Memorial Stadium – uncomfortable venue, or dangerous death trap?
(Written by jsnell)
Dear Cal Athletic Department,
I know you know I’m disappointed in your football team. But this isn’t about that.
This is about public safety.
Last night, 71,799 packed into Memorial Stadium to see Cal play USC.
As you’re well aware, the stadium was built nearly a century ago, when people were smaller. The rows are too tightly packed and the seat numbers on the benches are too close together.
This isn’t a problem, generally, because people spread out to fill the space. But when the game is a sellout, it becomes extremely uncomfortable.
This has been true for a while now. But by closing a large number of entrances to the stadium, as a part of the construction of the training center on the stadium’s west side, you’ve taken the situation from uncomfortable to dangerous.
Too many people are being packed into too small a space. There were people trying to get to their seats for an entire quarter. Attendees were pouring out of the tunnel behind my section, FF, and gridlocking the entire aisle all the way from tunnel to field level, in an attempt to move over to their seats in a different section. I believe at some point, certain parts of the walkway were actually closed down for safety reasons.
Going up to the bathrooms or concessions seemed like an impossibility. Getting out of the stadium in the event of an emergency also seemed completely unlikely.
What I’m saying is, the construction has changed the dynamics of the stadium, but you haven’t changed the capacity. You need to rectify this. As soon as possible, you should place a cap on the number of tickets you sell. I know it’s fun to sell 72,000 tickets, but for safety reasons you should decrease the number to something smaller. 65,000, maybe? You know, I hear scarcity can be a good thing for ticket prices. And 65,000 is still a huge number of seats.
I’m serious, now. The situation Saturday night at Memorial Stadium wasn’t just uncomfortable, it was dangerous. That stadium is not capable of handling that many people, especially with half the stadium entrances closed off by construction.
Do the right thing. Reduce the number of tickets you sell until you can fix stadium access.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Jason,
I can’t agree with you more! I was sitting in section D and left to use the restroom before the game began. The restrooms in the opposite direction of section FF were CLOSED, so I had to use the ones near FF. When I finally got back to my seat there were 3 minutes left in the 1st quarter. I have never been so afraid in my life. People were angry, one woman through a coke on a man near me who was yelling (most of which ended up on me). If a fight had broken out it would have been very scary! There was no where to go. The stairwell was jammed with people as was the tunnel. We literally could not move. There were no security guards or police anywhere. I have been attending games at Memorial for over 25 years and I have never seen it as it was yesterday. I’m not sure how they are able to have the exits closed that they did and still allow 70,000+ people in the stadium. I will be contacting the athletic department on Monday and I will not be back for another game this year.
October 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Did you go to the first two games?
I don’t leave my seat from the time I sit down which is about 45 minutes before kickoff until I leave the stadium which is usually when the game is over. At yesterdays game I left after SC scored their last TD which was with about 5 minutes left in the game. I use the restrooms outside the stadium berfore I enter and if I need them when the game is over I use the porta potties outside as well. I bring my own food & drink with me. I sit in section A and never felt or saw what you witnessed. I am not saying it didn’t happen, I just didn’t see it.
Did you ever go to a 49er game at the old Kezar Stadium? That place had seats that were about 12 inches apart. CAL’s aren’t that bad. The seat numbers at CAL have been the same since it was built, the fact that people have fatter butts now than 80 years ago isn’t CAL’s fault.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Posted this on CGB, but want to make sure you guys see it.
I was in EE and it was awful. Trying to go to be bathroom about halfway through the first quarter there was actual gridlock for about 15 minutes…no one was moving either direction. I eventually got our of the stadium and told a group of cops that it was incredibly dangerous, on the verge of boiling over, and that there was absolutely zero security (the only security person in the area was pushing his way through the crowd for no apparent reason rather than trying to provide security.) Not sure if the cops did anything – I went up to the East Rim and watched the rest of the first quarter from there before heading back to my seat. It had more or less cleared by that time.
Oh and if people were wondering why I was going to the bathroom in the first quarter, it was because on the way in, there was so much gridlock that I figured I would fight my way through, get to my seat, and give it some time to clear. Apparently I didn’t give it enough time.
The stadium is a death trap – there is absolutely no excuse for playing games there as it is currently configured.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
@bar20: I’ve gone to maybe 57 of the last 60 home games. What are you insinuating?
You might not see it, but let me assure you, it was there yesterday and it was a nightmare. Maybe things are great over in the Gold Zone, where you have direct access to your section, which is located right behind the turnstile area. For those of us closer to the 50 than to the end zone, where all access has been cut off by construction, it’s a completely different story.
I’m glad you’ve got an action plan, a large bladder, and sit in a section where you can still have access to porta potties. Bully for you. It doesn’t change a word I wrote, however.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I didn’t have problems yesterday, because I got to my seat a hour before kickoff and stayed there until after the game ended. Then I exited through the North tunnel. I have learned this is the only safe thing to do at big sell-out games.
I already posted this in response to Ken’s “Safety First” post, but to me this issue is so important it is worth posting here, as well:
While the construction may have made the situation worse, I had a terrible experience at the Tennessee game in 2007. My nephew and I were trapped in a corridor between sections F and D, with people literally pressing against us from every direction. I do not have any phobias about this sort of thing, but I was seriously afraid that it would only take one or two people to start shoving and we could have people crushed.
I sent an e-mail to the Athletic Director following that game, describing what had happened, and pleading for Cal to take some safety and crowd control steps before someone is killed. I never got any response and, obviously no such steps have been taken.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Well, my first two paragraphs got reversed somehow, but you get the idea.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Jason my first comment was meant for Tracy not you, I know you have been to plenty of games. It was my fault for not speciifying who I was talking about.
Maybe I have a large bladder, but I learned many, many years ago to not use the restrooms during the game, I can only imagine how bad it is now. My wife used them at the Maryland game and missed a whole quarter as they completely closed down one of the womens restrooms. I also find that the food for sale at the stadium is terrible so I bring my own. If they ever bring back the frozen orange maybe I would buy that.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Actually at most games the men’s room is a quick dash, but the women’s is a disaster. It was even better when they had the portables at the base of the stairs against the fence, but sadly that’s now the construction hole.
The food used to be better — you used to be able to buy a baked potato! Now I’ll get a hot dog, maybe, but generally I eat in the Fun Zone or before the game starts.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
7bar20,
I have been to many games and generally go to the restroom well before the game starts. I was in the stadium around 4:30 and started towards the bathrooms around 4:45. I also do not leave my seats once the game has started for many of the reasons you stated…I hate it when people climb over me and I don’t like to be that person climbing over everyone. When I left the stands, they were fairly empty (another issue for another time…late arrivers during non-construction times!) When I arrived at the women’s restroom, there was surprisingly no line! Anyway, all that aside, the situation in the tunnel was extremely dangerous and frightening and one that I hope is addressed by the University…closing the concessions stand is a good starting point. I read Sandy’s letter and felt it was just a response to the situation and not really much more. There will probably not be the crowds at future games this season that there were on Saturday, and it is a good thing the Big Game is on the farm this year. Hopefully this was a one time event and one that will not occur again.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
If the team doesn’t start playing better, and quickly, I don’t see this being as much of a problem the rest of the year. between WSU, Arizona, and OSU, will any of those come close to selling out?
October 5th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
True, at this point the big issue will be next year’s UCLA and Stanford games. But it might be nice if they figured this thing out now.
October 20th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Hayward Fault + 70K fans = disaster