Yulman Stadium Review/Changes

[jonathanjoseph]

ESPN review of Yulman.... 1- They like the fact the "fans"(if they show up) are close to the field...2- they HATE the camera angles/elevation they are forced to use and this will be addressed with the AAC...3- They do not like the press box set up, the announcers are too low to the field and have poor sight line 4- They love the food provided !!...5- Parking is not an issue for members of the ESPN crew, they did not notice any real traffic issues 6- ESPN hates the "two toned" playing surface, it looks cheap and makes the field look choppy and the stadium smaller than what it actually is 7- ESPN cannot believe that a few families with homes next to the stadium, was able to dictate to Tulane, the design and height of the west side seats . The west side must be brought to a higher level above the field and the press box enlarged... ESPN will monitor the improvements or lack thereof...If no improvements are made ESPN will ask the AAC to allow Tulane home games to be televised on an ESPN station/outlet with limited viewing area (no national exposure) so that they can better utilize their experienced broadcast teams and crews at other venues ..8- The Tulane staff were always helpful and tried to make everyone as comfortable as possible 9- as noted prior, the "camera men" HATE the Yulman
vantage points they are forced to use, several have asked not to be assigned to Tulane home games in the future. My friend also thinks some "play by play" and "color analyst" have also asked not to be assigned until improvements are made

If this is the case, yet another "fireable offense" for Dickson who will not be fired. If ESPN is threatening to take you off national coverage, that is a huge, huge, huge f*ckup.

[tpstulane]

The games are very hard to watch on TV. Something has to be done about this next year. I sit directly under the edge of the Upper Deck. Every game 4 or 5 drinks from up above fall in between the space of the upper deck and the boards connected to the upper deck and either explode upon impact, or drench some poor fool sitting there. I'm in the 11th row on the 5 yard line and its extremely hard for me to see anything happening on the other side of the 50 yard line.

Yet all the premium seats go empty. Reminds me of home plate seating at baseball games. When the new stadium was constructed Tulane ran off the loyal fans in those seats so they could sell them to donors that rarely go.

[2ndGenWave]

As much as the super expensive seats being empty irks me, it's honestly more irritating that the upper deck seating is usually nearly as sparsely used. Those tickets could easily be sold for less to better attending fans. The Glazer club people pay enough that while I wished they would sit in their seats more I really can't complain too much. It sucks that we didn't build a level of private suites so that the super rich would pay for those and the people currently in the upper deck could utilize the Glazer Club level.

Biggest complaint I have is the camera tower/press box. It is pathetic that we built that whole side the way we did because of a half dozen neighbors. Such an over reaction by CowDick. The original plans for the stadium would have legitimately had 30,000 seats and looked so much more like a real college stadium.

The press box needs the television booth and camera towers moved on top of the current press box at a minimum, while the end zone camera towers need to be up at least ten to fifteen feet higher.

Also, they need to either fix or remove the field goal net.

[winwave]

The games are very hard to watch on TV. Something has to be done about this next year. I sit directly under the edge of the Upper Deck. Every game 4 or 5 drinks from up above fall in between the space of the upper deck and the boards connected to the upper deck and either explode upon impact, or drench some poor fool sitting there. I'm in the 11th row on the 5 yard line and its extremely hard for me to see anything happening on the other side of the 50 yard line.

Yet all the premium seats go empty. Reminds me of home plate seating at baseball games. When the new stadium was constructed Tulane ran off the loyal fans in those seats so they could sell them to donors that rarely go.

Yes they did. I can personally attest to that.

[GreenLantern]

I'm pleased with the stadium and with my seating. Even though I'm on the pressbox side, I would be reluctant to trade
for a seat on the east side upper deck because of the early season heat. If we schedule an early September game in the
afternoon, I'll consider staying home before sitting in the sun for several hours. The folks in the upper deck had to be
even more miserable facing the sun.

I would like to know if there is a strategy for deciding on the home team sideline. Obviously it would be more fun to be
on the side with our team's bench. Putting the team on the Glazer Club side with no one in the stands doesn't seem
to be a great idea. I wonder why they moved the bench there for the last two games.

Here's a couple of 'wants':

• More (and better) food vendors
• Sell programs inside the stadium
• Frozen daquiris? I doubt the NCAA would allow it, but it would be a treat.
• More and different timeout promos. The 'air guitar', 'inflatable-horse-race' and 'show-me-your-dance-moves'
  were fun for a couple games, but there must be other promos to break the monotony.
• Have an announcer lead the hullabaloo cheer over the PA. Reinforce our traditions.

Here are a few 'attaboys':

• Great Tulane customer service reps
• Remote satellite parking was a snap. I assumed that I would walk from St. Rita's to the stadium, but I never
  had to wait more than a few seconds for a bus.
• I was pleasantly surprised by the courtesy of everyone working the gates, checking bags and tickets.
  At the dome, you are treated like cattle. The Yulman folks must have had some customer service indoctrination.

Overall, I give a number grade of 9 on a 0-10 scale, and I grade pretty hard.

[tpstulane]

I'm pleased with the stadium and with my seating. Even though I'm on the pressbox side, I would be reluctant to trade
for a seat on the east side upper deck because of the early season heat. If we schedule an early September game in the
afternoon, I'll consider staying home before sitting in the sun for several hours. The folks in the upper deck had to be
even more miserable facing the sun.

I would like to know if there is a strategy for deciding on the home team sideline. Obviously it would be more fun to be
on the side with our team's bench. Putting the team on the Glazer Club side with no one in the stands doesn't seem
to be a great idea. I wonder why they moved the bench there for the last two games.

Here's a couple of 'wants':

• More (and better) food vendors
• Sell programs inside the stadium
• Frozen daquiris? I doubt the NCAA would allow it, but it would be a treat.
• More and different timeout promos. The 'air guitar', 'inflatable-horse-race' and 'show-me-your-dance-moves'
  were fun for a couple games, but there must be other promos to break the monotony.
• Have an announcer lead the hullabaloo cheer over the PA. Reinforce our traditions.

Here are a few 'attaboys':

• Great Tulane customer service reps
• Remote satellite parking was a snap. I assumed that I would walk from St. Rita's to the stadium, but I never
  had to wait more than a few seconds for a bus.
• I was pleasantly surprised by the courtesy of everyone working the gates, checking bags and tickets.
  At the dome, you are treated like cattle. The Yulman folks must have had some customer service indoctrination.

Overall, I give a number grade of 9 on a 0-10 scale, and I grade pretty hard.

They sell frozen daiquiris in the Westfeldt club. Frozen Margaritas to be exact from Superior Grill
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6105&start=0

[jonathanjoseph]

The games are very hard to watch on TV. Something has to be done about this next year. I sit directly under the edge of the Upper Deck. Every game 4 or 5 drinks from up above fall in between the space of the upper deck and the boards connected to the upper deck and either explode upon impact, or drench some poor fool sitting there. I'm in the 11th row on the 5 yard line and its extremely hard for me to see anything happening on the other side of the 50 yard line.

Yet all the premium seats go empty. Reminds me of home plate seating at baseball games. When the new stadium was constructed Tulane ran off the loyal fans in those seats so they could sell them to donors that rarely go.

Exactly. It's never about what's best for the program, just what will decrease the university subsidy. Always penny-wise and pound foolish. Always.

[jonathanjoseph]

Sorry, but while I understand why this discussion is taking place, I don't see how Yulman can be considered anything other than a monumental failure. So far, it hasn't proven to help us in scheduling or recruiting, it didn't provide a home field advantage, the boost in attendance wore off with the novelty and now ESPN deems it insufficient as to warrant national television coverage. Oh, and it is the smallest D1A football stadium.

Since the Big12 is in the middle of expansion discussions currently, I don't see how the review of Yulman can conclude anything other than it has taken us OUT of Big12 consideration (we can't host many of their teams) and has cemented Tulane as a small time program forever.

I'm sure the food in the club seats is just great.

[JTLiuzza]

The TV angle makes ESPN look bush league.

Yes. It's terrible.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

[jonathanjoseph]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

Thanks. The campus tailgating is the marketing. Not the product. Cowen/Dickson have spent 15 years trying to do all marketing without ever making a minimal effort at a quality product in football and everywhere else.

That @sshole Dickson is busy celebrating the stadium while no there is no tangible evidence that anything else is happening going forward with the other NEEDED facilities. I've been hearing about this athletes village for ten f*cking years now. Are there drawings? An announcement?

[Fred Dowler]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

nm

[Fred Dowler]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

Very solid point. Really and truly a mouthful there.

The coach search was obviously an afterthought in late 2011 while the main focus of the powers-who-are was on rolling the stadium project, this stadium, such as it is, in particular, out. And now where is the program going considering all of that?

I know, I know, this is not supposed to be another Bash Rick Dickson fest. On the other hand, his special friends on the other forum have been going on and on about how "he's hit one out of the park" with the whole project. Look, if the program struggles on the field, it's more like a ground ball back to the mound.

Maybe the best thing now to suggest to apply as a fix, to try to be in the spirit of things, would have to do with what they should have applied the focus on in 2011 but didn't, the coaching.

[jonathanjoseph]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

Very solid point. Really and truly a mouthful there.

The coach search was obviously an afterthought in late 2011 while the main focus of the powers-who-are was on rolling the stadium project, this stadium, such as it is, in particular, out. And now where is the program going considering all of that?

I know, I know, this is not supposed to be another Bash Rick Dickson fest. On the other hand, his special friends on the other forum have been going on and on about how "he's hit one out of the park" with the whole project. Look, if the program struggles on the field, it's more like a ground ball back to the mound.

Maybe the best thing now to suggest to apply as a fix, to try to be in the spirit of things, would have to do with what they should have applied the focus on in 2011 but didn't, the coaching.

Right. There's still evidence that coaching prospects want nothing to do with the small OCS as a plan for building a program.

[Fred Dowler]

Solid post jj.

While I would not call it a failure, the stadium is still a net negative in my mind as it diverts resources away from other aspects of the program. The on campus tailgating is nice, but does not really advance the program.

Very solid point. Really and truly a mouthful there.

The coach search was obviously an afterthought in late 2011 while the main focus of the powers-who-are was on rolling the stadium project, this stadium, such as it is, in particular, out. And now where is the program going considering all of that?

I know, I know, this is not supposed to be another Bash Rick Dickson fest. On the other hand, his special friends on the other forum have been going on and on about how "he's hit one out of the park" with the whole project. Look, if the program struggles on the field, it's more like a ground ball back to the mound.

Maybe the best thing now to suggest to apply as a fix, to try to be in the spirit of things, would have to do with what they should have applied the focus on in 2011 but didn't, the coaching.

Right. There's still evidence that coaching prospects want nothing to do with the small OCS as a plan for building a program.

That may well be, however, I'm just pointing out the irony here in that the coach search in 2011 was an afterthought while the public roll out of the stadium project was the marquee item in the athletics department at the time. While now it may well be that the main thing that needs to be done to apply a fix and make the stadium project work out is doing what TU should have been doing and making the main focus out of in the first place.

[ajcalhoun]

First year complete. Give your impressions, good things bad things and suggested changes. PLEASE this is NOT a seating capacity or Dickson/Cowen bashing thread. Good, constructive criticism, praise and suggestions only. Remember TU reads GOTULA so here's your chance.

Well, two pages in and the conversation is now dominated by two guys who have never set foot in the stadium.

As for my contribution, count me in on wanting access to frozen-cocktails for my fellow hoi polloi in the cheap seats.

[ccap05]

My two cents is that Yulman is a qualified success. The overall day to day operations went much better than I expected. I agree with the other posters that having the Glazier seats empty looks bad- I wonder if there would be a way to allow people (or Tulane) to allow the seats to be filled with one person while another person would have access to the Club without access to the seats.

I assume that Tulane is revisiting the camera angle issues over the off season. Some of these issues should be fixable- some (such as press box limitations) may not be fixable in the very near future.

I hope that Tulane keeps an eye open and buys the NIMBY properties if/when they become available. They would be perfect Faculty housing (A RD retirement gift? ). I am not a Lawyer, but I wonder if it is possible for Tulane to purchase some sort of covenant from all of the neighbors allowing an expansion of the stadium if/when the time/funding is right. Yulman will need to be expanded if we are to position Tulane for an eventual move to a P5 conference and buying the neighbors off now will probably be cheaper than doing it in the future.

[Fred Dowler]

First year complete. Give your impressions, good things bad things and suggested changes. PLEASE this is NOT a seating capacity or Dickson/Cowen bashing thread. Good, constructive criticism, praise and suggestions only. Remember TU reads GOTULA so here's your chance.

Well, two pages in and the conversation is now dominated by two guys who have never set foot in the stadium.

As for my contribution, count me in on wanting access to frozen-cocktails for my fellow hoi polloi in the cheap seats.

How is saying that the on-field part, i.e. coaching, needs to be improved not offering up a constructive criticism? If that part is not taken care of then you have a white elephant on your hands, pure and simple, and none of the other stuff matters and I bet that we agree on that.

[mbawavefan12]

First year complete. Give your impressions, good things bad things and suggested changes. PLEASE this is NOT a seating capacity or Dickson/Cowen bashing thread. Good, constructive criticism, praise and suggestions only. Remember TU reads GOTULA so here's your chance.

Well, two pages in and the conversation is now dominated by two guys who have never set foot in the stadium.

As for my contribution, count me in on wanting access to frozen-cocktails for my fellow hoi polloi in the cheap seats.

Ya that is a bit absurd.

The press box needs to be fixed and greatly expanded. I wonder whether they are violating any agreement by adding another level to the press box. What a joke that they caved to neighbors.

The GT game and homecoming absolutely helped recruiting. As I said from the start, the stadium revitalized the campus until the wheels fell off for the season, we need to win games next year and go to a bowl, end of story.

[MicMan]

A quick Google search reveals that Tulane's former C-USA compatriot, North Carolina-Charlotte, at 15,000 capacity, has the smallest D1 football stadium.

[mbawavefan12]

A quick Google search reveals that Tulane's former C-USA compatriot, North Carolina-Charlotte, at 15,000 capacity, has the smallest D1 football stadium.

They are not in CUSA until next year and already have plans to expand to 40k. By capacity we are tied for the smallest, but I have my doubts the the others have less than 23k seats like TU. We are tied (FOR OUR MADE UP CAPACITY OF 30k) with such titans as Norfolk State, Akron, Troy, Texas State and FAU, what great company. It's really amazing how low the bar is set at Tulane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Am ... y_capacity

[tpstulane]

Every time a coach comes out to our meeting the one question that is always asked about recruiting: Does the new stadium help? "Absolutely Yes" is always the answer. The "wants" are updated meeting rooms and locker rooms.
The size of the stadium can be increased if we ever need it to be. Right now that's not an issue.
Anyone who says its hurts recruiting is misinformed or is still pi$$ed we left the dome.

[mbawavefan12]

Every time a coach comes out to our meeting the one question that is always asked about recruiting: Does the new stadium help? "Absolutely Yes" is always the answer. The "wants" are updated meeting rooms and locker rooms.
The size of the stadium can be increased if we ever need it to be. Right now that's not an issue.
Anyone who says its hurts recruiting is misinformed or is still pi$$ed we left the dome.

It doesn't hurt but what do you expect the coaches to say?

[DfromCT]

The stadium is fine. The on-field performance is unacceptable. Coaching and execution are horrible. Until this changes, we'll have zero worries about the size of the stadium. I agree with another poster that pointed this out: If you haven't set foot in Yulman, I don't think it's right for you to post in this thread.

[tpstulane]

Every time a coach comes out to our meeting the one question that is always asked about recruiting: Does the new stadium help? "Absolutely Yes" is always the answer. The "wants" are updated meeting rooms and locker rooms.
The size of the stadium can be increased if we ever need it to be. Right now that's not an issue.
Anyone who says its hurts recruiting is misinformed or is still pi$$ed we left the dome.

It doesn't hurt but what do you expect the coaches to say?

They shoot straight with us. We hear both good and bad. Like I said they think our meeting rooms and locker rooms could be better. They all are very happy with Yulman.
When we played at the dome in the past years they would have to take recruits to Saints games to disguise our sparse crowds we had when we played at the dome.