They have made a lot of additions to those stadiums since I resided there in the 90s.


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I think paying for a new basketball stadium is ridiculous. The Spectrum meets our needs just fine today. I would much rather spend that money on coaching salaries, a larger football stadium, or heaven forbid, actual academics elsewhere on campus.

I don't think increasing football capacity should be a priority. When we sell out the stadium every game for two years, you can start talking. Building a new basketball stadium does seem really expensive. How are you going to pay for it? Wyoming renovated their basketball stadium and kept playing in it. Why can't we do the same? Those are the questions I have. I do agree that we should start spending on basketball though.

GeoAg wrote:I think paying for a new basketball stadium is ridiculous. The Spectrum meets our needs just fine today. I would much rather spend that money on coaching salaries, a larger football stadium, or heaven forbid, actual academics elsewhere on campus.

There really isn't a reason to pay coaches more than we do, unless we start losing them to peer institutions.

If Wisconsin, Oregon State, USC, whoever, wants one of our coaches, they are gone.




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bpd wrote:I don't think increasing football capacity should be a priority. When we sell out the stadium every game for two years, you can start talking. Building a new basketball stadium does seem really expensive. How are you going to pay for it? Wyoming renovated their basketball stadium and kept playing in it. Why can't we do the same? Those are the questions I have. I do agree that we should start spending on basketball though.

I 100% agree with this. Until we can actually completely sell out Maverik Stadium, why make any more renovations to it or add seating? Until us fans are selling it out consistently, upgrades should be an unequivocal NO for Maverik Stadium. I would much rather get better coaches and pay them more if that's an option instead of facility upgrades. (Minus my thoughts on having blue chairs, not barf colored ones. A relatively small upgrade, but every bit worth having blue chairs without a doubt IMO.)

More money for basketball coaches as well as football. Stadium size matters more in football than other sports because it has been used in the past to try and draw a delineation between divisions. That will never be an issue with the Spectrum.

Name that venue: " A total of 14 luxury suites stretch across the west side of the facility, overlooking both the basketball court and the football field. " (Wikipedia entry)

So, yes, it can be done and has been done. Should USU do it? That answer is above my grade.

The venue answer? OkState's Gallagher-Iba and Boone-Pickens.

GeoAg wrote:More money for basketball coaches as well as football. Stadium size matters more in football than other sports because it has been used in the past to try and draw a delineation between divisions. That will never be an issue with the Spectrum.

The current basketball coaching staff does not deserve more money. If they have a great season next year than I would be happy to give them a raise. I would focus on saving money for their replacement at this point. We definitely don't need a new basketball arena. The Spectrum is great. New blue seats would be good, but otherwise it is a fine venue.

usufan5477 wrote:BUILD A NEW ONE. RECRUITS LOVE HAVING NEW FACILITIES.

Totally. Duke (1940) and Kansas (1955) might actually attract some decent recruits with new facilities.

FWIW, there are 87 DI basketball programs in the country with arenas as old or older than the Spectrum (1968), including Washington (1927), Butler (1928), Cal (1933), Wichita St. (1955), Georgia Tech (1956), Virginia Tech (1962), Illinois (1963), Georgia (1964), UCLA (1965), Michigan (1967), Purdue (1967), Notre Dame (1968), and Alabama (1968).

ChicAggie wrote:

usufan5477 wrote:BUILD A NEW ONE. RECRUITS LOVE HAVING NEW FACILITIES.

Totally. Duke (1940) and Kansas (1955) might actually attract some decent recruits with new facilities.

FWIW, there are 87 DI basketball programs in the country with arenas as old or older than the Spectrum (1968), including Washington (1927), Butler (1928), Cal (1933), Wichita St. (1955), Georgia Tech (1956), Virginia Tech (1962), Illinois (1963), Georgia (1964), UCLA (1965), Michigan (1967), Purdue (1967), Notre Dame (1968), and Alabama (1968).

How many of those arenas have been renovated though. You have UCLA listed but they recently completed a 2.5 year, $136 Million renovation that pretty much makes it like a new arena. They were also displaced for part of that time...I think they had to play some games at USC. It may have been originally built in 1965 but it isn't a 1965 arena anymore.

No. No no no no no no. No.

The Spectrum is an icon (well.. locally and maybe regionally speaking at least), replacing it would be a mistake. Changing it you could maybe sell me on, but I love the bright seats being right at the sideline. If you must throw money at something that's already good, upgrade little things on it like concessions, the promenade, bathrooms.. stuff like that. Do not build a new stadium until an earthquake renders the current one structurally deficient.

Like everyone else, I have countless fond memories of the Spectrum that include watching basketball games and playing volleyball matches. But I have a vague memory of having a discussion with someone in-the-know when I was a student 15 years ago about renovations and the biggest hindrance to renovations being the current building codes we would have to meet, even if we just wanted to switch out chairs to new colors. As I recall, the steepness and size of the stairs, narrowness of the chairs, and limited legroom would not meet current codes. I may not be remembering this conversation correctly, but if I am the only option is to build new because the cost of bringing the Spectrum up to current codes would likely equal the cost of building new.

Building new would definitely result in some loss of the magic the Spectrum holds but a lot of it could be recaptured through winning. When a new venue is built (my optimism of renovations is not very high even if building code issues do not exist) it will most likely be done in a way that will make it a viable venue for non-athletic events. The potential revenue generated from concerts alone would be too valuable to pass up.

The spectrum is our Wrigley field, Fenway, Augusta. Make concourse changes, keep the seats, lose weight or stand. It can be a magical place, and what I personally consider to be the best basketball viewing venue in the US.


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FeartheFro wrote:The spectrum is our Wrigley field, Fenway, Augusta. Make concourse changes, keep the seats, lose weight or stand. It can be a magical place, and what I personally consider to be the best basketball viewing venue in the US.


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The Spectrum is WAY nicer than Wrigley. That being said, the leg room is a pretty big issue for a lot of people. I can fit in the seats width wise but I'm constantly hitting people with my knees and I'm sure it's annoying. It's even worse down on the front row. I like that the fans are right on top of the court but I think it needs to be improved if just by a couple of inches.

ProvoAggie wrote:

FeartheFro wrote:The spectrum is our Wrigley field, Fenway, Augusta. Make concourse changes, keep the seats, lose weight or stand. It can be a magical place, and what I personally consider to be the best basketball viewing venue in the US.


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The Spectrum is WAY nicer than Wrigley. That being said, the leg room is a pretty big issue for a lot of people. I can fit in the seats width wise but I'm constantly hitting people with my knees and I'm sure it's annoying. It's even worse down on the front row. I like that the fans are right on top of the court but I think it needs to be improved if just by a couple of inches.

Fun fact. There are 3 different sizes of seats in the Spectrum. An inch of width difference in each. One of my season tickets happens to be a narrow seat...I've never actually sat in them because of this.

ProvoAggie wrote:While a full renovation of the Spectrum would put the team without a place to play for a few years, I don't see why it couldn't be broken down into phases. BYU ripped the concrete out of the Marriott Center and redid the seating in an off season. What if we started there. Then the next year work on raising the ceiling. Then the 3rd year do concourse work. It would make the Spectrum unavailable during the offseason for camps and other events but I think it could be done.

If they do replace the arena I will definitely miss it but I won't miss the legroom.

Provo Aggie raises valid points. To build a completely new arena is price prohibitive with the costs in todays economy. A staged upgrade of the Spectrum could well be the answer we need. If parking is an issue then shuttles would trump the millions of dollars to construct a new arena east of the Maverick.

NavyBlueAggie wrote:If parking is an issue then shuttles would trump the millions of dollars to construct a new arena east of the Maverick.

Or, if cost is an issue, then Trump would shuttle the millions of dollars necessary to construct a new arena east of the Maverick as part of his "infrastructure" plan.

Shuttles would trump, Trump would shuttle. Either way.

I would love to tear down Aggie Village and make it a parking lot/tailgating area.

NVAggie wrote:I would love to tear down Aggie Village and make it a parking lot/tailgating area.

That is a good idea. Student housing is becoming more available off campus, it appears to me that these privately-owned apartment complexes could easily pick up the slack left by losing Aggie Village. It would save money and provide space for a new facility to replace the Spectrum. It could tie in with Maverick Stadium and be a beautiful complex, as has been suggested earlier on this board. But then Whadda I know, I don't have all the financial inputs etc. at my disposal.

You don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

SectionFaggie wrote:Name that venue: " A total of 14 luxury suites stretch across the west side of the facility, overlooking both the basketball court and the football field. " (Wikipedia entry)

So, yes, it can be done and has been done. Should USU do it? That answer is above my grade.

The venue answer? OkState's Gallagher-Iba and Boone-Pickens.

Name that booster: "<Booster>'s 2016 net worth is $1B"

I may be wrong, but I don't think we have a USU equivalent of T. Boone Pickens. We probably have plenty who are millionaires multiple times over, but not many who are billionaires. And even among those with REALLY deep pockets, you don't often hear of their rabid fandom, like T. Boone Pickens. I had a friend in grad school whose family knew Pickens somehow. He once went to a wedding reception on his estate and said that the OkState football game was playing on every TV in the house throughout the reception because he was fine going to/hosting a wedding reception, but mandated there would be OkState football available to anyone who cared more/as much about it than a wedding.

I love the Spectrum and have many fond memories. I'd be okay with a new building, but it better be amazing.

2004AG wrote:
There really isn't a reason to pay coaches more than we do, unless we start losing them to peer institutions.

If Wisconsin, Oregon State, USC, whoever, wants one of our coaches, they are gone.

Except for we should be able to at least pay our head coach more than other schools pay their coordinators, and our coordinators more than other schools pay their position coaches.

It's understandable to have our head coach want to leave to Wisconsin's head coach, or our defensive coordinator want to leave to be Oregon State's DC, but we should at least have salaries to where someone would choose to be our OC over being a receivers coach anywhere. For instance, we once had someone choose to be OL coach at BYU over OC here, and if it doesn't work out with Wells next year(let's not get into that at least in this thread any further), there are a number of coordinators we wouldn't be able to get for head cause of salary. Gary would have left to be Urban Meyer's DC if money was what he cared about most.

Aggie Village and the townhouses north of them are not in good shape at all. I dare say Aggie village is still in better condition than the townhouses. The townhouses have 10 to 20 years tops til they need major renovations or tore down due to exterior rot.

I'm speculating that they build new housing where the old trailer park was at then clear out the village and townhouses.

Clearing out that will create a large amount of room for an arena, parking, maybe even a baseball field. The possibilities are endless.

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ProvoAggie wrote:

ChicAggie wrote:

usufan5477 wrote:BUILD A NEW ONE. RECRUITS LOVE HAVING NEW FACILITIES.

Totally. Duke (1940) and Kansas (1955) might actually attract some decent recruits with new facilities.

FWIW, there are 87 DI basketball programs in the country with arenas as old or older than the Spectrum (1968), including Washington (1927), Butler (1928), Cal (1933), Wichita St. (1955), Georgia Tech (1956), Virginia Tech (1962), Illinois (1963), Georgia (1964), UCLA (1965), Michigan (1967), Purdue (1967), Notre Dame (1968), and Alabama (1968).

How many of those arenas have been renovated though. You have UCLA listed but they recently completed a 2.5 year, $136 Million renovation that pretty much makes it like a new arena. They were also displaced for part of that time...I think they had to play some games at USC. It may have been originally built in 1965 but it isn't a 1965 arena anymore.

Duke and Kansas have both had several updates to their arena over the years including within the last decade. You brought up UCLA, and I imagine the others on his list have also had several updates to their arena. I don't know if that should be our priority at the moment, but we should always look for ways to improve, and we have of course done things in the past to improve the Spectrum. Should we do it now? Personally, if money can go anywhere, it should go to improving coaches salaries in basketball. Duryea if he turns it around next year, or to entice a new coach after next season.

2004AG wrote:

GeoAg wrote:I think paying for a new basketball stadium is ridiculous. The Spectrum meets our needs just fine today. I would much rather spend that money on coaching salaries, a larger football stadium, or heaven forbid, actual academics elsewhere on campus.

There really isn't a reason to pay coaches more than we do, unless we start losing them to peer institutions.

If Wisconsin, Oregon State, USC, whoever, wants one of our coaches, they are gone.




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You don't think we could have got a more proven coach 2 years ago if we paid more? It is true we are going to lose almost any coaches to a power5 school, but there are plenty of good mid-major coaches I believe we could have got had our price been higher.

Aggie in Hawaii wrote:

2004AG wrote:

GeoAg wrote:I think paying for a new basketball stadium is ridiculous. The Spectrum meets our needs just fine today. I would much rather spend that money on coaching salaries, a larger football stadium, or heaven forbid, actual academics elsewhere on campus.

There really isn't a reason to pay coaches more than we do, unless we start losing them to peer institutions.

If Wisconsin, Oregon State, USC, whoever, wants one of our coaches, they are gone.




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You don't think we could have got a more proven coach 2 years ago if we paid more? It is true we are going to lose almost any coaches to a power5 school, but there are plenty of good mid-major coaches I believe we could have got had our price been higher.

Matt Wells was getting that job no matter what. Barnes wanted to hire in house and keep the program rolling in the same direction.


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