With Baylor getting a new football stadium and Texas A&M underway with a massive stadium renovation, the Texas Longhorns are looking to join the fun. The home of Texas football is still the largest stadium in the state, and the university appears to be interested in keeping it that way.
According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Texas has asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to conduct a study to review the possibility of adding a section of seats to the south end of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The discussions are purely in the initial stages according to Texas athletic director Steve Patterson, but there should be little standing in the way of the project becoming a reality in a short period of time.
Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was opened in 1924 with a capacity of 27,000 fans. Over the years the stadium has undergone 11 different upgrades, with the most recent coming prior to the 2009 season. Today the stadium has a listed seating capacity of 100,119 according to Wikipedia. That number will be eclipsed by the time Texas A&M is finished with stadium renovations to Kyle Field. Texas A&M’s stadium renovations will be completed before the 2015 football season.
Texas A&M’s Kyle Field had a seating capacity of 82,589. By the time the stadium renovations are completed the Aggies will be able to play in front of 102,500 fans. Baylor closed Floyd Casey Stadium at the conclusion of the 2013 season. The old football home could host 50,000 fans when the tarp was taken off. This season the Bears, defending Big 12 champions, will move in to the brand new McLane Stadium, which will seat 45,000 but will be expandable to 55,000. TCU recently reconstructed and renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium, expanding the seating capacity from 32,000 to 45,000. The Houston Cougars are moving in to a new stadium this season as well, leaving the 32,000-seat Robertson Stadium for the brand new 40,000-seat Houston Football Stadium. Texas Tech completed a minor upgrade to Jones AT&T Stadium before the 2013 season to expand the seating capacity to 60,862.
The funding for such a project at Texas should be easy to come by for texas, if the university decides to move forward with such a project. Knowing how valuable the football program is to the university, the financial incentive should be enough to convince anyone with a vote to vote in favor. With the incoming cash flow from donors and an exclusive television contract with the Longhorn Network, funding the project should be of little concern.