With less than two months remaining until Texas A&M takes the field for its first home game of the season, the first phase of renovations to Kyle Field continue to be on schedule. For many years there had been only mere speculation that Texas A&M would be renovating its already infamous 12th man. The stadium’s epithet came from the fans long standing tradition of giving themselves the title of the 12th man supporting the other 11 on the field. Some of the notable improvements to the standing including the following below
The demolition and replacement of the Netum Steed Conditioning Laboratory, the entire west side stands and press box, and the lower level of the east side seating (the construction will also add private suites)
A new “South End Zone Lower Level” to include an area for press, interviews, 12th Man Productions, computer operations, football locker room and recruiting room, plus a new lower seating deck with chair-back seating and access via a new concourse to the Bright Building Nutrition Center which will serve as a club on game days
A new “South Side Upper Level” (addition of an upper seating deck and concourse), with estimated seating capacity of 12,000 with the future potential of an additional 7,000 seats; seating to be located both below and above the new upper concourse
Expected to be ready for play by the beginning of the 2015 football season, Kyle Field will become the third stadium in the SEC to exceed a capacity of 100,000. Bryant-Denny Stadium, home to the Alabama Crimson tide, increased its capacity to 101,821 in 2010. LSU is also planning in expansion that will put Tiger Stadium in the 100,00 seat club. As college football continues to grow and become more popular, many schools feel it is necessary to pack as many seats as possible into their given space.
This begs the question… who’s next? SEC schools in particular are always looking for a new competitive edge on the field. The more fans in the seats means the more noise opposing offenses have to deal with during games. More and more revenue can be garnered for each university as these stadiums continue to expand their capacity. Many SEC stadiums still have open end zones including Mississippi State, Georgia, Arkansas, and Auburn to name just a few. There have been numerous rumblings of each of the schools potentially adding to capacity by closing off their end zones. Only time will tell if school officials do indeed decide to add onto these already monstrous venues. By no means is life on the road in the SEC getting any easier.
