September 10, 2011
InfoCision Stadium (Capacity: 27,881)
Akron, OH
Akron Zips vs Temple Owls
Final Score: 3 – 41
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A little over a week after visiting the Akron Aeros, we returned to the city, this time to the University of Akron. The school dominates much of downtown and one of the largest on-campus buildings is the Goodyear Polymer Center as Polymer research is what the school has specialized in. As for the city, it has a population of nearly 200,000 and is located in Northeast Ohio. Akron used to be known as the “Rubber Capitol”, with most of the major tire companies setting up shop in the city. Now, only Goodyear is left and the University at the center of the city has become the focal point. The Akron Zips football team plays in the MAC and has had more lowlights than highlights, since their move up to Division I-A in 1987. Their lone conference championship came in 2005, the same year as their only bowl appearance. Upon our visit, they have had five straight losing seasons and they went 1-11 in 2010. For decades, the Rubber Bowl was home. It was less than ideal as it was located several miles off-campus and became a crumbling, outdated facility. In 2009, beautiful InfoCision Stadium was built on-campus and it is a great venue for football.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
InfoCision Stadium is in the Southeast part of campus, on Exchange Street. Along here are some bars and restaurants, which were a mix of chains and local establishments. Lorenzo’s Drive Thru was something I’ve never seen before: a place where you call your order of beer, soda, cigarettes, etc. and then drive thru as you pick it up. The area was not lively or enticing by any means, but there were places to go and it’s an added bonus given that not many college stadiums have a pre or post game establishment within walking distance. The rest of Akron has a few attractions like the Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, which we enjoyed a visit to earlier in the week.
Location Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
It was a strange ride to get to the stadium. As we drove in to downtown from Exit 22A on I-76/I-77, the streets were completely empty. It looked like 9 AM on a Sunday as opposed to the first football game of the year. After the University finally put out parking info a few weeks before the game, it seemed like the best option was to park at a downtown lot and take a special game-day trolley over as the majority of lots within walking distance were reserved. So, we parked at the Pulsky Deck, which was empty. We picked up the trolley, which was empty and got dropped off at the stadium. On the way back, we were the only ones riding as well. It was easy, but very odd being by ourselves. Visitors may be able to park a little closer and walk as it seemed a few lots were indeed open to the public.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8
Exterior
It is a little hard seeing the exterior as the main face of the stadium is angled away from Exchange Street, whereas the nearby fields give you a better view. The look is brick with many windows and in the middle is a vertical glass tower. A blue “InfoCision Stadium” sign is located at the top. On the other side is just the back of the bleachers separated by brick columns. The end zone, which is where most fans enter from, is open and the back of the scoreboard has an advertisement for the University of Akron.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Concourse
Fans walk into a wide open entry plaza at street level and the football field below ground level makes for even better access. Concourses are on the sidelines and they are both covered There’s a lot of steal beams, but the brick walls are nicely decorated. Space is adequate, especially since stairs to the bowl are set further in. For more space, behind each endzone opens up to large corner areas for congregating and maneuvering. Another nice touch was the TVs around that had “Zip Facts” when the game wasn’t on. A large Zips team store is located in an outside corner.
Concourse Ranking: 4.5 out of 5
Food
Food selection was a little disappointing as hot dogs, brats, burgers, chicken and pizza was the extent of the more filling foods. Only “Applepie Sticks” struck me as something different.
Food Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Interior
Akron has built a real nice stadium with a lot of solid sightlines. There are two sides of seating and these slightly concave sections consist of two decks, with the upper one (accented in blue) holding just a bit more fans. The angle and proximity to the field is pretty good as I enjoyed the vantage point. Seats are all in the form of bleachers (mainly set in concrete), though there are a few seats that have backs to them. Leg room is ok, not great. Be aware of the first row seat in the upper deck, which may obstruct your field view a bit. On the West side is a fairly large multi-level tower located at the back of the bleachers. There is a lot of luxury seating up here (not surprising for a new stadium) with suites, clubs and loge seating. In addition, the tower even has classrooms for various university departments. There are no seats behind the end zone, however one of them has a large, sloped grassy knoll in between for fans/students to sit and watch. The other end features a brick building, which houses the football facilities and locker rooms. Shrubs fill the open corner space.
Interior Ranking: 10.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The dark blue scoreboard at the open end of the stadium is quite appealing with the main attraction being the HD video in the middle. The presentation guy liked to put on a lot of funky graphics during the game, but otherwise the video and replays were great. On the sides of the video were ads and then at the bottom, stretched out, was game info. “InfoCision Stadium” is spelled out at the top, accompanied by the Zips logo. At the bottom is “Summa Field”, with a graphics board that was used to display the Akron and Temple logos. A mini ribbon board is located on between the two decks of seating, while a much simpler scoreboard is displayed behind the other endzone.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
On the walls above concession stands were posters including Wall of Fame members and the honors they received while playing. The area also included the 2005 MAC championship team and their stats; and the years in which Akron has won the Wagon Wheel against Kent State. Inside the stadium, there is also a “Ring of Honor” on the outside wall of the football building. There are four players, one of them being Jason Taylor and two teams. On the right-hand side is retired number 89, for Chris Angleoff, a player who died on the field during a game in the 70s.
Displays Ranking: 4 out of 6
Cost
Tickets are $15 and $20 with three priority reserved section seats going for $40. Really, you can easily buy the $15 seats and move around as the place is never close to full. Prices for the Kent State game go up $5. Parking says $5, but we parked downtown and took the shuttle, where it was free. Concession prices were reasonable, except for $3 coffee.
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support
Announced paid attendance was 15,156 for our game, but a good chunk of the stadium’s upper deck was empty. Actual attendance for the season opener was probably 5,000. Further showing the lack of support is the very last game at the Rubber Bowl in 2008, when the Zips were in conference contention, only had a paid number of 18,516. Overall, the area just doesn’t support this program well and the team hasn’t given them much reason to.
Fan Support Ranking: 2 out of 8
Atmosphere
Students did their best as they mostly filled Section 117 cheering and chanting “Let’s Go Zips”, but the rest of the stadium was quiet. It doesn’t help that the team stinks. What made the atmosphere really poor though is the general attitude towards the team. Even though fans are there watching Akron, a lot of the talk was on Ohio State, as I couldn’t remember hearing any actual Zips side conversation.
Atmosphere Ranking: 5 out of 14
Other Stuff
The name “Zips” is quite unique to Akron. A contest led to “Zippers” being selected as the team nickname in reference to the rubber overshoes produced by BF Goodrich in Akron. This got shortened to Zips in the 1950s. The kangaroo mascot was selected for its agile, yet powerful characteristics….Akron’s chief rival is Kent State, located only ten miles away. Each year, they play for the Wagon Wheel….The full stadium name is InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field…..Upon entering the stadium through the main Gate 1, employees didn’t have scanners so it took quite a while for fans to get in, despite the small size of the crowd….A cannon goes off when the team scores.
Game
This was an awful game and it started with a 79-minute lightning delay after just starting the first quarter. Waiting was horrible as we had no information from the PA announcer and with the storm just stationary off in the distance (it barely rained in the stadium), it was a frustrating wait. When play resumed, Temple jumped out to a 7-0 lead. A big play on the next Akron possession only led to a field goal and that was as close as it got. The Owls scored three straight touchdowns and continued to roll in the second half as they went on to win 41-3. Temple dominated as they ran for 303 yards and also sacked Akron’s pair of quarterbacks eight times.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
