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SHAMROCK ZONE
K-State’s Shamrock Zone at Bill Snyder Family Stadium will offer 13,500 square feet of club space and also will offer upgraded fan amenities for the entire stadium.
New south endzone development is a game changer for more than just football fans
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BY AUSTIN SIEGEL, K-STATE ATHLETICS PHOTOS COURTESY OF K-STATE ATHLETICS
Jason Brummett ’97 remembers a conversation with one of his interns back in March, as K-State’s assistant athletic director for facilities watched the Shamrock Zone begin to take shape above the south endzone at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The new $50-million, 13,500-square-foot club space is the latest addition to the home of K-State Football, with upgraded fan amenities and premium seating that will revolutionize the game day experience for thousands of Wildcat fans.
The zone is the most extensive renovation to the stadium since the Vanier Complex opened in 2015.
Views from suite spaces in the Shamrock Zone.
The Shamrock Zone also will, Brummett’s intern pointed out, make the place a nightmare for opposing kickers, keeping the noise, atmosphere and wind swirling inside the stadium.
That’s the sort of insight you get with Blake Lynch ’19, one of the best kickers in K-State history, on your staff, Brummett remembers with a laugh.
For K-State fans, he’s hoping the Shamrock Zone is a different kind of dream.
“I really think the concessions down there, with as many as we’re going to have, restrooms on the south end of the stadium, which we’ve never had before, and the new Powercat Porch, people are going to flock to this on game day,” Brummett said. “It’s all about the variety.”
The new south endzone is the most extensive renovation to Bill Snyder Family Stadium since the Vanier Family Football Complex opened in 2015 and the first project to be completed as part of the athletic department’s Building Champions capital initiative.
Developing the south endzone was one of the most important parts of the athletic department’s facility master plan. K-State Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development Josh McCowan ’09, ’11 said the Shamrock Zone was about adding “the final piece” to Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
“It was about enclosing the stadium, with two new video boards and a premium seating space,” he said. “We wanted something that was different from our West Stadium Center and the east side of the stadium.”
With a covered walkway area that will lead to new concessions and additional restrooms, the Shamrock Zone is the latest fan-focused addition to the 54-year-old football stadium.
Two new video boards debuted at the corners of the south endzone during the 2020 season, along with a stadium sound system that will improve the audio on game day.
In May, K-State Athletics announced the addition of a new beer garden, the Powercat Porch, with beer, wine and margarita sales for fans this season.
“We’ve never had three locations like this on the east, south and west side of the stadium,” Brummett said. “And having a place where you can sit down with your kids during halftime, it’s just going to be the place to go.”
The new south endzone will enhance the Saturday afternoon experience for Wildcat fans, but the Shamrock Zone is a game changer for four different K-State teams.
“We really wanted to create a kind of upscale,
The Shamrock Zone also will replace the Legends Room in Bramlage Coliseum with a new dining terrace to host men’s and women’s basketball and K-State volleyball.
sports bar,” McCowan said. “Lots of TVs, very open and a ton of space where we could host people for football, basketball and volleyball.”
The 13,500-square-foot club space will replace the current Legends Room in Bramlage Coliseum, with a new dining terrace on the north end of Bramlage that will overlook the home of K-State men’s and women’s basketball, and since 2020, the home of K-State volleyball.
“Just the event space will be much larger than anything we’ve had before,” Brummett said.
For men’s basketball games, the Shamrock Zone will serve as a pre-game and post-game club area for Ahearn Fund members at the Champions Club level ($5,000) and above with a $100 pass.
For select women’s basketball and volleyball games, the Shamrock Zone will be open to all fans with a ticket to the game.
With new entrances to Bill Snyder Family Stadium and Bramlage Coliseum, the Shamrock Zone will reduce traffic entering and exiting both venues on game day and will be home to members of the K-State Athletics staff every day.
On a recent afternoon, from his office on the second floor, McCowan could hear season ticket holders and Ahearn Fund members enjoying a sneak peek of the space.
The only thing missing, between the clinking glasses and chatter about how the Wildcats are looking this season, was the sound of 50,000 people filling Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
When they do, Wildcat fans will return to a new game day experience in Manhattan this fall.
“At football games, you’ve got new videoboards, a new sound system, new restrooms and new concessions. You’ve impacted 50,000 people just like that,” McCowan said. “We have this space all of a sudden where the experience from a fan and donor perspective is going to be incredible.” “We’ve never had three locations like this on the east, south and west side of the stadium. And having a place where you can sit down with your kids during halftime, it’s just going to be the place to go.”
