The controversial tunnel at the Big House is getting a makeover. Michigan announced that the tunnel at Michigan Stadium will be expanded in the offseason.
Austin Meek of The Athletic wrote, “The University of Michigan will remove seats from its football stadium to widen tunnel access to the field on game days” in a report published Monday. The renovation project comes on the heels of several incidents, including an ugly one that occurred last October.
Michigan and the Michigan State Spartans got into a scary scuffle in October. Several Spartans attacked a Wolverines player in the Michigan Stadium tunnel. Michigan State promptly suspended those players.
According to the report from The Athletic, the athletic department went through a safety review at the conclusion of this season. “Forty-five seats will be eliminated, but standing room availability is set to grow, keeping the stadium capacity at 107, 601” according to the report.
The Big Ten reprimanded the program earlier this year after they deemed that they failed to protect personnel on both sides after the incident occurred. So, the tunnel renovation seems to be a direct response from the athletic department to the reprimand and criticism.
Meek wrote that after the safety review they “determined that eliminating the moveable seating round the tunnel entrance will provide more space between fans and team personnel entering the field.”
The CFB world reacted to the tunnel news after it trickled out.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022