A&M Chancellor John Sharp showed members of the media the new east-side press box on Friday.
Sharp also provided updates on Kyle Field since the implosion of the west side on Dec 21.
“We’re going to have absolutely the best quarters on the east side that the press has ever seen in the state of Texas, and we believe that this is better than AT&T Stadium and NRG Stadium,” Sharp said.
Wireless systems are being added in Kyle Field by IBM to help improve cell-phone reception. The new system being implemented is seen only in the home of the San Francisco 49ers, Sharp said.
IBM’s Todd Christner commented about the new wireless system throughout the stadium.
“Several NFL teams are now coming to this stadium and looking at what [Texas A&M] is doing,” Christner said.
Sharp said the wireless system should be able to handle 100,000 calls simultaneously.
According to Philip Ray, vice chancellor for business affairs, the stadium construction is ahead of schedule. He said the hard work has paid off in preparing the stadium.
“Despite the rainfall, these folks were plowing right ahead, we couldn’t be happier with the performance of our partners,” Ray said.
The stadium’s renovation began in 2013 at the cost of $485 million.
The capacity of the old Kyle Field was 82,500 and it will not be able to seat about 102,500 people.
The stadium’s sound system is another feature that has been improved. The previous sound system came from the scoreboard but now will be distributed around Kyle Field to improve the quality of sound.
Tim Lomax with A&M transportation said there will also be more off-campus parking locations, including American Momentum Bank on University Drive.
The grass will be installed on the playing field July 1 and the stadium will be first accessible to the public on Sept. 12 for the Aggies’ home opener against Ball State.