"I think what I'm most looking forward to is just being on campus, as simple as that sounds. ... People will see the real value of football. We had the highest number of students ever, at [Homecoming]. I think being on campus, students will get more involved. The facility's going to be so much nicer."
Jim Miller, athletic director
"I'm looking forward to my office being right here and the stadium being right there. On Friday we don't have to spend three hours packing my car to send everything down to the game and making sure that we don't forget anything because we can't come back to campus and get it. That's probably what we're going to enjoy the most."
Jana Ross, assistant athletic director of marketing and fan development
"What I'm excited about for this new stadium is that the stands are actually going to be full. Being off campus, you had to find a ride, and [it was] an empty stadium. It's kind of like high school football and for college, I'm from Kentucky so we're used to big state schools, 20,000 people in a stadium, so it's exciting."
Chelsee Woodey, Westhampton College '06
"Next year, I'm coming back for Homecoming. ... What I'm most excited for, to be honest, it's completely un-football-related: how beautiful the stadium is going to be. ... Our current stadium is an eyesore and this is just going to be a gorgeous stadium."
Mike Kirn, senior and athletic student marketer
"[I'm excited] to have these other schools that have never been on our campus actually come and see what our school is all about. ... That group of people has never been on the University of Richmond campus, so other than seeing pictures, they don't know what a great campus we have and what a great setting we have. I'm looking forward to those folks coming on our campus and seeing their reaction to, 'Wow, this is the University of Richmond, not where UR Stadium is located.'"
Bob Black, play-by-play announcer for the Spider ISP Sports Network
"I'm excited about not having to drive and having it be really, really close and I hope that having it on campus, more people and students will come and then it will be way more exciting and everyone there will be excited."
Christie Barrows, junior and captain of the SpinnURs
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"We definitely will have games that sell out next year. I think that it's going to be a new experience for Richmond fans because you're going to have to buy your tickets in advance and it's going to create demand for the tickets that we haven't necessarily had in the past, because our stadium has been so large. ... There are a lot of programs around the country and professional programs around the country where they sell out all the time so we're just going to be in that category now. ... People want to come to our games. That's a good thing."
Ross
"A lot of people are going to come to the new stadium, a lot more fans. We should have a parade to the stadium, all the students together. The fact that it's so close, no one has an excuse not to come. You can't say, 'Oh, I can't get a ride,' now. Everybody's going to go. It's going to be great. I know it's going to be looking up at the stadium and seeing it packed every time, not just at Homecoming."
Mike Laventure, freshman and one of the "Mic Men" at football and basketball games
"Our revenues will go up. We'll sell more season tickets. I think when there's six, seven, eight thousand people at a game it'll be a better home-field advantage, people enjoying it better. ... Tickets will be more valuable. We'll still hold space for students. Our student average is about 1,100. We're still planning on holding about 1,700 tickets for students to make sure we have [enough] available for the kids that want to come."
Miller
"I also think the atmosphere is what I'm looking forward to the most, of the culture changing on campus and just the whole campus embracing that it's game day and everyone on campus knows that it is because it's going to engulf the campus. I'm looking forward to that. It's going to be a wonderful mentality and atmosphere."
Ross
"It's going to be so much bigger next year, even if we don't win a national championship or whatever, just because it's going to be here. ... It's just going to be insane. I just can't imagine it. I really can't wait for next year. I get excited every time I drive by the stadium."
Dan Fairley, freshman and one of the "Mic Men" at football and basketball games
Contact staff writer Barrett Neale at barrett.neale@richmond.edu
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