Old scoreboard

[kmax]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

[AFCAT]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

Nope, there are BN speaker experts that tell us that the audio system set up isn't large enough and probably won't produce any significant improvement. I think we should be more concerned with the height of our goalposts. That's just an embarrassment.






*the above comment was made in jest and is not to be taken seriously.

[TomCat88]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

Nope, there are BN speaker experts that tell us that the audio system set up isn't large enough and probably won't produce any significant improvement. I think we should be more concerned with the height of our goalposts. That's just an embarrassment.






*the above comment was made in jest and is not to be taken seriously.

That’s hilarious. Especially your disclaimer.

I’m at the corner of Love Lane and Valley Center and can hear Mony, Mony playing.

[AFCAT]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

Nope, there are BN speaker experts that tell us that the audio system set up isn't large enough and probably won't produce any significant improvement. I think we should be more concerned with the height of our goalposts. That's just an embarrassment.






*the above comment was made in jest and is not to be taken seriously.

That’s hilarious. Especially your disclaimer.

I’m at the corner of Love Lane and Valley Center and can hear Mony, Mony playing.

[CatBot]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

Nope, there are BN speaker experts that tell us that the audio system set up isn't large enough and probably won't produce any significant improvement. I think we should be more concerned with the height of our goalposts. That's just an embarrassment.






*the above comment was made in jest and is not to be taken seriously.

I'm confident the sound upgrade will be stellar, but you're right in saying getting rid of the high school goal posts would certainly help. The sound is also going to be incredible at the inevitable night game that gets scheduled. Which is awesome by the way. Me and a massive number of Cat fans are really glad they manage to move around one game a year to a late kickoff.

[RickRund]

Sounds like they are testing speakers today. Sounds pretty good from the bottom of the hill behind the track. Can hear the music inside my office!

Yep was told the bass was shaking some of the offices to the west/southwest of stadium. Noiseshed complaints incoming.

Nope, there are BN speaker experts that tell us that the audio system set up isn't large enough and probably won't produce any significant improvement. I think we should be more concerned with the height of our goalposts. That's just an embarrassment.






*the above comment was made in jest and is not to be taken seriously.

That’s hilarious. Especially your disclaimer.

I’m at the corner of Love Lane and Valley Center and can hear Mony, Mony playing.

That has to be 5 miles or more? WOW. CATS will be loving that sound system

[TomCat88]

Got a different angle today.

[AFCAT]

Got a different angle today.

Is that a person up in the left hand side of the speaker box or just equipment?

That would be an interesting view of a game, except for the screen in front of you.

[RICO CAT]

Got a different angle today.

Looks fantastic! Thanks for the photo. Makes the play clock on the lower left appear tiny.

[smith427]

Got a different angle today.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that we’re investing in our stadium, but does anyone else feel like this doesn’t seem well planned out?

Having the BAC there and then the giant scoreboard just sitting in front barely high enough to see the field from the windows, the whole thing seems disjointed and doesn’t look like it was planned to form a cohesive final stadium.

Obviously there are incremental improvements on a stadium that’s been around for decades, so it’s all done piece by piece. But I feel like with more planning it could at least look something like Wazzu’s stadium which looks better IMO

[TomCat88]

Got a different angle today.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that we’re investing in our stadium, but does anyone else feel like this doesn’t seem well planned out?

Having the BAC there and then the giant scoreboard just sitting in front barely high enough to see the field from the windows, the whole thing seems disjointed and doesn’t look like it was planned to form a cohesive final stadium.

Obviously there are incremental improvements on a stadium that’s been around for decades, so it’s all done piece by piece. But I feel like with more planning it could at least look something like Wazzu’s stadium which looks better IMO

That’s a good observation based on the photo. I don’t have any info to give you a clean response but will just say that based on being at the location there are a number of ways MSU could be going with this.

1) it may not look like it from the photos but there’s a lot of room down there to construct seating and other features for fans and someone posted a photo of UW Huskies end zone that has a good design that would work at Bobcat Stadium. It’s in this thread somewhere.

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

3) the scoreboard, any outdoor scoreboard, is effectively a malleable piece of equipment. The scoreboards over the years at Bobcat Stadium are a good example of that. There have been five different scoreboards there over the past forty years. So by the time MSU does additional work in that EZ it might be time for a new one. It also might be possible to move it or heighten it.

[MSU01]

Don’t get me wrong, I love that we’re investing in our stadium, but does anyone else feel like this doesn’t seem well planned out?

Having the BAC there and then the giant scoreboard just sitting in front barely high enough to see the field from the windows, the whole thing seems disjointed and doesn’t look like it was planned to form a cohesive final stadium.

Obviously there are incremental improvements on a stadium that’s been around for decades, so it’s all done piece by piece. But I feel like with more planning it could at least look something like Wazzu’s stadium which looks better IMO[img]

There has been plenty of planning, you can still see the eventual vision for what MSU wants the stadium to look like in the Facilities Plan on their website. The reality of it is that as long as the '70s era east bleachers are still up, the stadium will have a disjointed look to it. IMO, if you replace the east side bleachers with a concrete structure at a similar height as the end zone expansion, then you'd very much have a cohesive look to the stadium.

The planning is there, it just hasn't all been completed yet and they're prioritizing off-the-field improvements like the BAC and IPF over the stadium itself. Given the unprecedented success that MSU is currently having throughout its entire athletics programs, it's hard to argue with how they've gone about it.

[TomCat88]

Don’t get me wrong, I love that we’re investing in our stadium, but does anyone else feel like this doesn’t seem well planned out?

Having the BAC there and then the giant scoreboard just sitting in front barely high enough to see the field from the windows, the whole thing seems disjointed and doesn’t look like it was planned to form a cohesive final stadium.

Obviously there are incremental improvements on a stadium that’s been around for decades, so it’s all done piece by piece. But I feel like with more planning it could at least look something like Wazzu’s stadium which looks better IMO[img]

There has been plenty of planning, you can still see the eventual vision for what MSU wants the stadium to look like in the Facilities Plan on their website. The reality of it is that as long as the '70s era east bleachers are still up, the stadium will have a disjointed look to it. IMO, if you replace the east side bleachers with a concrete structure at a similar height as the end zone expansion, then you'd very much have a cohesive look to the stadium.

The planning is there, it just hasn't all been completed yet and they're prioritizing off-the-field improvements like the BAC and IPF over the stadium itself. Given the unprecedented success that MSU is currently having throughout its entire athletics programs, it's hard to argue with how they've gone about it.

Thanks. Wish I would’ve wrote about the stadium as a whole instead of just the EZ. The glaring thing about the stadium is absolutely the east grandstand. Once it’s replaced or renovated, hopefully replaced, the stadium will almost look like it was built all at one time.

[MSU01]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

[TomCat88]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

[MSU01]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

Very true. I'm sure it won't look exactly like it did in the original Facilities Plan but the space is there to add seating in the North end zone in addition to rebuilding the East side. Pretty exciting to look at how far they've come since 2011 and the End Zone project, but still a long way to go!

[TomCat88]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

Very true. I'm sure it won't look exactly like it did in the original Facilities Plan but the space is there to add seating in the North end zone in addition to rebuilding the East side. Pretty exciting to look at how far they've come since 2011 and the End Zone project, but still a long way to go!

There was a big gap between the west side renovation and the SEZ project. About 12(?) years. Since SEZ (about 13 years?) there has been two new scoreboards, two(?) new turfs, BAC and IPF.

[MSU01]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

Very true. I'm sure it won't look exactly like it did in the original Facilities Plan but the space is there to add seating in the North end zone in addition to rebuilding the East side. Pretty exciting to look at how far they've come since 2011 and the End Zone project, but still a long way to go!

There was a big gap between the west side renovation and the SEZ project. About 12(?) years. Since SEZ (about 13 years?) there has been two new scoreboards, two(?) new turfs, BAC and IPF.

I believe the exact timeline of stadium improvements would be:

1998 - West Side Stands/Press Box
2008 - First artificial turf field installed
2011 - End Zone Expansion and New Scoreboard
2012 - Lighting for Night Games
2017 - New field #2 installed
2021 - BAC Opens
2024 - IPF construction begins and New Scoreboard #2

[AFCAT]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

The view from the offices is still pretty good. I’ve been in those offices a bunch of times, but not with the new board installed.
The seating in the endzone will be tricky. If the Cats go with an elevated seating area, with luxury boxes underneath like the Husky’s have, then I don’t see much available seating there. The angle to the windows will be real shallow with elevated seating and the scoreboard pilings will cause really poor viewing angles, if seats are put behind them. I can’t visualize more than a couple of rows in that area right up to the pilings with a nice flat plaza area to the windows for standing behind the rows. The corners of the endzone and will provide the best opportunity for more seating. The new East grandstands won’t provide much new seating itself, just better seating angles than we have now with more luxury boxes possible above. I wouldn’t put much stock in that seven year old facilities plan other than a general idea of what they wanted to do back when it was made.

[TomCat88]

2) I don’t know that MSU was ever planning for those windows to be permanent viewing for games. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of those windows.

Behind most of those windows are the coaches' offices, so definitely not intended as a viewing area during games. The coaches' viewshed of the mountains may have been diminished with the new scoreboard, but somehow I doubt they'll mind too much. Vigen still has a great view since he's in the corner office that isn't blocked.

That’s what I was guessing. Yes, in that case, there’s nothing lost since the coaches aren’t kicking their feet up on their desks and smoking cigars whilst taking in the view.

Getting back to the space in that EZ, by my eye there’s a good deal of room there and depending on what they do there’s room for close to ten rows of seating and in the neighborhood of 2,000 seats.

Very true. I'm sure it won't look exactly like it did in the original Facilities Plan but the space is there to add seating in the North end zone in addition to rebuilding the East side. Pretty exciting to look at how far they've come since 2011 and the End Zone project, but still a long way to go!

There was a big gap between the west side renovation and the SEZ project. About 12(?) years. Since SEZ (about 13 years?) there has been two new scoreboards, two(?) new turfs, BAC and IPF.

I believe the exact timeline of stadium improvements would be:

1998 - West Side Stands/Press Box
2008 - First artificial turf field installed
2011 - End Zone Expansion
2012 - Lighting for Night Games
2017 - New field installed
2021 - BAC Opens
2024 - IPF construction begins

Excellent. Probably about $20 million in 2024 dollars from 1974 to 2010. 36 years. About $60 million(?) since 2011. 14 years.