[Kricket]

Do you think they don't want to build it up right away only to have a half full stadium, because it creates an illusion that not many people want to watch the games even if the attendance is better than ever, and vice versa, a full stadium allows people to imagine how many people would come to the game if the stadium was bigger? Or is it simply a revenue thing (more people coming means they can afford to build a bigger stadium)?

If we sell out the majority of the games this year I could see them start phase 2 after the 2011 season. Revenue from tickets has nothing to do with expansion for us as they can't make much over $1mill from ticket sales. It's all about those boosters!!!

Oh, I know this year's revenue won't pay for the stadium expansion, but if they see that the expansion is actually bringing in revenue rather than a wasted cost, it might persuade another expansion. If it was just more to maintain, they might wait until it's cost effective to invest that money. That's all I was trying to say.

[army56mike]

It is exciting to hear the admin. continue to talk about and affirm a move to FBS. There seems to be a real national push by many FCS teams to move up now (App St., Montana, Nova, UMass, Lamar, UNCC, ODU, etc.) I look forward to Liberty being one of those schools. It'll be interesting to see where Liberty settles conference wise in the near future. Given Liberty's committment to go FBS wouldn't it make financial sense to expand the stadium fully now? Won't construction costs just keep rising? I know that the newly completed expansion (12,000) on the University of Louisville stadium cost just as much as the original stadium built only in 1998 which held 42,500.

[kuntryboimike]

It is exciting to hear the admin. continue to talk about and affirm a move to FBS. There seems to be a real national push by many FCS teams to move up now (App St., Montana, Nova, UMass, Lamar, UNCC, ODU, etc.) I look forward to Liberty being one of those schools. It'll be interesting to see where Liberty settles conference wise in the near future. Given Liberty's committment to go FBS wouldn't it make financial sense to expand the stadium fully now? Won't construction costs just keep rising? I know that the newly completed expansion (12,000) on the University of Louisville stadium cost just as much as the original stadium built only in 1998 which held 42,500.

Good point.

[Cider Jim]

there are plenty of teams that aren't at a 30,000 capacity.

Wow, Ball State's stadium only seats 22,500? We may have more than that at homecoming!

[JK37]

This is going completely from memory, but after attaining D-I status, an average attendance of 12,000 must be maintained over any two-year period within a 3-year window. Theoretically, I perceive this to mean you could start halfway through Year One, then stop midway through Year Three, or any similar combination of applicable dates.

I know in the case of Ball State, their administration is very scared of not maintaining it.

[kuntryboimike]

This is going completely from memory, but after attaining D-I status, an average attendance of 12,000 must be maintained over any two-year period within a 3-year window. Theoretically, I perceive this to mean you could start halfway through Year One, then stop midway through Year Three, or any similar combination of applicable dates.

I know in the case of Ball State, their administration is very scared of not maintaining it.

Last I heard it was 15,000 but not from a reliable source. I just read it on CS somewhere like 5-6 months ago.

[PAmedic]

it aint done but its close

[Sly Fox]

We can still say Wow, can't we?

[Keenan]

1:39am... just got home from the game.

1st impressions of Williams Stadium....

Stadium A+++ Absolutely beautiful!
Bathrooms D- Dirty and soap dispenser was already broken
Concessions F----- Lines WAY too long, they ran out of everything, shut down temporarily, staff poorly trained and bad attitudes, pretzel hard and cold, nacho chesse cold, had to beg for lids for drinks and for carrier BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!
Band A+++ Terrific!
Tickets F - Bad experience. Ordered tickets last week and LU said they would be placed at will call. No problem. Parked in front of Demoss and walked up to ticket window only to be told that we would have to go over to FOC to pick tickets up. That required walking all the way around the soccer stadium. Not good! No communication and staff in parking lots were not very helpful.

Overall, pretty disappointed! Hopefully the next few home games will go much better.

[jcmanson]

I'll have a bunch of pics to post later today or maybe tomorrow night. The stadium was gorgeous. We definitely had 19,000. The student side was as packed as I've ever seen it and that's with an extra 1,000 seats or so. They had tons of people on the hill and standing around at the top of stands. All 4 general admission sections on the baptist side were pretty fully. I'm not sure about the money seats upstairs, but down stairs they were probably 60% full.

I'm going to give them a mulligan especially since they couldn't have had a chance to practice all the odds and ends but there definitely needs to be an improvement. And I'm sure there will be starting with next week's game. With that said, they made an announcement late in the 1st quarter that the concessions were closed and they anticipated re-opening at halftime. Are you serious?! Then at halftime, only half of the concessions were open creating pretty long lines. Also, the tvs at the concession stands weren't even turned on. Like I said, I'll give them a mulligan but these things need to be improved upon.

As far as the fireworks go, everyone around here says we want to be "big time" well big time programs don't have fireworks going off during a game. Blame it on the fire marshal if you want, but we have to plan for that stuff. Like others said start the game at 6. Or 5. Or do them at halftime. Don't ever do them during the game.

And no, rueful, it didn't really help with the parking situation as when I left after the game they still had University Blvd closed and marked off. Not that big of a deal though. Just had to exit at the back of campus.

All in all it was a great night. It's hard to believe that stadium is on our campus. It's definitely first class.

[bigsmooth]

keenan, were you told that the tickets would be at will call at the vines center or the FOC? the will call for football has been at the FOC since it opened. in regards to the bathroom, could it be that someone could have broken it before you got in there? it could certainly happen. not trying to fuss, but maybe you were a bit hard on the grades?? lol

my impressions:
stadium atmosphere- A
Event staff- B, very helpful and friendly
concessions- C-, Lines still way too long, i only had a beverage, but the smallest drink huge...way too much for me. did like the credit card useage though. tv's not on at the concession stands
signage- A+, you really get the feel it is big time there
parking-A, no problems, but im a flames club member....join today!!
fireworks-B- had it been after the game, would have been great...longest fireworks show i have seen. pretty impressive. if i were the coaches of either team i would have been upset. could it be LU messed up and should have scheduled them at halftime?? sounds like poor planning to me.
overall-B+. It's just like going to a new restaurant, not everyhting is going to be perfect, and they had very little time, basically working right up to 5pm. things will improve, but williams stadium is a great palce to watch a game.

[LUconn]

I'm going to give them a mulligan especially since they couldn't have had a chance to practice all the odds and ends but there definitely needs to be an improvement. And I'm sure there will be starting with next week's game. With that said, they made an announcement late in the 1st quarter that the concessions were closed and they anticipated re-opening at halftime. Are you serious?! Then at halftime, only half of the concessions were open creating pretty long lines. Also, the tvs at the concession stands weren't even turned on. Like I said, I'll give them a mulligan but these things need to be improved upon.

Yeah, I whined about that too, but I understand that it's the first game. I went during the 1st quarter. I was going to wait until a break in the game but I thought I'd be able to watch the game while I was in line.

Speaking of TV, what was the deal with the jumbotron last night? A couple of the cameras had really static-y connections and forget about watching a play up there. The play would start out following the QB and he'd throw it or hand it off and we'd still be watching the QB for the rest of the play. I hope that same stuff wasn't broadcasted. That would be annoying to watch if you weren't at the game.

[jcmanson]

Yeah whoever works that camera needs some practice as well. They need to zoom out during plays so you can see the whole field rather than just the line. Again, I'm sure this will get worked out. I mean its a huge difference from taping on top of a 1 story press box compared to on the 5th floor.

[Keenan]

We really need to have a new ticketing policy where we have assigned seats. If you arrive less than an hour before kickoff, you really have to hunt for a seat. Has assigned seating ever been discussed because I think we really need it.

[jcmanson]

We really need to have a new ticketing policy where we have assigned seats. If you arrive less than an hour before kickoff, you really have to hunt for a seat. Has assigned seating ever been discussed because I think we really need it.

Join the Flames Club and get season tickets! Otherwise get there an hour early.

[Keenan]

We really need to have a new ticketing policy where we have assigned seats. If you arrive less than an hour before kickoff, you really have to hunt for a seat. Has assigned seating ever been discussed because I think we really need it.

Join the Flames Club and get season tickets! Otherwise get there an hour early.

I got there exactly an hour early and seats were already full. This is a good problem to have from a Liberty standpoint, but when you have local Lynchburg people coming to a game for the first time it could turn out to be a very negative experience. Just sayin'...

[Keenan]

Join the Flames Club and get season tickets!

I live three hours away and work every other Saturday from 8-4. This is not realistic unfortunately. For the Savannah game, I worked from 8-3 and then headed south. It was nice driving by JMU on my way down right after the Dukes lost to Delaware though! I honked my horn as I drove by!

[bigsmooth]

We really need to have a new ticketing policy where we have assigned seats. If you arrive less than an hour before kickoff, you really have to hunt for a seat. Has assigned seating ever been discussed because I think we really need it.

assigned seats??? your kidding right?? are you speaking of general admission seating??

[LUminary]

My wife and I got to come up for yesterday's game from NC. It's the first time I had actually been able to attend a game at LU since 2002. Wow, have times changed. Very impressive. The stadium is great. Night games always lend to excitement, but I thought the atmosphere last night rivaled some of the best I've seen in the FCS. Really impressive student section, my freshman son in a red-and-white wig included. All in all it was a great day. Waited and bought walk-up tickets and got great seats. Whoever ordered the weather should get a raise.

The only real downsides were the concessions snafu (but that will work itself out) and the fireworks during the game. I couldn't believe that. It totally diminishes what is happening out on the field -- a disservice to both teams.

All in all, great day and great venue. Just wish I could get to more games.

[Keenan]

We really need to have a new ticketing policy where we have assigned seats. If you arrive less than an hour before kickoff, you really have to hunt for a seat. Has assigned seating ever been discussed because I think we really need it.

assigned seats??? your kidding right?? are you speaking of general admission seating??

Yeah GA seating. You know... it's like when you go to most any other college football stadium that has big crowds. You have a ticket that gives you a specific seat. It's not that hard.

[thepostman]

They could go with more assigned seating, but I think they want to attract more people to the Flames club and guarantee where you sit is a way to do just that. Smart on Liberty's part really.

[Liberty4Life]

I thought 15K attendance is one of the bars. I couldn't tell you any of the others. Eastern Michigan averages in the 6-7K range.

Sly also mentioned the possibility of a change in requirements for FBS entry.

You can't blame the fans for not wanting to show up to an Eastern Michigan football game -- They've lost 17 straight games and have no hope for getting better. Of course, when you have guys like this on the sideline:

http://www.emueagles.com/coaches.aspx?r ... h=football

...it's no wonder that you can't attract a crowd.

[PAmedic]

Game atmosphere: B+ (started great, good attendance but the kids lost interest mid-3rd quarter. Again. But they're getting there- at least the vast majority of them wore red, and they had the chants down)

Ammenities: B (HUGE improvement over what we had, and kudos for scrambling to get it finished- but not quite there. Food prep will get better as will a/v stuff. Not sure what the deal with the elevators is... not that if affected me in the least)

Event staff: A (very professional and friendly- would NOT get hired in Philly)

the fireworks debacle was embarrassing- good show tho. Just not in the middle of the 4th quarter.

I had a great time.

[flamesfan30]

the fact that that many of us were still there through the third quarter is something that has not (at least not in the past 2 years) happened in a blowout night game. dang right i lost interest in the third and 4th quarters... especially with the pretty fireworks to look at. for there being such a huge disparity in talent on the field I'd say it was a very good atmosphere. there comes a point in most of these games (again after the half)where us students have more fun dancing in the stands and singing along to the songs they play then watching the actual game.


i have yet to experience a close home game win. every single home game has been a blowout or a loss since 2008. i imagine next week will change that, and therefore will be the best 4th quarter game atmosphere at the bill in 2 or 3 years.

[JK37]

Join the Flames Club and get season tickets! Otherwise get there an hour early.

Even if one does not buy season tickets, EVERY LU fan member of this board (I say that because some board members are obviously not LU fans) should be a member of the Flames Club.

These Student-Athletes provide a service to every alum, fan, fellow students, etc. Repaying them by helping to finance their education through one's membership in the Flames Club is the least any respectable fan could do!