End of a Season; End of an Era

This past weekend was not only the end of the Texas A&M 2013 home football season, but it was also the end of an era. Saturday the Aggies played the final game to be played at the existing Kyle Field. The stadium will go through a $450 million rebuild over the next two years and will be the finest college stadium in the country when it is completed.

Linda at the Last Game at Kyle Field
November 9, 2013

It was an exceptionally meaningful game in several ways. Along with it being the final game in the existing stadium, it was the A&M program’s 700th win (only the 18th school to do so); it was senior night; and it was most likely the final home game for Heisman winner Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football). The Ags won 51 – 41 over SEC opponent, Mississippi State.

The New Stadium
The new stadium will be built over two years with a football season squeezed into that timeline. As you might imagine, the construction schedule is very tight. The first year they will build a south end zone and a new east stands. Then between the 2014 and 2015 seasons they will completely renovate the north end zone (only 15 years old) and build a new west stands. The completed stadium will hold 102,500, up from its current 82,600. Pictures and a video of the new stadium can be found here.

Rendering of New Stadium

The game on Saturday was over at 6 PM. They then worked all night removing the sod (it was actually sold to the truly goofy as a memento), and they started lowering the field on Sunday (it will be lowered 10 feet to improve sight lines). It is an extremely tight schedule, and no time is being wasted. Check the live web cams here to see the progress.

Kyle Field
Just 48 Hours After the Final Game

For those of you who have trouble with a university spending almost a half-billion dollars on a football stadium, allow me to explain how this works. In Texas all expenditures for athletics must come from athletic department-generated revenues (ticket sales, etc.) or donations. No money may come from school funds. Football and basketball provide the only positive cash flow in any university athletic program — they fund the entire athletic program. So maximizing football revenues is a prime objective. This stadium project is already totally funded and already sold out for the 2015 season.

Some Info About the University
If you think Texas A&M is just a football factory a’ la schools such as Alabama or LSU, let me share a few interesting facts about the academic side of the school. Texas A&M is regarded as on of the finest universities in the nation — public or private. The university’s schools of architecture, biology, business, and engineering all have top-10 programs. One out of every 10 veterinarians in the U.S. graduates from A&M. It ranks second overall in earnings of graduates over a 25 year period, and it ranks in the top 15 schools whose graduates are Fortune 100 top executives.

There are lots of other Top 10 or Top 25 lists that include the Texas A&M name, but suffice it to say that it is a world-class university in every way. I am very proud it is the alma mater of both my daughter and her husband.