Jones AT&T Stadium capacity comes into focus. Will it stay at 60,000?
Fewer Texas Tech football fans will be required to fill up Jones AT&T Stadium this season.
The net loss of seats due to the new south end zone building and the ramp from the visiting teams' new locker room will drop listed capacity by a significant number.
"I can tell you it's going to be under 60 (thousand)," Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said this week. "You think about the number of suites we have, the number of loge boxes. That's a lot. It's going to be close (to 60,000), but it's not going to be that.
"It'll be somewhere in that range: 58, 59 (thousand)."
He declined to give a precise figure. He said Tech officials are close to pinning down the capacity, though, as they've gotten a better idea on occupancy for the party decks at the top corners of the new building and seats lost with the new ramp from the visitors' locker room in the northeast corner.
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Some Red Raiders fans have viewed 60,000 as an important number to maintain for perception's sake.
The listed capacity of Jones AT&T Stadium has been 60,454 since 2010. Temporary capacity dropped to 56,200 for the 2023 season because of the construction on the south end zone building. The project started shortly after the 2022 season with the removal of the original Double T scoreboard and demolition of the Masked Rider lobby and office space.
Seating will soon be reinstalled over the visiting teams' ramp in the northeast corner. The Goin' Band from Raiderland likely will be relocated to those lower-level sections above the ramp, Giovannetti said.
Band members, after occupying south end zone seats for several years, were moved last season to Section 23, the last lower-level section in the southeast corner.
The south end zone building contains a field-level stadium club; above that, a level with four- and six-person loge boxes. Above that is a street-level concourse, and above the concourse are coaches' offices all the way across.
The top level houses 17 luxury suites. The party decks are an additional two on each end that Tech officials have discussed renting on a per-game basis for corporate or other groups.
Giovannetti said Tech officials are emphasizing the grandeur and amenities of the building, as well as its revenue-generating potential, over the loss of seats.
"The premium seating is through the roof," he said, "and it's all sold out."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Info revealed on Texas Tech football's Jones AT&T Stadium new capacity
