UNC Charlotte Football

[Niner National]

What renderings? I haven't been able to find anything new.

I'm glad they're eyeing FBS quicker than anticipated. Being an independent FCS team will not do well for the team if only for a few years. I'm saddened that they did not find a conference to fit in, if even only for a couple years.

On a side note, I hate to bring back up an age-old argument (and for the sake of not resurrecting that thread, I'll mention this here,) but UNC Charlotte really needs to change its name. Today I overheard somebody talking about the football program; he called it the University of Chapel Hill at Charlotte. I'm pretty sure I almost threw up. I had no choice but to interrupt. I'm really sick and tired of people treating the university like it is just a satellite location of UNC-CH. The man looked at me like I was crazy when I corrected him. I had to explain to him that Charlotte was not affiliated with Chapel Hill in any way outside of just being another school in the University of North Carolina system. I had to compare Independence to Butler in order for him to understand how that could possibly be.

I have a friend who earned her MBA from Chapel Hill a few years back. To this day she is still convinced that Charlotte is a satellite of Chapel Hill, and any argument I make to the contrary is quickly met with anger that I’m even bringing it up.

What I’m trying to say is that Charlotte doesn't need the "NC" moniker. There is no reason for it. The University of Charlotte or Charlotte University would be just fine IMO. They're changing conferences, why not just take the opportunity to jump the brand and be rid of the satellite image? I'm tired of trying to educate the daft.

My bad, I attached it, but I guess it didn't work.

The black sections on the sides are new. They were not in the old renderings. I pulled these as a screenshot from ninernation.net which is why it has what looks like attachment links in the picture.

Edited May 3, 2012 by rworkman09

[AuLukey]

Hmm, yea that must be in order to increase attendance numbers for bigger games so the average for the first two seasons can be large enough to make the step up.

I get this very much. The Athletics for the University is officially marketed as Charlotte by the way (not UNC Charlotte) but of course the media and common knowledge knows it as UNC Charlotte.

I wish the chancellor could see that as enough of a sign that a change is needed for the entire campus. I meant that since we are adding another athletics program under the moniker "Charlotte" rather than UNCC, and switching conferences, it couldn't hurt to just stick with it. Even the grad school on campus is known as Charlotte Research Institute. Seems like a trend on campus for anything new.

[Niner National]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/04/3218602/charlotte-49ers-to-move-to-football.html

Now official.

The chancellor confirmed during Q&A that temporary seating will be put in place to increase capacity by 2500-5000 until expansion is performed. He said stadium expansion could take place as early as 2015 and that they would be meeting with architects shortly.

[AuLukey]

Where are the doubters, naysayers, and haters now?

Just sayin

[Niner National]

I got down on the field last Friday and had some pictures taken.

I also grabbed a few pieces of field they'd cut off.

Figure it'll be something cool to have 40 years from now.

[SentioVenia]

Kind of disappointed that it's artificial turf, but it does look good. The black end zones are especially cool.

[MilZ]

Just a heads up to everyone on this beautiful Saturday am... The green and white football game is at unc Charlotte today so if your interested in seeing this stadium in action for the first time (the scoreboard will finally be used) gen admission is only $10 online and free if youre a student or can get a guest ticket.

Now I'm off to tailgate my alma mater for the first time. Go Niners!

[Urbanity]

^The scoreboards they installed last week look great.   It's a milestone for the University!   Have a great time.

[Niner National]

Saturday was a great day. Great weather in a beautiful on-campus stadium with a nearly full house. Our attendance was arguably 2nd best in the state. UNC claimed 17,000, but I saw the photos and I'd say they were stretching the truth quite a bit.

 

State had 24,000 I believe.

 

We definitely had an advantage since it was our first Spring game ever, but impressive nonetheless.

[Urbanity]

^With stadium sitting 15,000 and most media quoting 14,000 range I agree the 17K number is a lot of fluff.

 

That said living in UNCC area and seeing everyone in Charlotte gear on Saturday in the hood I think it was a great start to what can become an awesome new tradition.

[Niner National]

^With stadium sitting 15,000 and most media quoting 14,000 range I agree the 17K number is a lot of fluff.

 

That said living in UNCC area and seeing everyone in Charlotte gear on Saturday in the hood I think it was a great start to what can become an awesome new tradition.

No, UNC claimed 17k, not Charlotte.

 

I'm thinking there is a pretty good chance that temporary seats are put into place to boost capacity. Coach Lambert said in an interview last month that we were going to "try to pack 20,000 people in the place if the fire marshall will allow it." I doubt they'd sell 5,000 standing room only seats and there were some unreleased renderings I posted here a while back that showing temporary seating on both sides of the field.

[Niner National]

Stadium will be named today at 11:30

 

http://inside.uncc.edu/live-stream

 

 

I'm hoping for Areva, Electrolux, or one of the other companies that have moved to the University area recently.

[tozmervo]

...don't get your hopes up on that.

 

/knowsthename

[MilZ]

Can we get an UP exclusive? *holds breath*

[tozmervo]

only if everyone can pitch in to replace my salary

[tozmervo]

...and "Jerry Richardson Stadium" is the name

[kermit]

NM (scooped)

Edited June 11, 2013 by kermit

[MilZ]

Richardson Stadium, McColl-Richardson Field, Cone-McColl-Richardson Fieldhouse, Generic-Cone-McColl-Richardson Statue.

[Niner National]

The fieldhouse is called Judy Rose Fieldhouse.

[15895]

...don't get your hopes up on that.

/knowsthename

Jerry Richardson stadium.

[rugger62]

As much as Jerry's BS with running the Panthers has bothered me over the last decade, that was a huge donation. Thanks Jerry!

[Urbanity]

Cool news WCCB will carry Charlotte 49er's Football games for at least three years!

http://gmine.blogspot.com/2013/07/wccb-to-televise-charlotte-49ers-home.html

Edited July 19, 2013 by Urbanity

[Niner National]

So pretty much everything has fallen into place perfectly for Charlotte since football was announced. We have a coaching staff full of BCS experienced coaches, we were invited to an FBS conference before ever playing a down, Jerry Richardson donated twice what we were asking for for naming rights, and now we have a TV deal. Season tickets are sold out and only a handful of the more expensive FSLs remain. For all intents and purposes, the season is already sold out.

 

The Panthers also donated a ton of stuff to the team this week. Cleats and other necessary equipment.

 

Bring on the expansion to 25,000. Hopefully that will be announced before the beginning of next season.

[jednc]

Some pictures of Charlotte's Football Stadium...

[Niner National]

For those of you that haven't been, check it out sometime. They stadium feels much bigger in person than it looks in pictures. With the move to CUSA, I think we'll see the expansion to 25,000 happen in the next 2-3 years. It'll probably be a while before the expansion to 40,000 happens though because that comes with a new press box, suites, and a lot of other costly additions. The expansion to 25,000 is mostly just adding a second tier of seating.

 

The sunken bowl design makes the stadium feel a lot bigger than it actually is. With a second tier taking it to 25,000 it will feel more like a 40,000 seat stadium simple because of the way it is designed. The school really did a phenomenal job with the stadium. So much better than the steel framed erector set style stadiums so many schools have built. Our's is first class all the way. We've had several coaches from much bigger programs tour it and they said, while smaller, it was every bit as first class as the nicest stadiums they've been in.