The Blue Board

New conference, new demands: Expecting a surge in attendance following its defection from the Big 12 to the SEC, Missouri announced plans today for a $72 million renovation project that will add at least 6,000 new seats to Memorial Stadium, expanding total capacity to 77,000.

The plan – announced on the same day as a "major private gift" to the Mizzou athletic department – calls for 5,200 bleacher seats on the stadium's east side, along with 800 to 900 premium seats and the obligatory addition of new luxury suites on the west side, sales of which are expected to fund most (if not all) of the construction. A newly expanded concourse at the stadium's north entrance will also provide room for another seating increase at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Not sure I get this move. They don't regularly sell out games, why add? Sure, the SEC is going to create more demand. But they don't know how much yet. I'd think a couple seasons above 90% capacity would be good first. They averaged just over 62K last season. As the article points out, that's a bit higher than their 2010 numbers but still down from '09 and '08.

Oh well.