Do stadiums have a limit for growth?

By Joe McAdory

Published: October 16, 2007

How big is too big? At what point is it impossible to increase the capacity of football stadiums without risking structural safety?

Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn has grown from 40-something thousand a long time ago to more than 70,000 in the 1970s to 85,214 in the 1980s to its current capacity of roughly 87,500, give or take a few. But how much larger can this stadium feasibly grow to? 110,000? 130,000? I would think at some point engineers would step in and say, “that’s it. No more.“ Only a few stadiums in America hold larger than 100,000, including Beaver Stadium at Penn State, Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and the Rose Bowl.

And should Jordan-Hare Stadium reach its limit and can grow no more, what would that do? Over time, it would obviously increase the demand for tickets. I would think prices would skyrocket as the supply reaches its limit, but the demand continues to grow with our population. More people would turn to television to watch the games.

Just wondering.