After being the home to Mississippi State football for 100 years, Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field deserves an upgrade, and that is exactly what it will receive for the occasion. The $75 million project to expand the stadium will be completed in time for State’s first home game of the 2014 season against Southern Mississippi.
The two main areas being expanded are the north end zone and west concourse. The expansion will raise the capacity from 55,082 to 61,337. A total of 8,815 new seats will be added for a net increase of 6,255.
MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin said work on the stadium will begin immediately, and he said he hopes not to lose any seating capacity for the 2013 season.
“As every Bulldog fan knows, the last two years have been pretty exciting– consecutive winning seasons, consecutive bowl wins and attendance records. All those things have put us in a position to have a foundation that will lead to more success and consistency and eventually championships, but facilities are another important factor in building that foundation,” Stricklin said.
The newly renovated north end zone will feature 7,000 grandstand seats, four new premium areas and 22 new suites. There will also be 236 loge seats, which are similar to club seats but have more room and are in groups of four, six and eight. In addition, there will be a new scoreboard the same size as the one in the south end zone, which is the second largest in the NCAA (second only to the University of Texas). The new club level will include 1,100 seats and have patios on the east and west sides for fans to stretch and fellowship.
A special feature of the North end zone will be the Gridiron. This is a club-like place on the ground level. There are no seats, but anyone with a ticket can buy a membership into the Gridiron and go there before or during the game. There will be a terrace outside of the Gridiron near the field where fans can stand and watch pregame warm-ups or the game. It will be open two hours before the game and accommodate 750 people. Similar to a club, the Gridiron will have televisions, drinks, food and lockers. It will cost $750 to purchase a membership in the Gridiron, and fans must be a season ticket holder to purchase a membership.
Head coach Dan Mullen said he hopes to have an SEC Championship by the time his team moves into the new stadium.
“I told our fan base if we sell out the stadium, we can build a winning program, but we need to do that first. They deserve that and responded by selling out 16 straight games,” Mullen said. “I put pressure on myself every year to win, and we have to continue to put pressure on ourselves to put a great product on the field that the people in Mississippi can be proud of. And there’s a lot of pressure on our fan base to step up their game even more and create an even more exciting environment.”
As for the west concourse, it will be completely gutted out and rebuilt with new restrooms and new concession stands. The number of restroom fixtures will increase from 313 to 621, and seven new elevators will be added to the stadium.
Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said this will be a natural progression and will allow the Bulldogs to compete for championships.
“As charter members of the most prestigious athletic conference in the nation, this expansion will allow us to be even more competitive in this very competitive league,” Keenum said. “I want to commend Scott Stricklin– we by far have the best athletic director in the entire SEC– and his athletic staff for vision and commitment to hard work to make this possible. I want to commend Coach Mullen and all the coaches for their leadership and commitment to excellence here in our football program and the players for what they’re doing to set an example for all of us by leading the way and having a new tradition of winning football here at MSU.”
As far as student seating goes, the plan is to keep the allotment the same for the 2014 season. MSU offers approximately 11,000 student seats, which is among the top two or three in the SEC,but Stricklin said he will be willing to look at it if enrollment continues to increase.