[Wayward Memphian]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

There's nothing wrong with impressively filling up a 55K stadium, no one is arguing against that. What we find short-sighted is building a facility that is sure to succeed only in the very near term (stadiums these days are meant to last 30 - 40 years).

Wayward, the example you post above was a very poor one... what you just showed were figures that prove a point, that Birmingham's bowl attendance is good. During each year in which the SEC had a participant in the bowl game in Birmingham attendance was been over 40,000. Since the SEC expanded, attendance has been over 42,000, and because of expansion it is MUCH more likely that an SEC team will be featured each year. If you want to use the "how much of the capacity was filled" argument, you should probably check and see how much capacity has been filled by each of the BCS games recently... not all of them have been full.

You know, it also stands to reason that a nicer facility in a nicer/safer part of town would increase attendance. Yes, this newer facility would be in a MUCH nicer/safer part of town.

Btw, next time you don't want to start a riot, you probably shouldn't say something as inflammatory or demeaning as How in the world would Birmingham outgrow 55,000? We all understand you're trying to be constructive, but it doesn't help when your initial comment is offensive.

You don't need it. If that's insulting, so be it. I've looked at the Liberty Bowl numbers as well. When an SEC plays in the Liberty Bowl. The attendance rises as well but it's only reached nearly completely full 2 or 3 times and that involved teams from next door with MSU and Arkansas drawing over 60,000. Both teams coming off a rough patch with optimism about the future success of the teams and not a team that at the time that was disappointed in the season just like Ole Miss was and look how closer that campus is to Birmingham. I feel the same about Memphis as you do about Birmingham and I've always advocated a new stadium off Beale that is SMALLER than the Liberty Bowl, somewhere between 55 and 60 thousand with 55 being best in my book. There is something to be said for an amenity filled smaller stadium that helps makes tickets worth more. It's like swanky condos in new skyscrapers that one can entertain friends in on weekends and the spec house in the burbs that's got tons of space like that dining room used once a year. Which one usually sells for more per square ft.