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Utah Athletics Will Conduct Feasability Study For Expansion Of Rice-Eccles Stadium

Utah athletics yesterday announced a university-led "feasibility study for the expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium -- the top hot-button issue for a fanbase that has sold out 38 consecutive home football games," according to a front-page piece by Kyle Goon of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Utah long has known the South End Zone building is in "need of renovation." The study will "help the department determine whether expanding the 45,807-seat stadium as part of the renovation process makes financial sense." It will include a "market analysis as well as study funding models and potential costs of adding to Rice-Eccles." Utah will look at "raising ticket prices as well as ways of securing more private donations to help pay for the potential project." Among the options Utah will explore is "connecting the East and West wings of the stadium, making it a complete bowl." Football coach Kyle Whittingham has been a "vocal proponent of that plan." Whittingham has "overseen a host of upgrades to football facilities," but the South End Zone building "remains an eyesore." The locker rooms and other functional areas used by the team and some of the top boosters "have not aged well." The issue of expansion has been a "thorny one" for AD Chris Hill, who has "promoted caution rather than charging to add seats." Hill "cited the price tag, which would be expected to range in the tens of millions, and the overall decreasing attendance in college football as chief reasons to be circumspect about expanding" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 3/28). In Utah, Ryan McDonald noted the study will "consider the feasibility of additional suites, loges, fan interaction and concession areas." Every football game since the '10 season opener has sold out. For the past seven years, Utah has had a 98% "renewal rate for its football season tickets" (DESERETNEWS.com, 3/27).

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