This right here is the epitome of the board lol
I think it's totally fair for fans to be frustrated if they feel that the DIA seems to not really view the Horseshoe as a problem to be solved. Memorial Stadium is absolutely beautiful and we proved to actually be capable of an awesome home field atmosphere a couple times last year and this year ... many fans like myself want so badly to take that next step and be spoken of in the same breath as the Kinnick Stadiums of the world. And while some might see it as overly dramatic, I don't think that is ever happening while the Horseshoe stands as is. Having an entire end of the stadium taken up by gradually sloping stands that are almost comically far from the field and that just look so much less cool than the rest of the stadium is an eyesore to be fixed, not something to shrug off.
you gotta start somewhere
Would the DIA love to do something with the horseshoe.....absolutely but do you know how expensive that is? Got any more 100 million dollar checks laying around? Not to mention the time it would take to re do it. This is a great start that costs 5-7 million to do. They will also continue to upgrade the stadium in other ways.I think it's totally fair for fans to be frustrated if they feel that the DIA seems to not really view the Horseshoe as a problem to be solved. Memorial Stadium is absolutely beautiful and we proved to actually be capable of an awesome home field atmosphere a couple times last year and this year ... many fans like myself want so badly to take that next step and be spoken of in the same breath as the Kinnick Stadiums of the world. And while some might see it as overly dramatic, I don't think that is ever happening while the Horseshoe stands as is. Having an entire end of the stadium taken up by gradually sloping stands that are almost comically far from the field and that just look so much less cool than the rest of the stadium is an eyesore to be fixed, not something to shrug off.
With all of that said, I am excited about the video board! And I am also in no way assuming that a renovation of the SEZ is not on Josh's radar. I frankly think he is too competent to not think about that topic. In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with less "transformative" improvements like this! So, I guess I agree that it is kind of unreasonable to complain about a literally awesome new videoboard simply because we didn't get everything we would ever want in one announcement!
P.S. Shifting gears here ... I'm sorry, but there is no actually good excuse for the long-term plan to be to keep the SEZ stands that far from the end zone. Practice space?? Good Lord, I am sure that is indeed a short-term logistical argument for not, let's say, putting temporary bleachers that bring the stands down to field level ... but that is some small-time thinking if we ever let that temporary convenience get in the way of a proper renovation of our stadium.
Would you look Bret Bielema in the face and tell him you're taking functional space he says he needs to prepare his team away from him?
I was going to say, much like 60 inch flat screen HDTV's cost shockingly little these days, I bet this costs less than we might think.
Better think quick on where you're going to sit.
This may put more pressure on tickets outside the SEZ and reduce demand in SEZ??
Fair enough, but I think based on the wording after the announcement of the Gies gift, a lot of fans developed the pretty darn reasonable expectation (again, based on the wording of the announcement) that part of the $100 million would go toward a "stadium renovation." Given that the east/west sides of our stadium look Blue Blood-level quality, the north side looks like about a B+ and the south side looks like we stole it from a semi-decent MAC field ... I think a lot of us reasonably assumed a renovation of the SEZ would at least be on the medium-term horizon.
Hell, if I had the chance to talk to Coach Bielema, I wouldn't use that opportunity to talk about anything more than thanking him for the once-unthinkable hope he's given many long-suffering Illini fans because of what an incredible job he has done here. But if he said, "Thanks man, want to go grab a beer and shoot the $hIt?" I would absolutely ask him if there wasn't some other way we could move whatever the hell we are doing in the dead Horseshoe space to some other similarly sized space anywhere in Champaign-Urbana, and I would certainly bring up that clearly 90%+ of programs don't feel the need to have this massive, empty patch of grass between the end zone and the first row of seats.
That's sort of the point of frustration, though. The only options for the Horseshoe should not be (A) do absolutely nothing to improve its setup or (B) secure the funds for a $400 million A++ renovation. If a "big" renovation isn't in the cards for the next decade, fine! We can accept that the structure is here to stay. At least fill in the seats down to field level and think about adding more seats at the top on either side of the scoreboard. The exterior looks awful anyway, until it's redone at least we can have taller stands that trap more noise.
Don't forget about the Summer movies in the stadium, I'm hoping to take my kids this yearMaybe Gies’ grandkids just want it to play MarioKart???
I can appreciate that. Certainly, if this "only" costs $5-7M, and other upgrades to sound, wifi, etc. are coming, then this does make some good sense.
Well, part of the consequence of our dinky little SEZ is that not many other venues have a place to put a board of that size that virtually the entire stadium has a good sight line towards.
Within the press release, there are details about the other boards. A "super ribbon" to go above the student section in the north endzone that will measure 12.5 ft by 180 feet. That is approximately 3x the height of our current ribbon boards, and pretty much confirms that it will be used primarily as a scoreboard with some ads and messaging for fans (i.e. not videos).
Illinois, Daktronics Install Largest Video Display in College Football - University of Illinois Athletics
16 LED displays added to Gies Memorial Stadium ahead of 2026 season.fightingillini.com
We’ve taken grandkids the last few years, it’s a good time.
