Brown Stadium upgrades

[dgreco]

Brown is getting a new video board.

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/2012/07/new-videoboard.html

http://news.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/brown_mockup_0730.jpg

[Sader87]

Good for Brown....at the game last year it was nearly impossible to make it out from the visiting side...beautiful day but with the glare it was very hard to read the scoreboard.

[bulldog10jw]

It's still a glorified high school stadium

[Bogus Megapardus]

Will the new video board display in English?

[Go...gate]

It's still a glorified high school stadium

A lot of history in that fine old ballpark.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Haven't been in over a decade but I really like Brown Stadium for what it is. Obviously a much cozier vibe than Yale Bowl, Franklin Field or Harvard Stadium. Visitor side bleachers very "high school"-ish but much better than a stadium with just one side IMO.

[Go Green]

Brown could use the help. They finished at the bottom of the Ivy last season even with the Ivy offensive MVP.

Someone posted on the Ivy board around 2015 that Brown was raising its admissions standards. I thought "Dartmouth has seen this movie before. Brown is in for some tough seasons." I was right.

[TJT]

I had wondered whether Brown might sometimes play at the new Tidewater Landing Soccer Stadium that is being built just 2 miles from Brown Stadium. It will have far more modern amenities and will be more easily accessible being visible from Route 95.

[Sader87]

Brown Stadium is a fine venue....much like Fitton Field at HC, you're right on top of the action....for its size, viewing etc..it's probably one of the bettah FCS stadiums in the country.

[Go...gate]

Brown Stadium is a fine venue....much like Fitton Field at HC, you're right on top of the action....for its size, viewing etc..it's probably one of the bettah FCS stadiums in the country.

I wholeheartedly agree. Hardly a glorified high school stadium.

[DFW HOYA]

Brown Stadium is a fine venue....much like Fitton Field at HC, you're right on top of the action....for its size, viewing etc..it's probably one of the bettah FCS stadiums in the country.

It's not even in the top half in the Ivy League.

[NY Crusader 2010]

It's not even in the top half in the Ivy League.

Ranking Ivy League stadia is impossible IMO. They all have their own charm, but manifested in different ways. Harvard, Yale and Penn have the size and 100+ years of history. Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth all have more quaint, intimate gameday atmospheres. Columbia's stadium has the Hudson River backdrop and Princeton has the only "modern" stadium (finished in 1996) that probably should have been built a little bit smaller.

[DFW HOYA]

Ranking Ivy League stadia is impossible IMO. They all have their own charm, but manifested in different ways. Harvard, Yale and Penn have the size and 100+ years of history. Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth all have more quaint, intimate gameday atmospheres. Columbia's stadium has the Hudson River backdrop and Princeton has the only "modern" stadium (finished in 1996) that probably should have been built a little bit smaller.

It's impossible, but it's the off season, after all.

Penn, Yale, and Harvard (in that order) stand the test of time. Princeton is a great place to watch a game but it lacks the history of the aforementioned three.

Brown and Dartmouth never give off the "stadium" aura and seem pedestrian by comparison. Schoellkopf Field has seen better days and I fear there will be, at some point, a call to relocate the stadium towards the east to open that land for development, as they are doing with Hoy Field.

https://ithacavoice.com/2021/06/cornell-plans-relocation-for-hoy-baseball-field/

Columbia was disappointing and already shows its age. From the visitors side, you can't see much of anything.

[Sader87]

It's not even in the top half in the Ivy League.

The Ivy League has the best stadia of any FCS league collectively....Brown Stadium would be among the best stadiums in every other FCS conference.

[Sitting Bull]

The Ivy League has the best stadia of any FCS league collectively....Brown Stadium would be among the best stadiums in every other FCS conference.

I think that depends on how you define “best”. I’ve been to a few - Harvard, Yale, Penn. They all have history and nostalgia - but all seemed very out-of-date. Like the Universities themselves, lots of history and tradition though none of them seemed relevant anymore. Older, dark, crumbling - from a different era.

It doesn’t help that all of them are now ridiculously large for the fan followings. When you have 5,000 people in the Yale Bowl, it’s not a good look.

I think a discussion on best conference stadiums is worthy but for the east coast, I have to think the CAA schools have done an excellent job overall with modern Stadium updates that are relevant to FCS football. Other than Villanova, nearly every CAA member has performed major upgrades on their stadiums last 10 years (UR, UNH, W&M, Delaware, UAlbany). Others like Elon, SBU and Towson are excellent FCS stadiums in original design.

[DFW HOYA]

Putting aside the Ivies, gameday facilities in college football tend to trend with program success: the better the program, the more likely it is for them to have a competitive stadium. CAA schools tend to be near the top of the subdivision so their facilities show it; conversely, those of us at the bottom have stadia that reflect it.

[centraljerseycat]

It's impossible, but it's the off season, after all.

Penn, Yale, and Harvard (in that order) stand the test of time. Princeton is a great place to watch a game but it lacks the history of the aforementioned three.

Brown and Dartmouth never give off the "stadium" aura and seem pedestrian by comparison. Schoellkopf Field has seen better days and I fear there will be, at some point, a call to relocate the stadium towards the east to open that land for development, as they are doing with Hoy Field.

https://ithacavoice.com/2021/06/cornell-plans-relocation-for-hoy-baseball-field/

Columbia was disappointing and already shows its age. From the visitors side, you can't see much of anything.

I'll take a game day at Dartmouth or Brown over Penn, Princeton or Yale any day. The latter 3 have stadiums way too large given the current level of interest in football at these schools.

And yes Villanova is an outlier in the CAA. It may be a dump but it's our dump dammit. Stadium beer sales, winning and a student section that was more involved in '21 than they had been in 25 years helps...

[Sader87]

32448As I've said earlier, sightlines on the home side are very good...visitor's not so much.
It's one of the few stadiums (I know of anway) that is basically in a neighborhood....sort of sneaks up on you when looking for it. Pretty good parking/tailgating facilities considering it is basically in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Built in 1925...capacity of 20K.

[UNHWildcat18]

I'll take a game day at Dartmouth or Brown over Penn, Princeton or Yale any day. The latter 3 have stadiums way too large given the current level of interest in football at these schools.

And yes Villanova is an outlier in the CAA. It may be a dump but it's our dump dammit. Stadium beer sales, winning and a student section that was more involved in '21 than they had been in 25 years helps...

Maybe I’m a psycho but one thing that really irks me about Villanova’s stadium is that on the home side the last section turns into the track, a more ecompassing design, yet the away sides last section does not. If I were nova I’d A change that, and B build a third level on the press box, make that first one concessions/ammenities. then put a second level on each side of the press box. There is room for it IMO.

[DFW HOYA]

Maybe I’m a psycho but one thing that really irks me about Villanova’s stadium is that on the home side the last section turns into the track, a more ecompassing design, yet the away sides last section does not. If I were nova I’d A change that, and B build a third level on the press box, make that first one concessions/ammenities. then put a second level on each side of the press box. There is room for it IMO.

Be it ever so humble, Villanova still has a better setup than Georgetown or Butler.

[NY Crusader 2010]

The Yale Bowl could definitely use a focus on higher quality seating. They also "premium" admission, as opposed to "General Admission", if you want to sit between the 30's on either side. They differentiate with a yellow rope separating this middle section. Seems a little bit petty given that the seats in this area are no different -- the same uncomfortable church pews that go around the rest of the bowl.

The game night atmosphere at the Holy-Cross Villanova game exceeded my expectations this past December. Students showed up in force.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

I have been to Villanova Stadium a few times and never thought it was "bad" or an embarrassment. Given its location and size it seems quite "practical" all things considered.

There have been very few stadiums that I have come across (at any point in time) where I said "yikes, this place sucks!". Georgetown is bad because it's been a junior high setup, Fisher Field when it was crumbling was bad, likewise with the Yale Bowl in 2004 when I made my first trip to the historic venues. I remember sections of Palmer Stadium being condemned in the late 80s, early 90s. Christy Mathewson Stadium also had serious structural issues around that time. Even at UNH I was shocked to find the "away" side was an eyesore in 2016 after the extensive renovation. Otherwise? I've always enjoyed my trips to Villanova, Jack Coffey at Fordham, Johnny Unitas when it was one-sided etc. I feel like JCF often gets a bad rap; it's a 7,500 seat facility in the middle of the Bronx! It meets the two biggest requirements, functionality and it's "clean/safe".

[Sitting Bull]

I don’t think Villanova has a bad stadium. There just haven’t been any fan updates that I can see over the years. It’s functional but a bit dated - compared now to the other CAA schools though it’s starting to look a bit drab. The other members have just invested and updated their own stadiums, in. some cases totally new construction (W&M, UR, UNH).

The tailgating isn’t great either. Villanova has a nice campus though the tailgating we had was in a parking lot across the street, not all that attractive.

It would be nice to see Villanova make some updates. They certainly have the money.

[Anthony215]

I don’t think Villanova has a bad stadium. There just haven’t been any fan updates that I can see over the years. It’s functional but a bit dated - compared now to the other CAA schools though it’s starting to look a bit drab. The other members have just invested and updated their own stadiums, in. some cases totally new construction (W&M, UR, UNH).

The tailgating isn’t great either. Villanova has a nice campus though the tailgating we had was in a parking lot across the street, not all that attractive.

It would be nice to see Villanova make some updates. They certainly have the money.

Villanova has the same issue as Monmouth the locals hate outsiders invading their town lol. Therefore expect few if any major updates to the stadium especially expansion. Partially the reason even their BB arena with their shiny updates still is on the small side for top 20 D1 programs. I would say they're probably the smallest home arena for Men Basketball in all of the Power 6 with 6500 seats.

[centraljerseycat]

I don’t think Villanova has a bad stadium. There just haven’t been any fan updates that I can see over the years. It’s functional but a bit dated - compared now to the other CAA schools though it’s starting to look a bit drab. The other members have just invested and updated their own stadiums, in. some cases totally new construction (W&M, UR, UNH).

The tailgating isn’t great either. Villanova has a nice campus though the tailgating we had was in a parking lot across the street, not all that attractive.

It would be nice to see Villanova make some updates. They certainly have the money.

Yeah I was a bit harsh. Villanova Stadium is not a dump. Functional is a perfect adjective. The campus is gorgeous especially now with all the building of the last decade but no money has been spent on the stadium and it sorely needs an upgrade. Tailgating has improved the last few years. Alums can tailgate on the Campus Green where the school supplies canopies and tables and there has been less gestapo tactics to discourage tailgating behind the stadium. The gameday atmosphere has improved to a degree with beer sales and tremendous student turnout last season. The sound system has been upgraded from 1968 to 1978 technology too!

[MR. CHICKEN]

Yeah I was a bit harsh. Villanova Stadium is not a dump. Functional is a perfect adjective. The campus is gorgeous especially now with all the building of the last decade but no money has been spent on the stadium and it sorely needs an upgrade. Tailgating has improved the last few years. Alums can tailgate on the Campus Green where the school supplies canopies and tables and there has been less gestapo tactics to discourage tailgating behind the stadium. The gameday atmosphere has improved to a degree with beer sales and tremendous student turnout last season. The sound system has been upgraded from 1968 to 1978 technology too!

....'NOVA IS UH DUMP....(BATHROOMS........BOARD UH HEALTH...SHOOD SHUT 'EM DOWN &...ONE TUBA.......THREE DRUMMERS.....COUPLE UH PICCOLOS.....& FOUR BRASS....IS NOT UH BAND)...DELAWARE IS FCS MECCA...BILL & MARE'S/RICHMOND'S..ARE NICE......TOWSON YA SIT TO FAR AWAY.......RHODE ISLAND IS IN RHODE ISLAND......MAINE'S FANS HANGOUT @ DUH ICE RINK......STONY BROOK IS HARD TA GET TO........AWQ!