On Thursday evening, UConn will kick off the 2016 football season — the most important in the program’s history. In addition to rising on-field expectations, the university is auditioning for entrance into the Big 12 and is eager to show evidence that the football program adds to its overall resumé.
While the team searches for ways to improve on the field, the university faces another shortcoming in its home stadium. Rentschler Field can currently hold 40,000 fans — a total that UConn has struggled to reach for much of the past decade. That total is in line with some of their rumored expansion competition (equal to Cincinnati and Houston), but is modest by the standards of the football-hungry Big 12.
Fortunately for UConn, this scenario was envisioned when the stadium was designed and built in the early 2000s. A Dime Back obtained the Master Development Plan, drafted in 2000, that shows a 10,000 seat expansion, situated along the side of the stadium opposite the existing press box.
The plan was drafted by government officials, the developer and the Capital Region Development Authority, the agency responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the stadium.
Renderings show additional suites and a new concourse bridging the current seating sections with the expansion.
It has been reported in the past that the stadium was constructed with the structural underpinnings needed to quickly expand, but no cost estimates have been made public.
With a host of capital projects still in the fundraising stage on its own campus, UConn has not weighed in on expansion of state-owned Rentschler Field.
“We have not looked into a price for [expansion],” a UConn spokesperson told A Dime Back earlier this spring. “Our goal and mission is to sell out the stadium at its present capacity before we consider expansion.”
Adding 10,000 seats to reach a total of 50,000 would transform Rentschler Field into a Big 12-caliber stadium, matching the capacity of Kansas and Kansas State, and surpassing that of Baylor and TCU. Of the rumored expansion candidates, only USF, BYU and Memphis could offer larger venues. Excluding the monstrous stadiums at Texas and Oklahoma, the other eight Big 12 schools feature an average capacity of around 54,000.
As the university notes, however, having seats is important, but filling them is imperative.
Progress this season will be measured in the win-loss column, but demonstrating the ability to build an audience for the football team consistent with the existing members of the Big 12 is critical. Big 12 representatives have told UConn this directly, according to sources.
With a decision on expansion likely to be made in the coming weeks, UConn will have to impress in the limited opportunities available, namely the first three home games of the season.
Given the stakes, it’s not surprising that the university has stepped up its ticketing efforts. UConn hired the Aspire Group — a national firm that specializes in boosting ticket sales — and has given them prime office space inside Gampel Pavilion in the center of campus. Athletic Director David Benedict also announced that incoming freshmen, who moved onto campus this past weekend, would be given free tickets to Thursday’s game. Late Wednesday evening, word leaked out that a promotional code could be used on UConn’s ticketing website to acquire tickets for no cost.
