By Harry Minium
Everyone connected with the opening of Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium, from Old Dominion University to S.B. Ballard Construction, Aramark and Spectra, intended to make the first game at the new football stadium a pleasurable experience for everyone.
Most fans appeared to enjoy the venue’s much improved amenities, including roomier seating, better sight lines and a new video board, when the Monarchs opened against Norfolk State on Aug. 31.
“It was a great night for Old Dominion University,” athletic director Wood Selig said.
But there were some hiccups, as there usually are with a new facility. Dozens of fans have contacted ODU to express their frustration.
Concession lines were long. There didn’t seem to be enough restrooms. Trash cans overflowed. There weren’t enough ushers nor “hawkers” walking through the stadium selling concessions. And there were minor glitches with the sound system, ribbon boards and the TowneBank Video Board.
For those of you who reached out to ODU, your concerns have been heard and the University is working to correct them before the Monarchs’ next home game on Saturday against East Carolina.
Old Dominion University athletic director Wood Selig said ODU's staff is working hard to improve fan amenities.
“We’re asking for our fans’ patience and understanding for game one, and want them to know that we’re going to work as hard as we can to address all of the issues they have raised,” Selig said.
Let me start by saying that most ODU fans seemed to thoroughly enjoy the first game.
Jason Chandler, an ODU associate athletic director, said officials did not want to rely on anecdotal feedback, so he initiated a survey of season ticket holders.
Of the 484 who responded, 358, or 74 percent, rated their experience as above average or the best available. The score for the overall fan experience was 3.89, with 5 being the absolute best and 1 being the worst.
While they weren’t surveyed, numbers seem to indicate ODU students also reacted positively. With the promise of improved seating, the ability to purchase concessions food with meal cards and a DJ in the stands, more than 4,000 students attended the Norfolk State game, the most ever for an ODU athletic event.
More than 3,000 have picked up tickets for the ECU game as well.
All in all, that’s pretty good.
An aside here: I wandered through the stands when ODU played at the University of Virginia last weekend, and with all due respect to my friends at U.Va., some fan amenities at Scott Stadium aren't nearly as good as what ODU has at S.B. Ballard Stadium. The video board doesn't compare well to ODU's TowneBank Video Board and you couldn't read their scoreboard from the upper decks.
U.Va.'s sound system reminded me of the the sounds system at old Foreman Field.
And the seating? All bleachers with no back support.
As for the issues at ODU's first game, there have been meetings across campus since the opener to discuss how the stadium experience can be improved.
“We need more ushers and more visibility from our game management staff to assist people,” Selig said. “We need to work to shorten the lines at restrooms, concessions and ticket windows.
“After game one, we have a much better grasp of what it takes to run the sound system, video board, ribbon boards, concession stands and cleanliness.
“Our stadium is so new. We’ve got to figure out the best practices on how to run an event in our new stadium and we’re working on it.”
If you’ve ever attended ODU events in which food is served, you know that Aramark nearly always provides great food in a timely matter. But there were issues with new equipment and it hurt significantly when a computer virus shut down cash registers for a time and also when power failures shut down equipment in some stands.
Janet McLaughlin, who heads Monarch Dining for Aramark, is never satisfied with average results. With nearly a month to test equipment and train staff, you can be sure Aramark will perform much better on Sept. 28.
The home opener against Norfolk State drew a sellout crowd of 21,944.
“We met as a team several times in the last few weeks and went over a punch list of things that need to be done before the next game,” McLaughlin said. ““We are committed to making the fan experience significantly better for the next game.”
Aramark has added more points of service for snacks and drinks.
Link to story and stadium map of new concessions
While lines were long at most restrooms, some went largely unused.
“Some of our restrooms are tucked away in places our fans probably didn’t think to look,” Selig said.
ODU has added some portable toilets under the north end zone and added signage to direct fans to rest rooms that were difficult to find..
Map of restrooms, concessions, bookstore outlets at S.B. Ballard Stadium
Selig said that 95 percent of the issues raised by fans and identified by University officials can be fixed.
Daktronics is returning to address issues with the video board and sound system. Associate athletic director Tina Price says the down and distance on the ribbon scoreboards will be bigger, for those of you who couldn’t see them.
The sound system was too loud in places and garbled in others. It has been tested and tweaked for clarity and volume.
Because the lines at ticket booths were long, Spectra has streamlined efforts to get fans into the stadium more efficiently.
Handicapped parking in the 49th Street Garage filled up 90 minutes before the game and some fans turned away had problems getting to secondary handicapped parking in the yellow garage because they didn’t know where it was located.
From now on, fans will be given maps showing them how to get to the garage and additional shuttle buses will run before and after games.
But not everything in the stadium can be fixed.
When you gain more leg room and better sight lines, that means a stadium will have to be bigger. The new S.B. Ballard Stadium is taller than Foreman Field and the egress is different, so there are more steps.
Students turned out to ODU's opener against Norfolk State in record numbers.
And there are no concessions stands or restrooms on the second floor. That wasn’t by choice. It was because moving them a floor higher would have cost millions more.
“We pushed as far as we could to get as nice a stadium as possible,” Selig said.
“When you build a new house, there are upgrades you would like that you really can’t afford. Maybe you add them later. It’s the same with our stadium.”
Selig had some advice for fans.
“I believe it would help our fans if they invested 30 minutes walking in the stadium, on both sides, looking for restrooms, finding the concession stands that carry the food items they most prefer and learning how to best access their seats,” he said.
That’s good advice. I toured the stadium more than a dozen times during construction and still didn’t know how to make my way everywhere during the first game.
We all know that first impressions are important. And we also know that some of you did not get an accurate impression on Aug. 31 of how awesome the new stadium will be.
The second impression fans receive on Sept. 28 should be much better.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu