New Stadium Holding Up Team Sale?

[Aircrew]

Was listening to Brock & Salk interview Seth Wickersham yesterday and Seth said Lumen Field's age and the prospect of having to build a new stadium may be one of the factors slowing down the sale of the team. At first I thought that was exaggerated but after processing it I can actually see where it makes sense. Considering it's already 24 years old now (!) and stadiums around that age are already being knocked down, I can see a potential buyer hesitating even though every other factor for this franchise couldn't be better. Just speculation on my part but I think a potential buyer would want a stadium that could lure hosting a Superbowl as well as keep pace with the latest and greatest in the League. If it plays out that they replace Lumen Field in a few years I think it'll be on one hand unfortunate since it's a great building and could still be among the best in the League for another 15-20 years or so. I also think a retractable roof will be in any future stadium's design since it makes sense from a feasibility and viability perspective. Regardless, it's interesting to mull over while the news pipeline is down to a trickle.

 

[RiverDog]

Every stadium ranking I've ever seen has Lumen ranked in the top 10, so I wouldn't think that it would need to be completely torn down, rather an extensive remodel to bring it up to current standards.

 

[Bobblehead]

Nope.. Lumen field as is.. the Weather, the openess, the noise the fan fare far exceeds having a SB or anything else here.. Lumen Field is football.

Anyone remember that 49er game.. lightning.. the atmosphere..priceless.

 

[projectorfreak]

I was there for that game , it was raining so hard rivers were going down the stairs
It was awesome and crazy at the same time

 

[MORGULON]

I was there for that one as well. Soaked

 

[Ruminator]

Could do the new stadium Space Needle style. All the fans' seats rotate around the field about a half-dozen times during regulation play.

 

[keasley45]

It's a valid consideration and may have nothing to do with any desire to build a new stadium in the next dozen years even. But I would think any potential owner or ownership group would be calculating the cost and feasibility of stadium construction during their ownership and trying to get certsin guarantess in place to support any costs associated with expansion / new construction. Lumen is as old as the Kingdome was when it was demolished. Different beast altogether, and Lumen is still a modern facility, but I would have to think that in the next 25 years, capacity is going to be a consideration.

 

[GeekHawk]

The Kingdome was a piece of crap the moment it opened. It completely embodied the general malaise of the early to mid 70s.

 

[chris98251]

It's a valid consideration and may have nothing to do with any desire to build a new stadium in the next dozen years even. But I would think any potential owner or ownership group would be calculating the cost and feasibility of stadium construction during their ownership and trying to get certsin guarantess in place to support any costs associated with expansion / new construction. Lumen is as old as the Kingdome was when it was demolished. Different beast altogether, and Lumen is still a modern facility, but I would have to think that in the next 25 years, capacity is going to be a consideration.

Why this stadium can be expanded to somewhere around 75,000, Paul made it that way for a Super Bowl, the league has jilted us in a couple ways, too cold for outdoor game yet they played one in New York, then saying not enough Hotel and Entertainment in the area.

 

[chris98251]

It's a valid consideration and may have nothing to do with any desire to build a new stadium in the next dozen years even. But I would think any potential owner or ownership group would be calculating the cost and feasibility of stadium construction during their ownership and trying to get certsin guarantess in place to support any costs associated with expansion / new construction. Lumen is as old as the Kingdome was when it was demolished. Different beast altogether, and Lumen is still a modern facility, but I would have to think that in the next 25 years, capacity is going to be a consideration.

Yes in years but not in maintenance, new stadiums can be pieces of shit in 5 years with a cheap owner, Paul kept our field state of the art, upgraded all the time, the footprint may be 24 years but a lot of everything else in it is newer tech or upgrades from when built, the seating even has been cushied up and many places.

 

[IndyHawk]

The Kingdome was a piece of crap the moment it opened. It completely embodied the general malaise of the early to mid 70s.

It was all I knew, it didn't seem like crap to me as a kid, definitely
the loudest stadium I've ever been in since that time, it shook like
crazy during a Hawks game, I remember 50k plus feet stamping
and it was wild.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

A little rain or snow isn't gonna' hurt you. You won't melt. It's football. Bring on the weather.

 

[zelter]

I dread the thought of a new stadium - It probably would be some sort fully enclosed stadium like Sofi or the Minnesota greenhouse. Then they would expect big ass PSLs from the STH.

 

[notyou]

Let's hope the new stadium issue delays the sale for another 20 years.

 

[seabowl]

The lack of hotel rooms to host a Super Bowl is the number one reason there hasn’t been a Super Bowl played in Seattle. Someone else mentioned the cold and that they played a Super Bowl in the New York Metro area. The league got unbelievably lucky with that game as kickoff was 50° and during that next morning after the game, New York was hit with a blizzard.

 

[keasley45]

Why this stadium can be expanded to somewhere around 75,000, Paul made it that way for a Super Bowl, the league has jilted us in a couple ways, too cold for outdoor game yet they played one in New York, then saying not enough Hotel and Entertainment in the area.

It says it's expandable to 71000 on the AI webs

 

[Aircrew]

As a football fan, I only like the open roof experience like we enjoy at Lumen plus I think it's a college/pro hybrid design since it has elements similar to Husky Stadium.

As a general contractor/developer, I think building anything with these kinds of price tags is insane if it does NOT include a retractable roof. The sheer number of events you are able to host goes up exponentially when you have a retractable roof, especially in our climate. When you're trying to make these billion dollar investments pencil, it's all about maximizing ROI.

 

[projectorfreak]

I wasn’t so hot on an open stadium before I got season tix , i was there for the first fanfest and was sold immediately
Holmie split teams and coaches into 4 groups and I just bought a new hat and you only had time for 1 line but it was awesome as i got pics of everyone signing and still have that hat today and it still looks good and very legible , it’s the one next to the helmet

 

[projectorfreak]

So please keep the stadium open , it gives us an advantage at times over those dome teams and QBs that aren’t any good in the rain
I don’t want us to become those guys

 

[SweepSanFran]

I think it is interesting that there isn't one person or pundit mentioning the millionaire's tax that this state has put in place as maybe the reason for the soft interest. For me i could see anyone looking at purchasing the team as wondering if they can move it to a more tax friendly state. This is my biggest fear and would crush me as a forever Seahawks fan. Just my thoughts on it.