LSU Completes South Stadium Expansion
College football fans around the country associate Tiger Stadium with jambalaya, championships and Saturday nights so deafening that the very plates beneath the earth tremble. The LSU fan base takes great pride in providing the best game day experience and this season, the best will get even better.
As if Tiger Stadium was not already loud enough, on Aug. 22, the university completed a project that added 66 suites, a new club level and an additional general admission concourse to the south end zone bringing total capacity to an astounding 102,321.
“Tiger Stadium without what we’ve done is already the best of the best,” said LSU Senior Associate Athletics Director for Internal Affairs and Development Eddie Nuñez. “With our efforts to enhance the venue, it is really going to make it even harder for the visiting team to perform with over 100,000 fans on top of you.”
Nuñez oversaw the entire project, which began with a market analysis and fan survey about two years ago. The analysis proved what most fans already believed to be true – the community was ready to make Tiger Stadium even more legendary than it already was.
It was a true tale of ask and you shall receive. With fan interest accurately gauged, the administration literally put on their hard hats and went to work.
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“The responses were overwhelmingly positive,” Nuñez said. “At that point, we really put our heads down and said we have to figure out how to make this happen.”
What followed was the progression of an idea that started as images on a screen to what would eventually be the fifth largest stadium in college football. LSU teamed up with Lemoine/Brasfield & Gorrie contractors and HKS architects to break ground on the project on September 10, 2012.
Twenty-four thousand cubic yards of concrete and 1,400 tons of reinforced steel later, the finished product met and exceeded expectations.
“I think we overachieved in some areas,” Nuñez said. “We hope that the first game when fans walk into Tiger Stadium and see all of our new capabilities that have never been in Tiger Stadium before will be above and beyond their expectations.”
LSU Associate Athletic Director for Facility and Project Development Emmett David suggested that the glory of Tiger Stadium is now on par with historic buildings like the Roman Coliseum. David said that Tiger Stadium matches the height of the Coliseum at 157 feet and can hold almost 20,000 more people.
“Tiger Stadium is a special place regardless of how many people are in it and just to say we have over 100,000 is a great accomplishment,” Nuñez said.
While increasing stadium capacity was an obvious result of the expansion, Nuñez maintains that size was not the main goal surrounding the project.
The athletic department kept fan experience at the highest priority and worked very hard to bring upgrades to the video presentation and overall environment of the stadium.
“Last year we upgraded our sound system, and it brought a new element to Tiger Stadium,” Nuñez said. “With respect to the ribbon boards and video boards, we were able to further enhance our fan experience.”
With the new additions, Tiger Stadium will feature a pair of 40-by-70 foot high-definition screens on the south side of the stadium. This development is crucial in an age where home entertainment systems trump attending live sporting events more and more frequently.
“As people drive over that bridge and look southward toward Tiger Stadium and see those screens there’s excitement immediately,” David said. “The energy is going to be outstanding. People are going to be very interested in staying in this stadium now because not only has the sound been enhanced but the video as well.”
Nuñez and his staff hope the expansion will make the inner depths of the stadium more easily navigable and help resolve some of the infamous congestion present on game days.
If everything goes according to plan, and everything has to this point, fans will have a much easier time entering and exiting the stadium.
“The functionality of it as far as having more gates available to enter Tiger Stadium was to enhance the experience,” Nuñez said.
With two consecutive years of upgrades, Tiger Stadium is equipped with the best sound and video that college football has to offer.
While construction is finished, the project is not truly complete until the Purple and Gold faithful fill the stadium with the booming cheers that bring Death Valley to life.
“Everything we do to Tiger Stadium only adds to the element of what LSU is about,” Nuñez said. “It’s about that experience. It’s about the tailgating and the opportunity for our fans to come and show their passion and scream their lungs out to support their Tigers.”
Get the hot tea ready because come Sunday morning, 102,321 throats will need some serious soothing.