Baseball Seating

[Trojanbulldog19]

Sorry, I know this is a little long. I also want to preface this buying saying I love the new Dude, so I don't want this to come across as I hate the new place.

I just had questions about the seating set up.

I just looked online at ticket sales, and it looks like the only season tickets left are going to be SRO. They haven't started selling single game tickets yet. I'm guessing that means that none of the grandstand is going to general admission seating? Which leaves SRO or the berms for the folks who aren't season ticket holders?

Texas A&M has a smaller similar set up with their field with berms, but part of the grand stand is also general admission. I know they don't get as much fan support for season ticket holders to buy up all the seats like we do, but I really thought we would add in more actual seats in the grandstand for GA. I know there is a lot more standing room now with views from all around the park and more places to go in outfield, but aren't most if not all the outfield deck areas also reserved by the season? So, if i'm not in someone's reserved group, I can count out the outfield lounges. Most of the games that I've gone to over the years, there always seemed to be a lack of season ticket holders in the GS that showed up, and the majority of the people who did show up were GA(like basketball). I have never done season tickets for baseball since I graduated from State and left Starkville. I never thought I could justify it if only showed up to 70% of the games and GA did me just fine for those games.

I will be buying mostly GA again this year to attend games unless I can find a season ticket holder wanting to sell a lot of game tickets. Since GA seating is now berms, do you think they will fill up most SEC games this year with the park being finished now? I remember having to stand up for a game last year because the berms were packed. Not that big of deal for me when i'm by myself; but if you don't travel alone, others with you especially wife and kids get antsy and ready to go after a few innings of having to stand. People on the berms last year were taking tailgating chairs or spreading out on blankets like they were at the city park. Didn't really optimize the space for other others to sit down on the berm. Probably could have fit a lot more people on the berms had people been a lot more courteous and not spread out so much.

In the past, I never had issues sitting in the bleachers or finding a seat. Even with huge Super Bulldog Weekend crowds, I never had a problem finding a place to sit during the game. I might have had to looks a while, but I would find one. i'm glad they did away with the old bleachers and that look, but I really wished they could have done something with seating besides berms for the large amount of GA fans we typically have to games. Maybe if they would move up the inning that you can move to GS if season ticket holders don't show up, that would help. Would it have costed that much more to continue the grandstand like a lot of other minor league parks all the way to the pole or up over the bullpen? just curious. that may not have been feasible with normal crowd size and costs. Just thinking we would keep fans coming if they had a place to put a butt in a seat. Some fans may stay home if they come to several games and have to stand, and they aren't allowed to sit in GS when season ticket holders aren't present. Again this is just nitpicking, because the new park is amazing.

I plan on attending a lot more games this year than I have the last few years. I'm just interested to see how this pans out throughout the baseball season with crowds in the new park. i'm pumped and excited about what the diamond dawgs are going to do this year. Hopefully Lemonis puts it all together and gets them going.

 

[GTAT]

More people will attend now that they are paying full price for tickets. In the old dude, many people skipped because they were paying peanuts because they were renewing their dead parents' tickets (who originally gave the lifetime donation).

We can't just build the stadium with an infinite number of seats in order to have a seat for all general admission comers. Sorry, but we have a big amount of season ticket holders. It's our cross to bear.

The great news is that you can walk 360 degrees around the place and have a good standing view. There are little 'bar' type areas with stools. Not a bad seat in the house.

Even if we did have general admission seating, would you get there early enough to grab a seat on big weekends? Of course not. Not to mention on most games outside of SEC Saturdays, there will be plenty of areas for you to sit all over the stadium.

It is time to put this woeful bitching point to bed. If you want a reserved seat, sack up and buy season tickets. This is one of the reasons we have the reputation as the best fans in college baseball. Deal with it.

 

[MSUDC11]

The issue is simple to me. Many of our fans seem to be focused on the 2-3 times a year they come to town for a big game. The athletic department is thinking about the 30+ other games where we don’t have anywhere close to a capacity crowd.

The metal bleachers meant that you’d always have a seat, but aesthetically they looked awful on when they weren’t full, which was a good 80-90% of our games most years.

I think many of the same principles will remain from prior years. There are always people looking to sell or even give away chairbacks if you come to a game that isn’t SBW or a Regional. And the grandstands are completely open for non-conference games and open for the last 4-5 innings of SEC games. In the meantime, explore the park, get there early enough to sit on the berms, or just find a good spot to stand and watch for a little while (I personally love the view from the new circular right field corner).

 

[Go Budaw]

More people will attend now that they are paying full price for tickets

That sure as hell wasn’t the case last year.

 

[philduckworth]

My personal belief is that the grandstand should be opened up to everyone by the top of the 2nd inning.

 

[GTAT]

That sure as hell wasn’t the case last year.

The whole stadium was general admission last year, it was half-built with construction everywhere, plus the coaching fiasco. Kind of an odd situation. But by all means, criticize. We know you will find a reason, no matter how small.

 

[GTAT]

My personal belief is that the grandstand should be opened up to everyone by the top of the 2nd inning.

Like MSUDC11 said, this is will be less of an issue going forward. Walk around with a great view for 4.5 innings, find an open seat the last 4.5 innings.

 

[MSUDC11]

My personal belief is that the grandstand should be opened up to everyone by the top of the 2nd inning.

That’s probably too early when you account for the amount of people that come straight from work out or out of town for night games and then the church going crowd on Sundays. Baseball is very much a late arrival kind of sport for many, I know that I’ve been to quite a few games at The Dude where I’ve missed the first inning or two.

 

[Dawgbite]

Yes and no

The whole stadium was general admission last year, it was half-built with construction everywhere, plus the coaching fiasco. Kind of an odd situation. But by all means, criticize. We know you will find a reason, no matter how small.

The grandstands were GA but you had to have a reserved ticket to get into that section. A regular GA ticket that you purchased the day of the game would not allow you to sit in the grandstands until after the 5th inning. Last year the end section down the third base side was GA and I thought a couple of sections in the upper deck would be GA seating?

 

[philduckworth]

That’s probably too early when you account for the amount of people that come straight from work out or out of town for night games and then the church going crowd on Sundays. Baseball is very much a late arrival kind of sport for many, I know that I’ve been to quite a few games at The Dude where I’ve missed the first inning or two.

You can simply ask me to move. But ok, the top of 3rd then.

 

[philduckworth]

Like MSUDC11 said, this is will be less of an issue going forward. Walk around with a great view for 4.5 innings, find an open seat the last 4.5 innings.

People don't want to drive from 2 hours away to walk around the stadium for 5 innings especially when there are countless empty seats in the grandstands.

 

[Go Budaw]

The whole stadium was general admission last year, it was half-built with construction everywhere, plus the coaching fiasco. Kind of an odd situation. But by all means, criticize. We know you will find a reason, no matter how small.

Thanks Goat.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

i'm coming to a lot more than a few games a year.

I'm not disagree that the bleachers at looked awful on tv. the empty grand stand for 5 innings looked a lot worse though. The new stadium looks great. I'm just saying that for those of us not in group with LFL or season ticket holders, they took away seating. Which i would gather is lot of fans. Some of yall suggesting standing up for 2-3 hours must live close by or go to games by yourselves or with a group of guy friends. While I do come up to games by myself a lot, a lot of the times i'm coming with a group of folks that include women and kids. They are not going to want to post up for two hours waiting to get a seat. When there isn't a big crowd in the berm in will be fine a long as it hasn't been raining. Lot of guys will have their trips cut short to starkville if their isn't much sitting in the berm left when the kids, moms, and wives get tired of walking around. They won't be as interested at going back either because i've already heard that complaint from my bunch. The walking area is nice to get up and walk around if you want to. There aren't enough of these bars with stools either i've seen mentioned. i'm just asking how much harder would it have been to add in more actual seating that wasn't reserved? How much will the berms actually fill up this year with all the grandstand seating completed? I've sat in berms plenty of times at multiple stadiums. not near as as easy to sit on grass for 9 innings of baseball. I've gotten there plenty early to stake out a place over the years in baseball and don't mind doing that now. There just isn't as much space in the berm. As to the other guy saying "sack up" about getting season tickets, I don't think it's a lack of testicular fortitude to be fiscally responsible and not spending money on tickets that I can't use if I only can attend 60-70 percent of the games. I'm not like some of these season ticket holders that spend money just to save my place. i've seen a lot of baseball games at the old Dudy Noble paying GA. I've sat a lot of games in the cold, heat, and rain in the old bleachers in the Old Dude. I never thought about season tickets before because they were really hard to get a hold of before the reseat, and I didn't have too because there was plenty available GA seating available. Maybe I will have to now that there is not. Just dumb to do so when half the people that have them won't show up. Like HoopsDawg said, just let folks sit in the grand stand earlier that might be a solution. Folks don't want to drive 2-3+ hours to stand up for 5 innings. As to GTAT, what made Dudy Noble Baseball great over the years was the grass roots feel and the ordinary fan and student having a place to cheer on the dawgs. People backed up trucks and cars for free to have a seat at the game. bleachers added to have more butts in the seats. Not the season ticket holders who rarely were there in the seats. everything now is about $$$$$$.
I'll sill be coming to games. It just makes it lot harder to do that when you don't have a seat. guess, i'll just start bringing my tailgating chair with me when I come and sit on the walk way. I'll just get there early to get in front of those standing.

 

[Thirty-Two Dive]

Guess I need a folding cane seat, for the SRO.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VWJYT8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lR4tCbXABTB8W

 

[MSUDC11]

People don't want to drive from 2 hours away to walk around the stadium for 5 innings especially when there are countless empty seats in the grandstands.

There are always people looking to sell or sometimes even give away chairbacks. Your chances of finding them are much lower for SBW and Regionals, but for every other game there are plenty to be found either online or outside the stadium on gameday. I would encourage people to not limit themselves to just buying through the school.

Also, people will find ways to sneak into the grandstand early, I’m sure of it. There was one extremely easy way to do it in the old stadium (don’t wanna reveal the secret just in case), and I’m curious to see if the new stadium has removed that option.

 

[kired]

ELI5 --- I've never attended many baseball games, other than the old GA seating in bleachers or with folks in LFL when I was a student. Now my oldest son is getting to the age he enjoys baseball games and we'd like to attend a few this season --- so what exactly are my seating options? And I'm not concerned with the packed out SEC Saturday games... just talking about the occasional Friday night or Sunday, or maybe even a midweek game. Is there any secondary market to buy grandstand tickets? Or are the berms and bringing my own chairs the best option?

edit: maybe DC11 answered my question already

 

[drummerdawg]

Most other large college stadiums that I know of have a general admission ticket and then chair backs for walk-ups that are priced a little higher. They have options for those that dont want to stand or sit on the ground.

 

[GTAT]

Most other large college stadiums that I know of have a general admission ticket and then chair backs for walk-ups that are priced a little higher. They have options for those that dont want to stand or sit on the ground.

By all means, list them and link us to some evidence that shows this. If you provide that, we can also compare how many season tickets each school sells vs. the actual number of seats and where they are located.

Arkansas and LSU come to mind, I know they have some GA in the outfield. We could have done that, but we opted for the LFL and the RFL area (which is first come first serve), which was the right move.

 

[GTAT]

People don't want to drive from 2 hours away to walk around the stadium for 5 innings especially when there are countless empty seats in the grandstands.

You aren't entitled to have that seat without paying up front. That's the way every sporting event works. Do you think MSU baseball is a charity?

 

[GTAT]

The issue is simple to me. Many of our fans seem to be focused on the 2-3 times a year they come to town for a big game. The athletic department is thinking about the 30+ other games where we don’t have anywhere close to a capacity crowd.

The metal bleachers meant that you’d always have a seat, but aesthetically they looked awful on when they weren’t full, which was a good 80-90% of our games most years.

I think many of the same principles will remain from prior years. There are always people looking to sell or even give away chairbacks if you come to a game that isn’t SBW or a Regional. And the grandstands are completely open for non-conference games and open for the last 4-5 innings of SEC games. In the meantime, explore the park, get there early enough to sit on the berms, or just find a good spot to stand and watch for a little while (I personally love the view from the new circular right field corner).

They want it to be like Hoover, and they don't understand that it simply would not work like that for Dudy Noble. The GA area would sit empty most of the time, except for SEC Saturdays, SBW and regionals.

 

[paindonthurt_]

I have 2 tickets between home plate and 1st base. I hardly ever use them. I sit in the LFL.

I’ll sell them for almost every game. If you expect me to give them to you, 17 off.

I buy the tickets to help the baseball team and the athletic department, and also to have two tix for my parents or niece/nephews if they come up.

I’m not filthy rich, but I sacrifice for the good of the university.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

I would love to buy those from you for a few games this season. I’m finally close enough to start enjoying more games in all sports.

 

[GTAT]

Most other large college stadiums that I know of have a general admission ticket and then chair backs for walk-ups that are priced a little higher. They have options for those that dont want to stand or sit on the ground.

Bump....please list these stadiums.

 

[MedDawg]

My personal belief is that the grandstand should be opened up to everyone by the top of the 2nd inning.

I agree. 4th or 5th inning is way too late. Open the grandstand after 1 or 1 1/2 innings and if the seat owners show up, then leave without question and find another seat.

 

[Xenomorph]

Hey...

 

[paindonthurt_]

Just let me know abt a week or 2 out. If I don’t have anyone coming up, I’d be happy to sell them.

 

[Dawgtruc]

I have 2 tickets between home plate and 1st base. I hardly ever use them. I sit in the LFL.

I’ll sell them for almost every game. If you expect me to give them to you, 17 off.

I buy the tickets to help the baseball team and the athletic department, and also to have two tix for my parents or niece/nephews if they come up.

I’m not filthy rich, but I sacrifice for the good of the university.

I sent you a pm.

 

[TBone.sixpack]

Thank you!

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

I'm not expecting you to give away your tickets. I don't think enough of the season ticket holders resell theirs on the market beforehand and then they don't show up at all. That to me looks a hell of a lot worse than having more seats all the way to the foul pole that are empty. Another problem is people waiting until game day to sell them instead of putting on the third party market, not many people want to drive 3 hours or more to not have a ticket in hand and then have to stand up through 5 innings. This wasn't that much of a problem when you had a seat for a few hours of the game before while you waited to the 5th inning. Not enough people are selling their tickets when they don't use them. I appreciate that you do. If people would sell their tickets like you do when they aren't using them and if they would have added more seats to the foul line much like trustmark and several other parks, this wouldn't be an issue. berms can't fit the same amount butts as the seats, and they suck when the weather isn't great. They also replaced a good portion of the side with the bullpens reducing a lot of the seating. That's the only option they are giving GA now. Stand, walk around, or sit in the grass for at least 6 innings if you can find a spot. Guess they needed to pay this thing somehow. Alex Box and Baum Stadium both have seating all the way to foul pole. I know that the Baum seating along the line in the outfield is non priority also. Those are two comparable stadiums with comparable fan base support as far as attendance. I'm very happy about a lot of things in the new park; however, they replaced a lot of available seating with the berms and bullpen areas. I don't think many people realized that part of the new grandstand wouldn't be for general admission seating. I don't think they published that enough or made that more clear while they were advertising about the new park. otherwise more folks like myself probably would have tried to get season tickets instead of GA. that's really my only issue with it.

 

[bruiser.sixpack]

That is outstanding!! I have got to have one of these!

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Valid points, trojan. Just, throw in a paragraph break here and there.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

sorry on a laptop. doesn't look as bad there until i swap to mobile.

 

[GTAT]

Again, the problem is we have a ton of people who want season tickets. Those people are the priority. They are willing to pay for a whole season of tickets, whereas the GA crowd just wants a few (and usually the most desirable games).

You can get chairback tickets if you want them. The university has a ticket exchange, but you have to call them ahead of time.

If you are complaining about driving up, spur of the moment, with no ticket, and having a reserved seat, well tough luck pal. You can't do that anywhere unless you are in the outfield bleachers.

 

[HotMop]

sorry on a laptop. doesn't look as bad there until i swap to mobile.

Looks like hell on a laptop.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

You get suppressed by mods armed with antibiotics and then flare back up like herpes.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

touche. point taken. i'll shorten it up.

 

[paindonthurt_]

Valid points, but people can do what they want with their money/tickets.
It’s real simple.
Pony up and buy some if you want them that bad.

 

[GhostOfJackie]

I think it's criminal that we built the best ballpark in the nation and completely left out seating for general admission. There was room in the plans for the ballpark to include this, but we went with the berms (which can't seat that many). I feel for the fans who come for Super Bulldog weekend and find themselves standing for the entire game. Good Luck!

If the problem is with the large amount of people who want season tickets, then we should have built a bigger stadium. Not many people can get to the ballpark an hour or two in advance of the game to reserve a spot on the berm for their entire family. We are going to end up alienating a portion of our fan base without more GA seating options.

 

[paindonthurt_]

The horror of standing at a sporting event for 3 hrs.
Outrageous I tell you.

Soft *** 17ers we have become.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

that's a long 17ing time to stand up for anything without having a seat. Even in the football games students that stand sit down part of the game. Same for basketball. How many major league or minor league baseball games have you gone to where you stood the whole entire game or through 5 innings?