When Texas A&M’s Kyle Field expands to become the largest stadium in the SEC and in the state of Texas, it will do more than just seat 102,500 fans.  By lowering the field seven feet, enclosing the stadium and bringing the fans closer to the action, the Aggies want to send a message of intimidation.  

Here’s how Sam Torn, Co-Chair of the Kyle Field redevelopment committee, described it.

“Our goal is, when an opposing team walks out on this field it is going to be so loud, it is going to be so intense, that literally someone is going to wet their pants.”

Opposing coaches and players – you and your bladders have been warned.

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It’s official.  Texas A&M announced yesterday that the school would push forward with a $450 million refurbishment and redevelopment plan for Kyle Field.  When the expansion is complete, the biggest football stadium in the SEC and in the state of Texas will stand in College Station.  Planned seating capacity — 102,500.

The Houston Chronicle quotes a “grinning” A&M chancellor John Sharp as saying:

“It’s the largest?  I didn’t know that.  That was the recommendation of the architect: 102,500… I didn’t argue with that recommendation…

We don’t follow other folk anymore.  We kind of do our own thing.”

Seat licenses are part of the plan to fund the project.  The goal is to wrap up work by August of 2015 with the Aggies never having to leave their home stadium during the construction process (which will begin after this season).  That work will include a new facade, exterior plazas, loge boxes, luxury suites, a premium club that will run the length of the field, a rebuilt west side of the stadium, and a three-deck end zone in the stadium’s south end.  The field will be lowered and fans will be moved closer to the action.  Canopies will also be added on the east and west sides of the stadium to trap noise.

Renderings of the project can be found right here.

“Kyle Field is a megaphone to the world, whether you like it or not,” Sharp said.  “And this megaphone that we’re fixing to build is going to be the loudest on the planet.”

After so many predicted mediocrity for Texas A&M in the SEC, the Aggies must feel like they’re now doling out the world’s largest serving of crow (and we’re not talking about John David).  An 11-win season, a Heisman Trophy, and now a rebuilt Kyle Field that even surpasses good ol’ Texas’ stadium over in Austin.

Howdy, indeed.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas.  Well with Texas A&M’s successful move into the mega-wealthy SEC, the Aggies’ home football stadium is about to get a whole lot bigger.

According to multiple reports, Kyle Field’s expansion project is on the verge of getting final approval and the plans — according to Billy Luicci, senior writer for TexAgs.com — will raise the stadium’s capacity to 102,000 fans.

Kyle Field currently seats 82,589 which would mean a 25% bounce in capacity if the above numbers are correct.  At 102,000, Texas A&M’s stadium would challenge Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium for the title of largest in the conference.  Neyland currently holds 102,455 while Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium has room for 101,821.

Projections for A&M’s expansion project last fall listed the total cost at $450 million.

This is just further proof of what we wrote way back in 2010 — Of all the potential expansion partners for the SEC, Texas A&M would be the no-doubt-about-it, guaranteed best fit.  The Aggies proved that on the football field last fall.  It looks like they’ll prove it with their field moving forward.

ESPN filmed a promo for it’s “College GameDay” show in College Station yesterday.  After winning an online poll for the right to have the spot shot at Kyle Field, 3,500 Aggie fans turned out to take part.

ESPN’s Chris Fowler was impressed:

“They were camping out in 100-degree weather.  I said they were loyal; I didn’t say they were smart. But that’s what you do when you’re passionate.  This (scene) doesn’t really surprise me, because it’s well known around the country, and particularly around football, the level of passion and loyalty here.

We’re flattered, (but) we also know this is more of a statement of what they think of their program than it is our program.  The lure of being on camera is pretty strong for a lot of them, too.”

The A&M/ESPN spot will begin airing by the start of football season.

Kyle Field is considered one of the best places to watch a college football game in America.  But it might be on the way out.

Aggie president R. Bowen Loftin has announced that the school’s move to the SEC “has created a tremendous amount of excitement around Texas A&M, and we are seeing an unprecedented demand for football season tickets.”  That has led A&M to begin a study of ways to expand, improve or perhaps even replace Kyle Field. 

According to a university press release:


“The design study phase will explore various design options for Kyle Field, including plans for both a renovated stadium and a new stadium.  The result of the study will provide Texas A&M and 12th Man Foundation officials with multiple design options for the future of the 83,002-seat stadium and will address stating of construction, preliminary cost estimating and construction timelines.”


Whoa, pardner.  A&M might be wise to slow down the expansion train for just a second.

First — like a restaurant just opening its doors — A&M should expect early response to its SEC move to be good.  The trick is getting people to come back again and again.  If Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies have success, that should happen.  If A&M fans see they can succeed in the SEC, that should happen.  But there are no guarantees that either of those things will indeed happen.  If the Aggies struggle upon entering the SEC, there could be a lot more empty seats at Kyle Field (or “New” Kyle Field).

Second — at a time when most people are talking about declining attendance at sporting events across the country, it’s probably not the best moment to be looking to expand a facility that already seats 82,000.  We’re not talking about Missouri’s Faurot Field here.  Kyle Field is big.  In the future, HDTV could cut into the number of fans rushing through the building’s gates… just as it has at other schools.

Texas A&M’s enthusiasm is big, both from a ticket-demand perspective and from a let’s-improve-the-stadium perspective.  But before Aggie brass get too far down the stadium expansion road, they should probably consider what would happen if their team falters and home entertainment systems continue to improve.

First things first — Yes, we’ll soon be adding team pages for Missouri and Texas A&M.  Technically, the schools won’t join the SEC until this summer, but we should have their pages and buttons up sometime in the next few weeks.

And now, on with the story… which is that Texas A&M has sold out its supply of season tickets for 2012.  According to The Bryan-College Station Eagle, this “likely means the Aggies will fill Kyle Field with season ticket holders for the first time since the stadium was expanded in the late 1990s.”

A&M’s VP of marketing and communications says: “Since the discussions began with the SEC, the fan interest has increased substantially to where we are not only looking at renovation but also how we can expand the stadium to accommodate the increased interest from our fan and the increase in SEC fans that will be coming to Kyle Field each fall.”

As we noted way back in May of 2010, Texas A&M is a perfect SEC fit.  The school is a big state school located in a rural area.  The local college sports teams are the main draw in the area.  With the exception of Vanderbilt, that pretty much sums up every other SEC school except new addition Missouri — which will always due battle with the St. Louis Cardinals in their baseball-crazy state.

A&M’s ticket sales just further prove that both the SEC and the school made a smart move in marrying.

This fall, the Aggies will host Florida, Arkansas, LSU and Missouri from inside its new conference.

Just as the people of the South learned way back in the 1860s, there’s a price to be paid for secession.

Texas A&M — like Missouri earlier this month — has announced that ticket prices for games at Kyle Field will be going up this season.  The Big 12 office recently reached a buyout agreement with A&M and Mizzou that’s yet to be approved by the league’s individual members.  Whatever the price of departure winds up being, it has to be paid off somehow… and the easiest way to raise money is to raise ticket prices.

A&M AD Bill Byrne said the school will not cut back on the number of seats available to Aggie students.  “We have the largest student section in all of college football and the 12th Man is a big reason why Kyle Field is one of the most intimidating venues nationwide.  There will be no reduction in season tickets available to our students but in order to keep the tradition of the largest student section in the nation alive, we rely on the support of former students and fans through the purchase of full price season tickets to make this a reality.”

In the end, we believe A&M will be very happy with its move from the unstable Big 12 to the all-for-one, uber-stable SEC.  But you gets no gain without a little pain. 

In this case, that pain will be felt in the wallets of Aggie fans.

Texas A&M is trying to hurriedly put together its 2012 non-conference football schedule and three changes were announced yesterday:


1.  The Aggies opener on September 1st with McNeese State has been dumped and A&M is paying $200,000 to cancel it.

2.  A&M will instead open the season in Shreveport, Louisiana against Louisiana Tech on Thursday, August 30th.

3.  South Carolina State will visit Kyle Field on September 22nd.


A&M still has one more non-conference slot to fill for November 17th.

The switch from McNeese State at home to Louisiana Tech at Shreveport insures that the Aggies first-ever SEC contest — against Florida on September 8th — will also be the school’s home opener.