22 replies to this topic

[BigMac12]

It may be several years too late for the Arizona Cardinals, but ASU looks to redo Sun Devil Stadium with a retractable roof.

Thesundevils.com Article

Looks odd, but after Baylor really looks dead set with thier proposed stadium with a European roof, an Arizona State stadium with a full roof was inetable.

Your take?

[rams80]

I guess Central Arizona needed something to reprogram the Coyotes money for.

[drdougfresh]

Interesting. Sun Devil Stadium has needed some love for a while now. Glad they're keeping it there and renovating though, it's a perfect location. I wonder how much major reno is in these plans.

[Still MIGHTY]

1) BigMac, it's not a retractable roof. It's a canopy. (And I already posted this stuff over in the 2012 NCAA Football thread.) (And the word you're looking for was "inevitable", and just because Baylor gets a roof doesn't mean that it was inevitable for ASU. Dots have no connection.)

2) doug, They're looking to knock the seating capacity down by 5-15,000 seats by redoing most of the seats (seat backs, more leg room, etc), install better suites, install a giant stadium covering canopy, redo the sound systems, video boards, scoreboards, and upgrade all amenities throughout the stadium... I'd say that's a fair amount of renovations to do haha.

It can either be done in a four to five step process or ASU can leave the stadium for up to two years while they fix the stadium (supposedly play in either Chase Field, while closer to campus I say no thanks, or University of Phoenix Stadium, better idea.)

There's a better article at AZCentral (LINK) than basically the ASU press release that SunDevils.com put up.

[drdougfresh]

Yeah I'd say. I'm more interested in the seating and facility upgrades than the canopy, ultimately. Both are pretty bad right now. Will be cool (no pun intended) to see it finished!

[Bucfan56]

I'm going to ASU next year, and the prospect of home games at U of Phoenix Stadium for awhile during renovations (I'd assume anyway) sounds mighty nice to me considering how hot Arizona gets.

[drdougfresh]

Looking at the rendering on a full screen, looks like the plan would be to cut out most of the seating in the North endzone? Wow. That's a fairly large undertaking haha

EDIT: Nevermind. I see it now.

[pmoehrin]

That's one stadium where I have no clue how you could play an outdoor afternoon game at, so I really don't know why this roof didn't get built the second the Cardinals came to town.

I know they don't want to leave the campus and I don't think they should either.  I think it can become a real disconnect from students whenever a team has to play at an off campus site

[AJM]

Still MIGHTY, on April 5, 2012 - 01:33, said:

1) BigMac, it's not a retractable roof. It's a canopy. (And I already posted this stuff over in the 2012 NCAA Football thread.) (And the word you're looking for was "inevitable", and just because Baylor gets a roof doesn't mean that it was inevitable for ASU. Dots have no connection.)

2) doug, They're looking to knock the seating capacity down by 5-15,000 seats by redoing most of the seats (seat backs, more leg room, etc), install better suites, install a giant stadium covering canopy, redo the sound systems, video boards, scoreboards, and upgrade all amenities throughout the stadium... I'd say that's a fair amount of renovations to do haha.

It can either be done in a four to five step process or ASU can leave the stadium for up to two years while they fix the stadium (supposedly play in either Chase Field, while closer to campus I say no thanks, or University of Phoenix Stadium, better idea.)

There's a better article at AZCentral (LINK) than basically the ASU press release that SunDevils.com put up.

Chase has been discussed as a more viable option due to Light Rail access and the stadium's close proximity to the Downtown campus....would be a lot easier to get students to Chase versus UofP. Not sure anyone is thrilled with idea of playing off site, but its a necessary evil.

[pmoehrin]

AJM, on April 5, 2012 - 11:35, said:

Chase has been discussed as a more viable option due to Light Rail access and the stadium's close proximity to the Downtown campus....would be a lot easier to get students to Chase versus UofP. Not sure anyone is thrilled with idea of playing off site, but its a necessary evil.

Never been to Phoenix but I know with most cities its pretty hard to go from suburb to suburb.

Glendale I always thought of as one of those places that does have public transportation, but you really need a car to get there.

[drdougfresh]

pmoehrin, on April 5, 2012 - 11:42, said:

AJM, on April 5, 2012 - 11:35, said:

Chase has been discussed as a more viable option due to Light Rail access and the stadium's close proximity to the Downtown campus....would be a lot easier to get students to Chase versus UofP. Not sure anyone is thrilled with idea of playing off site, but its a necessary evil.

Never been to Phoenix but I know with most cities its pretty hard to go from suburb to suburb.

Glendale I always thought of as one of those places that does have public transportation, but you really need a car to get there.

It'd be MUCH easier to host the team at Chase (~12 miles away) than UofP (~30 miles away) both because of proximity and transportation. The light rail alone makes it that much more viable.

[azfallguy21]

Only wouldn't like the Chase idea in the early of NCAA season since the Dbacks will still be in season (and with how Dbacks team is projected possibly into October). Getting to UofP would be a pain for the students though. Would make sense for the Cardinals to share a little with ASU considering they shared SDS for as long as they did.

[ninersdd]

Maybe they can have the bigger games in Glendale for a bigger crowd(for example U$C, Oregon, Arizona, etc...).

[Still MIGHTY]

I guess it makes more sense to have Chase for the accessibility thing (the Light Rail would be an absolute drunken mess on gameday ), but I guess I'm just not keen on playing football in a baseball stadium. Although seeing some pictures and reading more about it, I guess I'm coming around to it. It did host the Insight Bowl for 5 years, which I didn't know, and doesn't look as bad as some other baseball/football set ups:



And along ninersdd's line of thought, maybe not necessarily for big games, but maybe ASU could play their early season games in Glendale while the DBacks are still playing. I can ask any of our Bay Area guys (Buc/niners), how was AT&T Park this last year with Cal and the Giants? Was there any late-season Giants or early-season Cal problems?

Either way, ASU could be playing in air conditioning for a year or two, and THAT'S welcoming.

[drdougfresh]

I went to the Insight Bowl in 2004 (OSU v. ND- Brady Quinn v. Derek Anderson hahahaha), and I was surprised at how well it worked. The field fit nicely, and it felt as close to a football atmosphere as possible. The only non-permanent structure they had to use were the bleachers in the middle-outfield (on the right in your pic), which were pretty minimal. I'll be curious to see how this all works out.

[ninersdd]

I don't believe there were any issues between the teams. It would've been interesting had the Giants made the playoffs, then there could've been, but we wouldn't know. Also Giants president Larry Baer was a Golden Bear, so I think he had a key role in getting Cal to play there without any problems arising.

[AJM]

The biggest issue with UofP is getting students to games...our student body set a lot of attendance records this past season. It's already going to be a hard sell considering how the team finished out the second half of the season, so playing that far away from Tempe (regardless of how nice UofP is) would be tough.  

A deep run by the Dbacks would present a "nice" problem in terms of playing fall games at Chase.


P.S. The Light Rail is already a drunken mess on game days...so no change there.

[Still MIGHTY]

AJM, on April 5, 2012 - 19:15, said:

The biggest issue with UofP is getting students to games...our student body set a lot of attendance records this past season. It's already going to be a hard sell considering how the team finished out the second half of the season, so playing that far away from Tempe (regardless of how nice UofP is) would be tough.  

A deep run by the Dbacks would present a "nice" problem in terms of playing fall games at Chase.


P.S. The Light Rail is already a drunken mess on game days...so no change there.

Hahaha yeah, well I guess I meant more so, because rather than tailgating, EVERYONE is going to get wasted and ride from campus to downtown rather than just some people taking the short ride from their apartments or whatever to Sun Devil Stadium.

I'd hope ASU would instate some sort of provision where if you buy season tickets for football that the light rail pass would be included, otherwise that would be an issue too.

[AJM]

Still MIGHTY, on April 5, 2012 - 20:20, said:

AJM, on April 5, 2012 - 19:15, said:

The biggest issue with UofP is getting students to games...our student body set a lot of attendance records this past season. It's already going to be a hard sell considering how the team finished out the second half of the season, so playing that far away from Tempe (regardless of how nice UofP is) would be tough.  

A deep run by the Dbacks would present a "nice" problem in terms of playing fall games at Chase.


P.S. The Light Rail is already a drunken mess on game days...so no change there.

Hahaha yeah, well I guess I meant more so, because rather than tailgating, EVERYONE is going to get wasted and ride from campus to downtown rather than just some people taking the short ride from their apartments or whatever to Sun Devil Stadium.

I'd hope ASU would instate some sort of provision where if you buy season tickets for football that the light rail pass would be included, otherwise that would be an issue too.

The Poly and West campuses already shuttle students in so they would just change the destination to downtown. Downtown campus students can walk to Chase.  As for Tempe...it would probably look something like light rail passes and campus shuttles being provided.  I'm sure I'll hear more as studies continue.

[NYCdog]

Slightly off topic - speaking of stadium canopies, does anyone know if this one will happen?!? It's a beautiful upgrade...