U of M sets selection process for premium seats at Liberty Bowl.

Tigers’ home gets upgrade

Nearly 5,600 premium seats with backs will be installed at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium before the 2016 football season, a nd the University of Memphis athletics department has established a seat selection process for season-ticket-holders in the affected areas.

In an announcement Tuesday afternoon, Memphis said the premium seats, which will have cupholders and arm rests, will be installed in the lower bowl on the east and west sidelines, affecting sections 101 through 109, 117 through 123 and 131 through 132, all below the ADA walkway.

Season tickets in the new seats will cost $250, plus a required per-seat donation depending on the location of the seat, ranging from $25 to $150. Season tickets on the home sideline will require a higher donation than those on the visiting sideline. Only premium seats will require a per-seat donation.

Last year, season tickets for lower sideline seats were $200 and season tickets for the 800 existing chair back seats were $300. Those seats will be removed a nd replaced with new premium seats for 2016.

Season-ticket holders with seats in the affected areas will be able to choose their new seats in an order determined by priority points, which take into account longevity and level of giving to the Tiger Scholarship Fund, among other factors. Seat selection will begin March 14.

“We are working diligently with a ll of our season-ticket-holders to ensure that they can find the right seat to match their budget and preferences,” Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen said in a statement.

Each premium seat is 22 inches wide, compared with the 19-inch premium seats and 15-inch bench seats in the stadium last season. That change in width, and the subsequent construction of new aisles to meet code, will result in a loss of approximately 1,200 seats at the Liberty Bowl.

Architectural drawings provided to the university show that 5,596 seats will be added, according to the school, as opposed to an initial estimate of 4,839. Construction will begin June 1 and is expected to be complete by Aug. 1.

The upgrades stem from a resolution that was approved by the Memphis City Council in December. The resolution allocated $4.8 million to install the new seats and stated the money would be reimbursed to the city by the U of M.