Ohio State to survey fans on potential Ohio Stadium renovations

Ohio State is preparing to survey fans and season-ticket holders about potential renovations to Ohio Stadium.

The university’s athletic department has retained CSL, a sports and entertainment consulting firm, to distribute a survey as part of a feasibility study.

The survey, which will begin circulating this week, is believed to be the most extensive assessment of potential upgrades to the historic stadium in at least a decade.

Ohio State takes the field prior to a game against Minnesota on Oct. 4.

“We’ve got to keep up,” OSU athletic director Ross Bjork said. “Whether it’s driving revenue, whether it’s aging amenities, whether it’s fan experience stuff, it’s really just making sure the stadium is modernized every step of the way.”

The focus of the in-depth survey involves additional seating options, asking respondents about their interest in premium seats that range from club suites to standing-room-only spots and hospitality areas.

The questions also cover amenities as part of the seating possibilities such as all-inclusive food and beverage services.

Athletics administrators said the current percentage of premium seats at the Horseshoe is at the lower end among college football’s largest stadiums, estimating around just 4% of seats are upscale compared to other venues that reserve about a tenth of their seats for similar spaces. The small fraction prompted them to gauge interest in more premium seating.

Kevin Griffin, a former Buckeyes wide receiver who is associate vice president for brand engagement, services and partnerships and associate director of athletics business strategy, said the process began last fall following conversations with donors.

“One of the things we’re trying to do a better job of, and I hope we do the best in the country, is we actually have information that’s validated,” Griffin said, “that then we can have a conversation that’s really truly around information, data and facts as opposed to just a gut instinct.”

Ohio State first added premium seats as part of the stadium’s major renovation in 2001, building 81 luxury suites within a new press box on the west side. It later constructed additional luxury suites and loge boxes in the northwest corner during another facelift in the late 2010s.

In the years since the opening of the NetJets Landing, which houses the premium spaces in the northwest corner of B deck, fans have sat on an extensive waiting list.

“It’s significant enough that we want to find opportunities for these people,” said Mike Penner, an executive associate athletic director for internal operations.

Ohio State saw the persistent demand when it unveiled plans for a new section of premium seating in the south end zone last year. The nine suites and 400 chairback seats, which will be added to the front of the stands for football games later this year, sold out.

“They went pretty fast,” Penner said.

Potential renovations are not guaranteed to cater solely to well-heeled donors, as administrators highlighted concepts that could broaden the range of premium seating offerings.

Griffin said some schools offer as many as eight types of premium seating options in their stadiums, while Ohio Stadium has two.

“You can either buy a suite or a loge,” Griffin said. “That's it right now. And that's a pretty high price point, so what else could we provide for folks that is not a suite or a loge?”

While the department weighs additional premium seating, administrators stressed they are still in the early phase of the assessment, gathering information about preferred seating types and price ranges rather than targeting a specific project.

“This is really just listening,” Griffin said. “Zero decisions have been made, and no commitment has been made to do any of this. We just want to see what people are interested in.”

Griffin added that responses would help shape the department’s next steps as it evaluates potential enhancements.

“It helps us not to fall behind,” Griffin said, “but it also helps us not to get too far ahead. If our fans are telling us they're not interested, then why would we make that type of investment? We won't. So this is a really important way for their voices to be heard.”

The prospect of expanded premium seating comes with financial considerations for the athletic department, offering to lift revenues at a time when it is dealing with new expenses related to revenue sharing with athletes following the settlement of three antitrust cases against the NCAA and major conferences.

The department began distributing the maximum allowable $20.5 million through direct payments and new scholarships to athletes this academic year. The maximum amount, which is due to increase by percentage points each year, rises to $21.3 million in 2026-27.

“In this era, we've got to drive revenue,” Bjork said. “We've got to balance that. But that's the other piece of it. What kind of revenue does this produce?”

If the department undergoes renovations, Bjork said he does not expect a significant impact on the stadium’s seating capacity, which lost just over 2,000 seats in order to accommodate luxury suites and loge boxes during the project the previous decade.

With a official capacity of 102,780, the Horseshoe is the third-largest stadium in the country, drawing one of the country’s largest fan bases.

“I don't know if there's a magic number per se,” Bjork said. “Anything over 100,000 to me makes sense, so as long as we keep that piece of it, we'll be in good shape.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him atjkaufman@dispatch.comand follow him on@joeyrkaufman on X.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State to release survey on potential Ohio Stadium renovations