I was thinking that the biggest thing that needed to happen to ensure the long-term survival of this program at an elite level was the expansion or demolition of Autzen Stadium to increase revenue to the school. What this looks like is the huge donation would be tucked away in some investment account and the athletic department would literally live off of the interest of those funds. I could be wrong but that is what it looks like to me at the surface level. It's a great plan if it works out that way.
Demolish the Stadium kill the great noise/atmosphere is my main worry. Perhaps expand without taking the feel of Autzen away! I personally don't know how to do that and in reality we may only need 30,000 seats more to be considered competitive in today's standard. I really don't think we need a 100K seating stadium but high 70's to low 80's seems about right.
not sure what you are talking about..."competitive in todays standard"...competitive in what? revenue? didnt uncle phil take care of that?
I have this debate every year with my cousins 1 who went to Oklahoma and the other who's a Nole and they keep harping that a 65000 seat stadium is just to small by todays standard of big time football. I say come to Autzen and you'll hear the difference but just like the Heisman it falls on southern bias ears. I liken Autzen to Cameron Indoor for the noise and feel of big time college sports. It's hard for me to think Autzen could get much better yet I'm sure some structural engineering group could prove me wrong without losing the Autzen feel.
Terrible idea. First, I would argue that Autzen is a significant home field advantage. No way you can replicate that in a generic mega-stadium. Second, the Ducks need to be realistic. You can fill a warm-weather stadium with a so-so team. Selling tickets to an outdoor game in the NW is much more of a challenge. Simply put, you are investing a metric ton of cash in the hopes the Ducks remain a top-ten team for the indefinite future. Any slippage on the field and you have a white elephant on your hands.
Theres an easy way around that. Build bigger, but don't make it a generic mega-stadium maybe Nike has some contacts in the sports industry? STOMP
I am in total agreeance with you about the noise/atmosphere aspect. Unfortunately everything does need to be paid for with cash. This is why I think that the huge donation by Phil Knight actually helps your argument of not tearing down autzen for at least another 10-15 years. On a side note - I have been disappointed in the fan base for not making noise in the last 2 years or so. However, I should state that I'm with you on not tearing down THEE Autzen Stadium at this point.
I think he (Phil Knight) did but I think that he only bought us time. Time before everyone else did. I do believe at some point that we are going to have to either expand or demolish Autzen Stadium but that day is not today. The last I heard on this issue is that the local (Or Federal) building code does not allow you to build a stadium like Autzen in todays day and age.
I would love that. Some years ago I was reading an online article that stated that we couldn't add to what we already have because of the angle of the seats in the bowl. Basically, the bowl would have to be done with less of an angle. While I can't find that article under a simple search, I just have to believe that this is a big hurdle for the program to over come amongst other things such as additional parking and such. I really wish that I could find that article. Maybe someone else can?