2011 Point & Laugh at the skins thread

[ice grillin you]

taterskins installing standing room party decks at FedEx
By Mike Jones
Updated: 6:22 p.m.

The removal of thousands of seats at FedEx field is part of a multi-million dollar renovation project ordered by taterskins owner Daniel Snyder that will include two "party decks" and is designed to alter the game-day experience for Washington fans.

As you've seen on the D.C. Sports Bog, the first stages of the project are underway. Several thousand seats have been removed from the 400 level at one end of the stadium. Another couple thousand seats will be removed from the opposite end.

In those areas, two party decks will be erected where fans will be able to participate in pre- and post-game festivities and buy standing room viewing tickets, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because plans are still being finalized.

"It's keeping up with the Joneses," one source said. "The modifications, and the party decks, are keeping with a trend of what Jerry Jones did in Dallas, and what Tampa Bay has. [The decks] are affordable, fun areas where people like to hang out before, during and after games."

The renovation project isn't expected to be completed until just in time for the start of the 2012 season. At taterskins games this season, spectators will notice the elimination of those 400-level seats, and that the stadium is more open at each end.

Cranes arrived at FedEx Field Monday to begin removing the concrete areas that had served as a foundation for those upper-level end zone seats. According to a "commercial interior permit" issued by the Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, the taterskins requested to "install club level platform structure." The supports for the party deck will be above the club level, the sources said.

The exact capacity reduction is not yet known, the sources said, because architects are still finalizing details of the stadium's new look. But FedEx Field, with a capacity of 91,704, still is expected to be one of the largest stadiums in the NFL. (Dallas's new stadium seats 80,000 fans during the regular season, but has the ability to expand to 111,000.)

The sources said the taterskins are still expected to fit sellout crowds of roughly 85,000 fans into the stadium this season.

Jones opened the new Cowboys Stadium in 2009. It features a total of six party decks located in the end zone areas. The Cowboys' party deck area holds between 15,000 and 35,000 fans at a price of $29 a head. In addition to concessions and television monitors, the decks provide an overlooking view of the field, but no seats.

The taterskins are expected to offer a similarly-priced, standing view package for their party decks.

Rumblings about the removal of seats sparked concern among fans who had to renew their tickets for the coming season months ago. The sources said the taterskins have moved fans with seats in those areas using their annual relocation process.

When ticket holders with better seats do not renew season tickets, fans with seats in the 400-level end zone areas are moved into better seats – closer to the field, or closer to the 50-yard-line, depending on the fan's preference. Fans on the season ticket waiting list are then given seats in the upper level end zone areas.

The taterskins have long maintained that the team has a season ticket waiting list comprised of tens of thousands of fans and that it takes years for new season tickets to become available. The party deck construction project means those fans will not get off the waiting list this year.

One source said that taterskins officials knew the decision to rip out thousands of seats rather than offer them to waiting list fans could create a backlash. But the team also faced the uncertainty that the NFL lockout has cast on the 2011 season.

"The concern was that fans that had been on the waiting list for 16 seasons were suddenly up, but were being asked to pay for a season that might not happen," the source said. "The feeling was that it would be unfair."

Ultimately, the source said, Snyder and team officials elected not to aggressively pursue sales to fans on the waiting list, and to begin the renovation project. Next offseason, however, waiting list sales will resume and fans will remain in the same spots on the list.

The party decks are part of a renovation project that actually began last year. The taterskins in 2010 installed two 30-foot-tall by 100-foot-wide high-definition video screens in each end zone. Team officials and designers also are planning several new wrinkles to enhance FedEx Field's lower levels this season and next.

"[The taterskins] are trying to make the stadium more attractive," one source said. "In addition to making the experience better for their fans, it also will help attract more non-football events."

FedEx Field hosted a Kenny Chesney concert Saturday that drew 52,000 fans. In July, the stadium will host European soccer powers FC Barcelona vs. Manchester United.

[Rome]

"The concern was that fans that had been on the waiting list for 16 seasons were suddenly up, but were being asked to pay for a season that might not happen," the source said. "The feeling was that it would be unfair."

Holy shtein... and some of you bitch about Banner, Inc.

Sure, the Eagles are money-grubbing whores, but they are amateurs compared to Snyder when being outright iceholes.

[ice grillin you]

i havent had a single problem with how the eagles handeled the tickets as they related to the lockout

and the taterskins waiting list doesnt exist...maybe it does for lower level good seats but anyone can get season tickets in the upper bowl right this farging second if they want them

[Sgt PSN]

"2011's gonna be a special season...And for those who feel like it can't be possible: I'll prove you wrong." -- Donovan McNabb

[ice grillin you]

hes now officially a true taterskin....making noise in the spring and the summer instead of the fall

[ice grillin you]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Joov39cPo

[rjs246]

All Eagles gear in the background. Whaddadouche.

[paco]

No.  He won't.

[ice grillin you]

bedwetting all over the skins organization...

Evesham , N.J. – A familiar face joined the Eagles for their voluntary workouts in the suburbs on Wednesday.

Among the half-dozen or so Eagles practicing on the artificial turf field at the Memorial Sports Complex in Marlton, N.J. was Donovan McNabb.

No. 5 is in town for a few days because he'll be at the dedication of The McNabb Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Voorhees Replacement Hospital, to which McNabb has given a six-figure donation.

So while in town, McNabb decided to work out with some of his former teammates with the trainers from Power Train in Cherry Hill, N.J.

He spent the early morning at the Power Train facility and went to the Memorial Sports Complex in the late-morning hours with Jamaal Jackson, Austin Howard, Trevor Laws, Juqua Parker. They did agility drills with cones and weight training with medicine balls on the artificial turf field for about 45 minutes.

"I'm just focused on working out, it's what I do in the off-season," McNabb said. "So, working with a great group of guys."

[Sgt PSN]

Wow....McNabb looks like he's 50 in that video. 

[MDS]

that is exactly what j's wet dreams look like

[SD]

Wow....McNabb looks like he's 50 in that video.

He's definitely lost a lot of hair within the past year or so

[SunMo]

he tries so hard to be stoic, determined, and someone you have to take seriously.  and he fails oh so much.

[paco]

I'm waiting for people to point out how its kind of messed up to be working out with a division rival (who just traded you) and for him to come back with the "I didn't do anything wrong, why (is everyone always pickin on me...) am I part of controversy in the off season again??"

[ice grillin you]

i can understand him doing it as a farg you to snyder and the shannys for jerking him around last year but the problem is and this has always been one of the bedwetters problems is that he only ever thinks about himself so he doesnt even realize that hes slapping his current teammates in the face by doing this and these are teammates that stood by him (at least publicly) thru all that shtein last year