Fix Your Danged Stadium Already! (No. 2: Kent State University)

Halloween is a day nearer, so here is the second in my series on problem stadiums that haunt programs at the FBS level.

These recommendations were originally conceived in a thread I wrote a few years back at Collegesportsinfo.com.

For every FBS program, football should be the university's No. 1 or 1A revenue generating sport. 

Potentially, football revenue and football-inspired alumni donations could pay for all of the other sports.  If you blow football, you will lose massive amounts of money on sports.

At the bottom end of the FBS, stadium troubles often cause a lot of issues.

With Eastern Michigan discussed, I turn my attention south to another MAC school and it's stadium problems.

No. 2 Kent State University

For years, Kent State has barely outpaced Eastern Michigan for the title of the worst-attended program at the FBS Level.

Kent faces a variety of factors that will prevent them from ever aspiring to become a school with BCS-level attendance.  20-22,000 is probably about as grandiose of an attendance goal that is reasonably attainable.  That is about double what they drew last season.

Kent is only 10 miles from the University of Akron, which probably hurts both schools a bit. Additionally, Kent is only 35 miles from FCS power Youngstown State.

Kent doesn't only face college competition.  They are a mere 45 minute drive away from the Cleveland Browns. They are in the Brown's NFL Killzone, if arguably on the edge of it.

In spite of this, Dix Stadium has as much or more to do with their attendance problems.

Didn't they just try to fix Dix Stadium? Again?

They certainly tried.

I can't fault the leadership there for their effort.  The last two renovations have been inspired and conceptually dead-on.  They just fell a little short.

A little History on Dix Stadium

Dix Stadium was built in 1969 as a replacement for Kent's old home, Memorial Stadium.

Dix Stadium has a very large western grandstand that probably seats just under 15,000.  They used to have three other grandstands that sat about 5,000 each: one on the east sideline and one in each end zone.

The 2003 renovation tore down the east grandstand and replaced it with a narrow student grandstand that stretches between the 15 yard lines.  On either side of that grandstand are "party tents."

(Photo by Jon Ridinger used per wikipedia usage guidelines)

It was really a pretty neat idea, except that grandstand simply does not seat enough. It seats about 4000, and one-sixth of that is the band.

Last year's renovation tore down the south bleachers to reduce the number of empty seats in the stadium by 5000 while replacing the scoreboard.  Again, great moves, but moves that did not go far enough.

How does this stadium hurt them?

Despite all of the improvements, Kent State still faces the same problems that existed when this picture was taken.

(Picture hosted at the Kent State band page.  The large western bleacher is at the top.)

The remaining north end zone seats too many people and the student section on the east seats too few.  There are simply not enough good seats for the students.

Things aren't much better for the alumni. It is awkward to sit in such a large western grandstand opposite such a small eastern one.

The end zone seating is far too large, easy outpacing demand for end zone seating and adds to the discomfort of fans in the western grandstands.

My Suggestions

As with my EMU suggestions, I will try to be as cost effective as I can with my suggestions.

Again, I have an ideal recommendation and a more cost effective recommendation.

Option One: Demolish the remaining end zone section and expand student seating

This is really the best plan.  While it would certainly be upsetting to demolish the last remnants of historic Memorial Stadium, perhaps the benches could be removed and worked into an expansion of the student section.

Demolishing the northern end zone bleachers would remove 5,000 seats.

The student bleachers could be expanded upwards, doubling capacity along that sideline to say 8000, creating a stadium with a capacity of 24,000.

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