos lol). He is a big MLB fan and gets very good seats with his money. But they also donate substantially to the MS Society, food banks, clothing, and furniture/home items for people of lower incomes. Too many people, and I can be guilty of this myself sometimes, spend too much effort and time putting others in boxes. My two cents.

 

[IndianaVol]

Did we lose capacity with all the updates and renovations? Yes...
Has that affected the game day experience to the average fan? By most accounts, Yes, but in a mostly positive direction...

Have we lost the 'arms race' of having the biggest stadium? Yes...but players that have played Neyland and the other big boy stadiums all say Neyland is tougher to play. That's a testament to GREAT design and GREAT fans.

FWIW - I was at the Battle of Bristol game with 157K in attendance and have been in Neyland with 101K...Neyland was at least 10X louder.

 

[Volbrando]

Did we lose capacity with all the updates and renovations? Yes...
Has that affected the game day experience to the average fan? By most accounts, Yes, but in a mostly positive direction...

Have we lost the 'arms race' of having the biggest stadium? Yes...but players that have played Neyland and the other big boy stadiums all say Neyland is tougher to play. That's a testament to GREAT design and GREAT fans.

FWIW - I was at the Battle of Bristol game with 157K in attendance and have been in Neyland with 101K...Neyland was at least 10X louder.

I wish they'd build the same overhangs on the south endzone like they have in the north... so the sound would be further trapped in, plus fireworks all around would be awesome too

 

[GulfCoasterVol]

Build a third level so we can say... "Ours is bigger than yours!"... again !!!!

 

[207 others]

Best way to add more is to add a ramp around press boxes and put a cheap ticket section on top with 2k each box

I'm talking cheapest way to add section without having to entirely redo the infrastructure

 

[207 others]

Can any structural engineers or concrete people tell me if this is dangerous or impossible?

The horseshoe seems feasible, im sure the "blinders" or whatever its called that forms the bend in my drawing isnt structural but could be removed and modified easier than any other part of the upper deck since it's already modular in that zone?

The press box idea seems like the cheapest way to do this

 

[WillisWG]

How Neyland Stadium Grew​

YEAR	ADDITION	CAPACITY CHANGE	TOTAL CAPACITY
1921	Original West Stands	3,200 seats	3,200
1926	East Stands	3,600 seats	6,800
1929	West Stands	11,060 seats	17,860
1937	North Section X	1,500 seats	19,360
1938	East Stands	12,030 seats	31,390
1948	South Stands	15,000 seats	46,390
1962	West Upper Deck	press box, 5,837 seats	52,227
1966	North Stands	5,895 seats	58,122
1968	East Upper Deck	6,307 seats	64,429
1972	Southwest Upper Deck	6,221 seats	70,650
1976	Southeast Upper Deck	9,600 seats	80,250
1980	North Stands	net gain 10,999 seats	91,249
1987	West Executive Suites	42 suites	91,110
1990	Student Seating Adjustment	792 seats	91,902
1996	North Upper Deck	10,642 seats	102,544
1997	ADA Seating Adjustment	310 seats	102,854
2000	East Executive Suites	78 suites / 1,225 seats	104,079
2006	East Club Level	net loss 2,042 seats	102,037
2008	West Club Seats/Press Box Renovation	net loss 2,026 seats	100,011
2010	West Terrace/Gate 21 Plaza	2,444 seats	102,455
2022	Lower West Club/Upper North Deck	net seating loss; credential count updated (increased)	101,915

 

[utchs81]

Did we lose capacity with all the updates and renovations? Yes...
Has that affected the game day experience to the average fan? By most accounts, Yes, but in a mostly positive direction...

Have we lost the 'arms race' of having the biggest stadium? Yes...but players that have played Neyland and the other big boy stadiums all say Neyland is tougher to play. That's a testament to GREAT design and GREAT fans.

FWIW - I was at the Battle of Bristol game with 157K in attendance and have been in Neyland with 101K...Neyland was at least 10X louder.

Yep the only way the Battle of Bristol would have been louder than Neyland is if they had a race going on at the same time.

 

[Old Man Orange]

More comfortable seats are bigger. I like being elbow to elbow personally. Adds to the experience. Especially if alcohol is involved and you're around good people. I've never wanted to high five strangers so fast.

 

[Boca Vol]

I see that the largest crowd was over 109,000 about twenty years ago. Why is the capacity less now? Did UT stop selling standing room tickets? Is the band much bigger now? Wider seats? A combination of factors?

Those attendance figures were completely made up. Even the 102,455 was a made up number. That represented a sold out atmosphere including all workers, etc.

Before the last renovation before '22, there were a little over 96,000 seats in the upper & lower decks. I'm not sure how many skybox seats there are.

 

[HeavenUniversity]

Unrelated question—on TV after a good play, I can hear a woman singing a slow version of Rocky Top. Is that Dolly Parton?

 

[VOLINVONORE]

I feel like read something at some point that there was some state law change years ago too that will keep us from being able to officially state anything over capacity due to fire code. I might be totally making that up though.

They count everyone in the stadium, including th e water boys, the vendors, the ushers, etc. They do not count Smokey but do count the handler.

 

[Swiftybaby]

Unrelated question—on TV after a good play, I can hear a woman singing a slow version of Rocky Top. Is that Dolly Parton?

That’s from a couple years ago someone made a “spooky” rocky top. Not dolly tho. Just original version heavily edited

 

[HeavenUniversity]

That’s from a couple years ago someone made a “spooky” rocky top. Not dolly tho. Just original version heavily edited

Thanks—I found it. For those interested in listening—