Alabama is pumping over $92 million into a renovation of Bryant-Denny Stadium that will decrease its capacity and add what Greg Byrne believes is a first in college football.
The stadium capacity, which ranked fourth in the SEC at 101,821, will drop by a few hundreds seats but remain in the six figure seats territory according to the latest details shared by AL.com on the renovations.
The other notable addition that is believed to be a first in college football according to Byrne, is what was originally planned to be a large deck in the south end zone. Instead, the plans have changed to now include a ground-level 10,000 square foot social area aimed at students located at the southwest corner of the stadium. The area aimed at improving the student experience will include fans for cooling off, concessions, charging stations for phones, and restrooms and televisions as well.
Nick Saban has been very vocal over the years in his disappointment relating to students leaving games early. The new student's social area is mean to take the place of some upper deck seats that students were notorious for leaving during games, so the new plan for the space hopes to alleviate that. If it works, expect more college programs to follow suit.
Also among the changes will be new corner video screens that will be about 60% larger, reconfiguration of the locker room and an expansion of the recruiting room in the stadium.
Renovations will begin in August with the hopeful end date set for as the 2019 season ends.