The student section at Jack Trice Stadium is being moved.
Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard announced in an email to the student body on Thursday that the change would in place for the 2022 season and future.
The email cited safety concerns during Iowa State’s field storming following the team’s October win over Oklahoma State.
The sections will now move from their previous spot to sections 23-27 and O-T, as shown below:
The entire email from Pollard can be seen below:
“Dear Cyclone students,
As the Iowa State football team continues to create personal memories for our fans through victories at Jack Trice Stadium, it has become more common for fans to rush the field and celebrate. Although these moments are exciting and memorable, they also present significant safety and security challenges.
During this off-season, we have spent considerable time discussing the challenges of “field rushing” with members of the Iowa State University administration, public safety officials, the Big 12 Conference, administrators at peer institutions, the Director of our Marching Band and our Student Advisory Committee.
Those discussions identified several key points that we wanted to share.
| 1. Rushing the field after a meaningful victory is a significant part of the collegiate experience, if done orderly and safely. Some of our most iconic memories of Cyclone football include “field rushes.” 2. Allowing the crowd to enter the field after a significant win is an event safety strategy because attempts to hold back the surge has the potential to cause injuries to fans and security personnel. 3. The safety of all individuals (players, coaches, officials, fans) is our top priority. History has shown us that assisting the visiting team’s exit is often the most problematic. 4. The current location of the student sections in Jack Trice Stadium creates a conflict point between the paths of the visiting team leaving the field with the path of the students rushing the field. 5. We can no longer accept the risk associated with our current set-up. |
| Although we have greatly improved the security plan around the visiting team’s bench area and pathway to their locker room in recent seasons, there are still significant challenges. Those challenges were evident this past season following our game against Oklahoma State University. To create the safest environment possible at Jack Trice Stadium, we are moving the student section from the northeast end of the stadium to the southeast end. This change will help the visiting team safely exit the field without having to intersect with field rushers while still providing our students great seats for the game. |
After considering several different options to address our challenges, we concluded moving the students to the southeast end of the stadium was the least disruptive and most-effective measure. The new student seating location allows student entry to remain at Gate 2, where students can access the new pedestrian bridge as a queuing area prior to entering the stadium. Additionally, the change in student sections will allow us to increase the number of seats provided to the student body by approximately 5% and keeps the student section on the side of the stadium shown on television.
We have long believed our student section is one of the nation’s best and a big part of the Jack Trice Stadium atmosphere. Considering your amazing spirit, enthusiasm and loyalty, we are extremely confident that will remain true.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support. We look forward to seeing you in Jack Trice Stadium this fall.
Go Cyclones!”
