Auburn Tigers Football: 6 Upgrades Needed at Jordan-Hare Stadium

Has the time come to once again expand Jordan-Hare Stadium? Just days ago it was announced that the LSU Tigers would be expanding the already-deafening Tiger Stadium.

Stadium renovation has been in discussion for quite some time at Auburn with no better time than now to continue looking in that direction. The Tigers now have a state of the art basketball facility that matches any in the country, and it seems like a natural shift in focus to come back to football.

The question to start the discussion is whether expansion or renovation is the best solution. Should the Tigers go bigger or simply get better?

The Tigers already have one of the best experiences in all of college football for game day as I touched on here nearly a year ago, but what can be done to increase the value of the game day experience at the stadium? A few more seats but a lot more polish looks to be the answer.

Here are six ways Auburn can make Jordan-Hare Stadium the best in the country.

Finalize Brick Exterior

One of the biggest eye sores of Jordan-Hare Stadium is the enormous erector set-looking steel that constructs the north and south sides of the stadium. For years the north side has been ignored as it serves as an equipment load and drop off area and visiting team entrance.

The south side of the stadium also has the same type of metal work look to it, but banners and surrounding rod-iron fencing takes away from the gaudy metal skeleton. The south side also serves as the Auburn Tigers entrance on game day from Tiger Walk.

With most teams now, fans like to have a type of walk, similar to Tiger Walk, acknowledging their team’s arrival. Making that north side of the stadium more aesthetically pleasing would provide a better look to the venue as perceived by visiting fans.

Adding matching brickwork to both sides of the stadium would also bring continuity to the clean design that has now swept campus with new construction, and bring the brick wrap together that is found on the majority of the stadium's exterior.

Updated Concourse

A few years ago Jordan-Hare Stadium received a bit of a face lift with new paint and signage on the interior of the concourse. There were some renovations that were also added to the bathrooms but for the most part things seem left unfinished.

Walking the concourse inside Jordan-Hare, there are some positives, but there could be some minor tweaks that would make a major difference.

One minor tweak that would increase the experience of the game attendee would be flat-screen televisions where the current tube televisions hang along the concourse. This seems stupid, but it would make a major difference in the experience of the concessions line.

A second addition could be murals of some type along the inside walls of the stadium. As it stands, there is a nice combo of orange, blue and white paint, but murals that could expand on the exterior murals already in place would be a positive addition.

Finally, increase drinks stations with purchasable water. One of the bigger issues is a limited Dasani supply on the hotter September and October day games. 

New Concessions

One of the biggest complaints from Auburn fans has to be the concessions quality on game days. For all that Sodexo has done for the quality of food in the stadium, it is definitely time for a change.

As stadium experiences become more than just athletic events, the Tigers need to keep up with the times and keep fans happy in concession lines. Keep Sodexo if need be for your basic items, but bring in a local eatery or two to provide a change to the game day menu.

Maybe a Momma Goldberg’s in stadium, or Willie’s Wings. One can hope, right?

One thing that can stay is the souvenir cups. That always seems to be a good pickup.

Expand Video Boards

When Auburn launched the first ever HD video board in the SEC in 2007, the Tigers were leading the pack. Now the Tigers are in the middle of the road as far as size and coverage of video screens inside the stadium.

Auburn has one main video screen that is located in the South end zone, but adding additional screens in the North corners would fill out the stadium nicely. New video boards would also give the stadium a complete feel so that every seat in the house could view entrance videos and replays of bad calls.

The north end zone scoreboard is a bit of an antique as it is. Replacing it with new video and scoreboard combos is a natural move. As much as I like history, replacing individual light bulbs on the scoreboard should be a thing of the past. 

Update Sound System

Auburn announced in 2007 the instillation of a state of the art 74 feet wide by 30 feet high HD video board. Auburn has great video and has used the video board throughout the past few seasons to juice up the crowd with awesome highlights, but the sound system is downright terrible.

The minute that the stadium switches on the music, the crowd begins to cringe. This would and should be the first move in any renovation step. It almost seems like the sound guy busts the speakers by midseason every year. Who knows, but fix it. 

Enclose Seating in North End Zone

The final piece of a stadium renovation would undoubtedly be a stadium expansion. Auburn people tend to have mixed feelings when discussing whether an expansion of seating is a necessity, but a minor addition is likely in order. 

For Auburn, the most logical addition would be an enclosure for the north end zone. Adding additional upper deck rows and box seating would be a good mix for that end of the field. Auburn could extend additional luxury boxes as well as general seating comfortably pushing the capacity above the 95,000 mark.

Seating expansion is not a real need for the Tigers at this point, but it will be before long with a proactive approach being the best stance. Additional seats in the north end zone could also allow Auburn to expand its student seating, one area where demand outweighs supply.

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