Fresno State has engaged Legends CSL to conduct market and feasibility studies of a renovation of its aged football stadium, or new construction on campus, a declarative first step in a process that the university has struggled with for decades.
“We’re sitting down and starting this process,” athletics director Garrett Klassy said. “That doesn’t mean there’s going to be a shovel in the ground right after that, but it gives us a better idea of what we need and how to approach a renovation or something new.”
Valley Children’s Stadium last saw substantive upgrades in 1991, when 22 sky suites were constructed on the east side of the venue and around 10,000 bench and chair-back seats were added, increasing capacity to more than 40,000. The university failed to gain much, if any, traction with proposed stadium renovation projects in 2015 and 2023. Fresno County voters twice in the past five years resoundingly rejected sales tax measures that would have raised millions of dollars for deferred maintenance and campus infrastructure projects, including the 45-year-old football stadium.
Legends as part of its study will assess current and future market potential for fan amenities the stadium lacks, including premium seating that can drive additional revenue for an athletics department that struggles to keep up with the costs of college athletics.
Fresno State has a stadium with a larger capacity than other schools that will join a rebuilding Pac-12 Conference on July 1 and for three years in a row has led the Group of Six conferences in football attendance. Despite that, its football ticket revenue in 2025 (40,727 capacity, $5.96 million in revenue) lagged well behind several soon-to-be conference peers including Boise State (36,360 and $6.83 million) and Washington State (32,952 and $8.05 million), according to the revenue and expense reports the schools filed with the NCAA.
Oregon State (35,548 and $8.22 million) generated more football ticket revenue than Fresno State in 2024, according to the most recent data available.
Legends will be on campus next week, Klassy said, in what he called a significant first step.
“The study will give us a better idea on what size stadium we need, what premium spaces people are willing to pay for and what are the right amenities that we need in there,” he said. “It will look closely at the tailgating aspect.
“With any successful building project, you need to have all the information. You can’t make these decisions without all the data necessary to make the right decisions. I think there’s a ton of people in this market that we haven’t been able to cater to, whether it’s people with mobility issues, whether it’s business, because we don’t have enough premium spaces to host companies and for companies to host clients. We need to gather data from everyone and anybody on what makes the most feasible sense.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2026 at 4:16 PM.
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