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Stadium Expansion

A post in one of the threads below got me to thinking about expanding Folsom. I have a load of questions, but the two biggest ones deal with the when and where.

When do you guys see expansion happening?
1. Two years- Its the chicken/egg theory. If you build it they will come.
2. Five years- Two or so years of sellouts after Hawk really gets rolling will spur this on.
3. 10 years- The two years of sellouts mentioned in #2 finance the facilities for hoops first, then Bohn starts pursuing expansion.
4. Never- All money spent on the facilities at Folsom will be in the form of upgrades rather than seat expansion.

The other question is where would you put more seats if expansion occurred?
1. The west side- Redo the pressbox and Balch by adding a second deck.
2. The north side corners- Round the corners to meet Dal Ward.
3. The south endzone- Put a second (third?) deck over the endzone.


I have no clue what the time table would be like for expansion, but I think it was Stampy who mentioned the west side expansion in another thread. That would be sweet and those would be primo seats, but I can also see that costing bookoo bucks. My guess would be that expanding above the south endzone would be the cheapest because there wouldn't be any demolition involved although you might have to close Folsom to do it. The real downside to that is the seats wouldn't be that desirable and it'd give Folsom an Aggie feel to it with so many seats in the endzone.


Having said all that, Hawk would have to kick some serious tail for a few years for any of my musings to have any validity...but a buff fan can dream, no?
 
Now,if CU wanted to go football factory,can you imagine how many more seats they could add just around the south stand and west side? Heck add more to the northeast corner too.You could have a 75,000 seat stadium easy but you wouldn't have the great view anymore.I hope they tear down that eye sore on the west side and add seats there and at the northeast corner.

I'd like to see another section added around the south stands too but,you know....
 
I don't understand the need for a great view from the lower bowl. I sit on the East side, lower bowl and I can see the flatirons. So what? I don't go to a football game to look at the mountains.

I envision the press box being shrunk down to three levels, but stretched out from end zone to end zone, with another deck put on top. That alone would add about 15-20,000 seats. Then enclose the North end all the way around, adding another 10,000 seats or so. That's 30,000 seats and an 80,000 seat stadium. Which, by the way, would be the largest stadium in the state.

As to the timing - who knows? This is all a pipe dream at this point. I suspect there are a lot more things on Mike Bohn's agenda right now. I think he'd like to bring back baseball, which would require it's own facility. I think he'd like to bring back some other sports as well. His first priority is to pay back the loan he got from the university. With the $2MM surplus they had this year, that should be a little easier. Best guess at stadium expansion would be in another 15-20 years. Maybe earlier if Hawk & Bzz start packing people into their respective arenas.
 
I think filling in the corners of the north side would be a good start. If you remove Ward and filled that space with seats, completing a lower bowl, I'd guess the capacity would be in the 65,000 range, and the cozy feel and views would remain. I don't think another deck on the south end would be a good idea. You don't want too many end zone seats like corn has. Redoing the west side would add tons of great seats, but would it take away from the historic feel of Folsom? I thought they did a great job with the luxury boxes on the east side, making them fit in with the rest of the stadium, with the old school facade. Whatever happens, I hope they don't dump a bunch of concrete down and create an eyesore like corn did with their expansion. That stadium is ridiculous.
 
I very seriously doubt they'd do anything that isn't architecturally consistent with the rest of the campus. Along the south end, I could see them extending it out to the same line that they have on the East side, which wouldn't change anything architecturally, and wouldn't necessitate another level of seating.

I don't think they'd have to necessarily tear down Balch, either. With the three levels of press box/flatirons club, they could simply put the new west level on top of the existing Balch structure. Obviously it would have to be reinforced, but I'll leave that up to the engineers. The roof on Balch isn't really that high, and the back of the press box currently extends way above the roof line.
 
CU has always faced fickle support. I think its the transient nature of the CU student and the fact that 1/2 the student body are from out of state. After graduating most go home sooner or later. When they completed the club level at Folsom they overpriced it and had a hard time selling it.
 
4. Never- All money spent on the facilities at Folsom will be in the form of upgrades rather than seat expansion.

We need to start selling out every game now. Even the crappy teams. Which is not going to happen. Only way I see it happening is if for some strange reason the Broncos moved out of CO.
 
4. Never- All money spent on the facilities at Folsom will be in the form of upgrades rather than seat expansion.

We need to start selling out every game now. Even the crappy teams. Which is not going to happen. Only way I see it happening is if for some strange reason the Broncos moved out of CO.

That's the kind of attitude that simply annoys the bejeebus out of me. Why the hell not? There are 5 Million people in Colorado, and about 2.5MM in the Denver area alone. The Buffs play on Saturday, the Broncos on Sunday. The college game is more entertaining, less expensive, and the venue is nicer.

It all starts with the students. Get them to buy in to the program, and give them access to seats upon graduation, before long, the stadium will be filled regardless of if we're playing Oklahoma or NW Louisiana State.
 
That's the kind of attitude that simply annoys the bejeebus out of me. Why the hell not? There are 5 Million people in Colorado, and about 2.5MM in the Denver area alone. The Buffs play on Saturday, the Broncos on Sunday. The college game is more entertaining, less expensive, and the venue is nicer.

It all starts with the students. Get them to buy in to the program, and give them access to seats upon graduation, before long, the stadium will be filled regardless of if we're playing Oklahoma or NW Louisiana State.

NW Louisiana State fields some good teams so be careful about who you make mad.:wink2:
 
4. Never- All money spent on the facilities at Folsom will be in the form of upgrades rather than seat expansion.

We need to start selling out every game now. Even the crappy teams. Which is not going to happen. Only way I see it happening is if for some strange reason the Broncos moved out of CO.

Them becoming really bad for about a decade while we have, I hope, a strong renaissance might work.
 
Them becoming really bad for about a decade while we have, I hope, a strong renaissance might work.

I think a turn in attendance is more of an eventuality than a possibility, it's only a matter of time before a lot of jaded Broncos fans realize that the atmosphere Folsom is a whole hell of a lot more like old Mile High than Invesco will ever be.
 
I'd like to see a new, modern field house befroe they consider a stadium expansion. Balch sucks. A field house with an ice rink, pool, 200 meter track, raquetball, weight and excercise room, etc. Thats what I would like to see.
 
I think a turn in attendance is more of an eventuality than a possibility, it's only a matter of time before a lot of jaded Broncos fans realize that the atmosphere Folsom is a whole hell of a lot more like old Mile High than Invesco will ever be.

Man, I miss the old mile high. I refuse to go to the new house. You're right, I do get that old mile high feeling at Folsom. Good point.
 
I'd like to see a new, modern field house befroe they consider a stadium expansion. Balch sucks. A field house with an ice rink, pool, 200 meter track, raquetball, weight and excercise room, etc. Thats what I would like to see.

The existing field house is a big part of the problem.
 
That's the kind of attitude that simply annoys the bejeebus out of me. Why the hell not? There are 5 Million people in Colorado, and about 2.5MM in the Denver area alone. The Buffs play on Saturday, the Broncos on Sunday. The college game is more entertaining, less expensive, and the venue is nicer.

I totally agree with you, but the Denver metro area has always been pro-sports oriented and has never supported the college area teams very well in any sport.

It never ceases to amaze me that much smaller cities like State College, Knoxville, Columbus, Athens, Columbia (SC), Gainesville, etc. can draw 80K+ (most of these much more than that) crowds yet a metro area of 2.5 Mil can't consistently sell out a 50K seat stadium.
 
It's too bad that people think attendance gains for the Buffs have to come at the expense of the Broncos.
 
I totally agree with you, but the Denver metro area has always been pro-sports oriented and has never supported the college area teams very well in any sport.

It never ceases to amaze me that much smaller cities like State College, Knoxville, Columbus, Athens, Columbia (SC), Gainesville, etc. can draw 80K+ (most of these much more than that) crowds yet a metro area of 2.5 Mil can't consistently sell out a 50K seat stadium.

People might be spoiled as there is too much to do.
 
4. Never- All money spent on the facilities at Folsom will be in the form of upgrades rather than seat expansion.

We need to start selling out every game now. Even the crappy teams. Which is not going to happen. Only way I see it happening is if for some strange reason the Broncos moved out of CO.

This is Floyd Casey Stadium's South Stands. Notice what happens when the stadium capacity exceeds fans demand. That Baylor Country tarp is covering unsold seats. The "Build it and they will come" bigger stadium mentality might not pan out.

Until Folsom sells out on a regular basis, money spent on the CU football program might be better spent on re-structuring assistant coach salaries, and making the film-rooms on par with what is going on at Okie State.
 
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We need an expansion of die hard fans more than extra seats. That only comes with consistant winning over time.
 
It's too bad that people think attendance gains for the Buffs have to come at the expense of the Broncos.

Say what you will about the new generation of Denver sports fans, but on the whole they're loyal as hell. The story's obviously different in Boulder, but in the minds of Denver residents who aren't CU alums, the Broncos "were here first".

EDIT: Thanks to whomever complimented me for this post while simultaneously leaving me negative rep. :wow::lol:
 
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Good subject for a thread. I wonder what Darrell Scott would do? WWDSD? :smile2:

I think that CU has to sell out the stadium for every game for at least two years to think about expansion (and after locking Hawk in for another five years). If expansion was given the go-ahead, I would wish for the north end enclosed first, followed by redoing the press box area to add seats overhead.

But a much nicer fieldhouse, like DBT talked about would be first, along with plans for a larger permanent indoor practice facility. However, while that helps recruits, the sold out seats give the money to build the facilities for the recruits.

Baseball would be great, and I will always dream of a CU hockey team. I do know that my wife and I would go to alot of CU baseball games if they ever get that program going again.

Right now, let's pay our coaches more money and make sure we hang on to the great ones we have, and only lose them to great chances at promotions (like if we lose Sykes to UCLA as a LB coach--he needs the title and experience, and we will not part with Cabral, so that would be an acceptable loss).
 
I agree that we need to be selling out the stadium consistently with a 5,000-10,000 person waiting list for season tickets before any realistic discussion of stadium expansion should take place.

I also don't think that should be that terribly difficult to do, given the current set of players in place.
 
I totally agree with you, but the Denver metro area has always been pro-sports oriented and has never supported the college area teams very well in any sport.

It never ceases to amaze me that much smaller cities like State College, Knoxville, Columbus, Athens, Columbia (SC), Gainesville, etc. can draw 80K+ (most of these much more than that) crowds yet a metro area of 2.5 Mil can't consistently sell out a 50K seat stadium.

All those schools are in relatively isolated areas where the college game is the only gig to go to.

Another difference occurs to me. Boulder has always had an extremely liberal slant that's chaffed against the population of a mostly conservative state. None of the schools above can be accused of being as liberal as CU and that may play a part in why we have had less support from the casual fan.
 
All those schools are in relatively isolated areas where the college game is the only gig to go to.
You know, that is the old CU refrain, 'there's so much to do' Colorado needs fanatic fans who would rather be in Folsom than anywhere else when the Buffs are playing and will travel to the far ends of the earth to see them play. That's what big time programs have.
 
You know, that is the old CU refrain, 'there's so much to do' Colorado needs fanatic fans who would rather be in Folsom than anywhere else when the Buffs are playing and will travel to the far ends of the earth to see them play. That's what big time programs have.

I know I would rather be in Folsom than at my own wedding if it were gameday. (not saying I won't love my wife; she just better be a Buff fan)
 
NW Louisiana State fields some good teams so be careful about who you make mad.:wink2:
The name is Northwestern State University, it sits on a high bluff above the Red River in Natchitoches, a beautiful small college town. I agree about Blach, it's an eyesore, and the west side has plenty enough space to add another 20,000, and you don't lose anything by getting rid of Blach. I think the most attractive addition would be to have the same arrangement of expansion as the east side.
CU's biggest fan problem is the large number of out of state students that pay expensive fees which is great for the university, but when they graduate most leave Colorado and never come back to the campus.
 
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maybe i'm in the minority, but I really like the appearance of Balch from inside the stadium (the inside of the fieldhouse is obviously a different story). I think it adds a lot of charm to the stadium and would prefer to close in the north end over adding seats where the field house is.
 
I think the current students do support the team. Student season tickets to football have sold out for several years running.

The problem, as mentioned above, is that those students do not stay in Boulder. Boulder is expensive and lacking in entry-level professional positions. So, at best, CU alumni end up in Denver. For the majority of those it is not worth the potentially hairy logistical problems of traversing 36 up and back on a Saturday to watch CU play a mediocre Big 12 opponent. They end up attending a few choice games (like CSU, NU/OU/UT, and maybe FSU this year) and avoid the rest. I know this because this is what many of my friends do, even though we went to every single game in undergrad. (I hate my friends).

At worst, alumni end up out-of-state, like myself. I do still purchase season tickets, however I can only attend two games a year, usually CSU and one other weekend. For out-of-state alumni it does not make sense to spend several hundred on tickets to go to two games, especially when they also have to pay several hundred more to get to those games. Some are just f'ing nuts and but the tix anyway.

That said, any money spent on Folsom should be spent to improve it, not expand it, unless demand dictates otherwise. Keep in mind that the administration is still not too pleased w/ the addition added a few years back. If there is the demand, I say enclose the South side. I think that is the expansion that would most increase noise w/in Folsom.

Also, I vote for a retractable roof - it would really keep the noise in. And black astro-turf w/ gold sparkles.
 
Also, I vote for a retractable roof - it would really keep the noise in. And black astro-turf w/ gold sparkles.


Good point. At some point, I heard the athletic department bemoaning the natural grass that currently is in Folsom.

If I remember correctly, the real grass is more expensive than sport turf. The athletic department and Hawkins were fans of sport terf because it's faster, cheaper, and allows for more groups to use the stadium.

Any updates to this?
 
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