Everything Mizzou AD Veatch said about ongoing NEZ construction

Missouri Athletic Director Laird Veatch met with the media Monday to discuss the ongoing construction on the North End Zone at Memorial Stadium.

Here is a transcript of everything he said.

Opening statement

Veatch: “Good afternoon, everybody. Thanks for taking the time to join us. Welcome back to the stadium that you all are about to spend a lot more time on, in, here in the coming weeks. Appreciate your time. We did think this was an appropriate backdrop and great idea, until it was, you know, 100 degrees. So the faster, the fewer questions you asked me at the end, the faster we’ll all get out of here, and we sweat less. So no, I do appreciate your time. I do want to start with a few comments. And then we’ll open it up for questions here at the end.

“First of all, special thanks to our fans. Season tickets in particular, we have sold out again, as you all know. So the momentum continues two years in a row. And in fact, we have sold more season tickets and faster than we did last year. Which is pretty remarkable in the big scheme of things we are all in. I think an important number to know is we should finish north of 40,000 that includes student tickets, etc. Which, which is, which is awesome. And is an increase over last year.

“We were able to work with some of our visiting team allotments. Which I think is even more exciting, and shrink those down a little bit. Made some more tickets available to fans. Huge testament to our fans’ will to win. We’ve been talking a lot of, a lot about that here over the last year or so. Been asking a lot of our people, including raising ticket prices, and they have responded. Which we are obviously very appreciative of. It really shows that they believe in what we’re trying to accomplish together. And we’re going to continue to push forward together.

“I especially want to thank and welcome our new season ticket holders. So we contacted over 2,500 new season ticket holders on our waiting list that we had really, for the first time this year, sold over 3,000 new season tickets. This project that’s right behind us, the Memorial Stadium Centennial project, is going great. So that’s the big message we all need to know and understand. It is on time. It is moving forward really well. We are closing in on $100 million in, in gifts and pledges towards this project, of our goal for $125 million. Really good momentum overall. A lot of excitement around the project, especially when you bring people down here and they can see the magnitude and scope of the project, what it’s really going to be, and also when you’re able to actually be in the facility.

“So the senior leadership team and I took a little hands on tour this last week. Walked through the facility, and it is really hard to do it justice until you get in there and you see the sight lines. Particularly with how much farther forward and how straight up it is. The sight lines are incredible.

“And the magnitude of the project sort of, sort of speaks for itself. We will soon be shifting into sales mode. Now that we get through this, this, this season, full sales mode for those premium opportunities going into next year. Of course, closing out on that, that philanthropic goal that we, that we stated, and for fans that are donors that are genuinely interested in having those opportunities, we are going to create some opportunities here in the coming weeks for them to have tours into the facility and actually see those, those directly.

“We do remain on target from from a construction standpoint. A couple of interesting tidbits. They have been working 24 hour shifts. So I doubt you all are out here two o’clock in the morning checking on that. But they are working 24 hours here in recent weeks, and over the next few weeks. What you’re going to see, actually, starting tomorrow, is steel going up in this northeast corner. And really, by the time that our football season is really rolling here, that’s going to complete out for these first couple games of ours and you’ll really get a sense for the magnitude and scope of the project.

“And the other other tidbit is that we will remain in, under construction on game days. So, we’re going to stop once the gates open. So, but it is safe, so as fans are out there seeing it, they’re seeing steel continue to fly, or a lot of workers out there and during their tailgates. That is planned and appropriate, but we assure fans that it’s safe, and we’ll make sure, we’ll shut it down before, before the gates are actually open.

“Speaking of football game days. Kickoff in Como is just 10 days away, as you know, and I really need your help. We need your help to communicate the message that this season is going to be different because of this project that’s behind us. So where we can really use your assistance is getting that message out and asking our fans to really pay attention to the messaging that comes out over the next couple of weeks.

“A lot of details, obviously a small price of progress, but we ask our fans to bear with us as they experience this season just a little bit differently. We’ve been planning for this, as you might imagine, really since last season ended. So we feel very confident that it should be fairly seamless. There’s going to be as minimal disruption as possible. But we are going to ask fans to pay attention to differences.

“Primarily, those differences are this. There is no North End Zone available right, as you can see right here in front of us. So there is therefore no Gate 1, right? That means there is not access through the north end of the stadium. It means there’s no general admission Hill tickets, right? We have no hill this this year right in front of us. We can see that that is, that is under construction.

“And finally, there’s going to be less concourse space. So for, for fans to be able to get around and move, particularly during the game, that’s going to be limited. If you want to go from the east side to the west side, the south end is the only way to do that right? Without Gate 1, there’s no North End Zone access, as I mentioned, so therefore this is another key element. We’re asking fans to plan ahead, particularly their walking route to the stadium. So if you’re on the East side when your seats are on the east side, please go around and enter from the east side. If your seats are on the west side, enter from the west side. It’s going to be much more difficult to enter and get from one side of the other. So that’s really important.

“We’re also encouraging fans to plan extra travel time because of all the construction going on in our highways. So you all know, painfully that there’s a lot of work being done, right, and they’re going to be delays for that. So please plan ahead. We know our fans don’t want to miss their tailgate time in particular. So they need to leave even earlier than they have in the past.

“We do have, as you can see, a small scoreboard in this north end that is primarily for, for the teams as they’re, they’re, you know, they’re marching north. They can look up and be able to see what they are, what they’re managing from a game standpoint. There will be no North End video board for this season, right? That’s a rumor that I know, I’ve heard is going out a little round, a little bit. That was cost prohibitive, really not a good investment of resources. So the North End scoreboard is what you’ll see here for for the season.

“And finally, we are planning some exciting things to continue to invest in and enhance the fan experience. Which is obviously important to us. First of all, the new lights. So hopefully you all have seen that and recognize we have new lights. So we’ll have the choreographed opportunities. Which is going to be a lot of fun for our fans, now being able to experience before new sound systems.

“So you can actually see one of the line arrays, I believe. Maybe you can’t from this perspective. But we actually purchased the new sound system already for this season. So on a temporary basis, that will be brought in and be used for for this season. We’ll have a new Tiger fan zone just north of the traffic circle that include TVs, food trucks, beer opportunities, etc. And we are really working at making our in game time outs even more fan friendly.

“So what that means is seeing less of me waving on the field and more fun, music, etc. So as part of our home field advantage, we want to keep pushing that forward. Another shift we’re making that you should see as a noticeable, noticeable difference going into the year. And we do have some new concessions. I hear the bacon wrapped hot dog is supposed to be really good from from what, I’ve not had it yet, but I’m sure it’s gonna be awesome. And we do continue with some of our fan-friendly pricing. So with that, I will stop, gonna hit the highlights and then open it up for questions.

Question: “Can you ballpark capacity?”

Veatch: “Yeah, we are working on a final number for you now that there’s a lot of things that go into that. We’ll have that for the first game. But it is, but by that we will, so here in the next week, we want to be able to come and give you specifics and be able to break down the formula, but we’re working on that.”

Question: “I know the student tickets sold out really quickly. What’s the allotment looking like? Is it going to be fewer than it has been in the past?”

Veatch: “Yeah, what it does do, what this project does, and particularly for this year, is it makes it more difficult for us to have, you know, the room for expansion, you know, the you know, kind of overflow area, if you will. So our total allotment of Zou passes is slightly less than what it was last year. I think it was just about 500 less in total, and we are going to shift to a claim process. There you go. Claim process similar to what we do for men’s basketball, because of the demand.

“So another great problem to have is to when you get to a point where, obviously there’s just limited number of seats in the stadium. So we’re managing that, working through it. That, we do understand that can be challenging for students that were planning on it, that planning on it. But we’re going to continue to try to make all those, as many available as we possibly can, within fire codes. And, and also we’ll look at adjustments in the future as this, as demand continues. But then certainly there’s going to be other opportunities on the hill that opens back up.”

Question: “When it does up up, can you give us a kind of idea of what the scale and the size of the hill and the Rock M are going to be?”

Veatch: “Yeah, as you see, if you see the the outline of the club section below, so you see where it, where it’s kind of stair steps up on either side, that, that will, below level will be our field level club, right? So what you see right now will have field-level suites in this outline here. And then there’ll be access to a club behind that, the roof, which will essentially go above where those stairs, stair steps are currently, will, will house the hill, essentially, right?

“So that will be the outline of what our Hill will look like. Obviously there’ll be some construction around it. But we can tell, we’re working on final plans for that. But we are planning on holding on to that same kind of tradition. Where we can have students and kids and others up on that hill, on that surface. Obviously it’s a rooftop, right? Of the of the club below, but you’ll see that that same sort of visual effect and a similar operation.”

Question: “Can you get a sense for just how much louder, even this season, it’s going to feel maybe down here on Faurot Field?”

Veatch: “Yeah, until we get there and actually see it, I think, I don’t think any of us can really fully appreciate the difference it’s going to make. But you’re going to start to really get an understanding of it just this year. Obviously, next year, even more so you have more enclosed than it has been. But just standing here, you can feel the difference. I mean, you can see the magnitude of that project and just the overall sort of coliseum effect that it gives to the stadium.”

Question: “Other than more seats on that side, what are some other ripple effects that you could see coming from this project?”

Veatch: “Well, you know, there’s, there’s the obvious, you know, we’re gonna add about 3,000 premium seats. Which is, which is a huge opportunity for us. Particularly given in this era of need for revenue, and how that can be kind of the front line of competition in a lot of ways. So that’s critically important. That’s going to provide a great experience for those folks. But like I said, it’s going to impact the in-stadium experience. Obviously going to really impact how we look from outside the stadium. And then there’s going to be other elements, the lights, the sound. We’re going to be working on other things with concessions, restrooms, etc. So it is really going to truly touch all the fans. I think there’s going to be be an experience improvement and a pride point for everybody.”

Question: “I know this year is a moving target for capacity. But do you have an idea of what capacity will be once everything is done?”

Veatch: “We’re working on that as well. We’re still trying to get the final numbers, but we do plan to have that for you. So we’ll start with this year and the adjustments. And that’s one of the things we want to make sure we can really dial in and be consistent with and show you, here’s the impacts of this year so that it projects forward correctly next year without any computer. So we’re, we’re in the final stages of providing that.”

Question: “Bigger or smaller?”

“It will be, it should be slightly bigger. Yes. I mean, you’re gonna, there’d be a net gain, certainly. It is not intended to be a capacity, a significant capacity growth. That was not the plan from the beginning. And I think for a lot of reasons, that’s the smart and right, right way to look at expansion these days. And what you’re seeing across the country.”

Question: “Other than more progress, is anything on this side going to look different for game days?”

Veatch: “From, from a game-day standpoint, other than once the, just really over the next couple, three weeks, as that deal continues to enclose in the northeast end and that’s finalized, I think that’s the biggest visible difference that they can see.”

Question: “What other ways do you see this entire project benefiting the school?”

Veatch: “Well, I would say, and I appreciate you saying school, that this is a an opportunity, from just a facility, sort of a visibility standpoint. I would see this, if you’re coming up to our to our stadium, and you’re thinking about the front look of that stadium, that’ll be, maybe next to the columns, the next, sort of most-visible, call it a selfie point that you see on our campus. And I think there’s something important about that.

“There’s also going to be a massive club section inside that space that’ll see. I think (it will hold), around 500 for other special events. Probably the largest venue in the in the city of Columbia. And we were up there the other day. And you can actually look back and see Jesse Hall and Memorial Stadium from that space. So just the opportunity for that space to be utilized. Not just by us on game days, but by the university and folks in our community throughout the year. There’s going to be a lot of that, that will continue to go on as well, which will be another exciting year.”

Question: “With construction ongoing throughout the year, are their going to be changes or updates that fans need to be aware of week to week when it comes to restricted areas or anything like that? Or is it, you know, after the first week or two, once they’re used to it, they’ll know exactly what to expect?”

Veatch: “It should be fairly static. So once we establish this here for the first game, and all the communication points you’re going to see coming out over the next 10 days or so, really encouraging people to know where to walk and how to get into the same, once they establish that for the first game, they should be able to follow that from it. That’s correct, right?” (The finishing question was asked to staff to confirm and was confirmed).

Question: “You haven’t been for all of this, but between all four ends of the stadium since 2012, this is hundreds of millions of dollars. I mean, is there anything you can think of that would come next or is the department pretty comfortable with everything that’s been done in the last 10 years?”

Veatch: “You sound like either a president or a coach or someone else, ‘OK, we’re getting this done. So what’s the next thing?’ You know, we will be looking at a lot of options here moving forward. There’s a lot of facilities and things that need to be considered. I really see that as a process we need to go through over this coming year to determine overall, you know, we’ll think about the stadium, of course, but other stadiums, other facilities as well, what is really next? And as we begin to wrap this up, we need to be starting to think about and understanding, exploring those options to determine the next priorities. But we’re not quite there yet coach.”

You can find the school’s press release with more info here.

Click here to discuss Veatch’s comments in our story thread.