While Auburn athletic director John Cohen says there isn’t a part of Jordan-Hare Stadium that he and his team aren’t evaluating for future renovations, there is one part of the stadium that he believes needs more attention than others.

“When you stand right at midfield around the beautiful Auburn logo — the AU — you do a 360 and you say, ‘Wow, that north endzone is kind of vacant,’” Cohen said ahead of an Auburn AMBUSH stop in Lake Martin on Tuesday night.

In an effort to help fill the vacant space, the Auburn Board of Trustees recently approved a $25.7 million project that will put a new videoboard in the north endzone, replacing the existing scoreboard that’s been in place since 1987.

It’s a project that’s expected to be completed in time for the 2025 football season and one that will intentionally leave the door open for future renovations to the north endzone.

“The videoboard and supporting structure have been intentionally designed to stand alone behind the current seating bowl, enabling future north end zone improvement opportunities to utilize the concrete frame as part of any future projects,” Auburn wrote in its press release announcing the project’s approval.

And on Tuesday evening, Cohen took the time to expound on possible future plans for the north endzone — many of which are centered around the addition of premium seating options.

“There’s no premium seating there and it has a little bit of a generic look. And I don’t say that to be demeaning to anyone who sits there because I know those are great seats, but I do think we can make them better,” Cohen said.

“Now, what that looks like and what those updates are exactly, that’s going to be a process for us to get done.”

Proposed ideas for premium seating options in the north endzone are still just that — ideas that haven’t formally been presented to the Board of Trustees. And with the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics, it could be some time before any north endzone upgrades beyond the videoboard get off the ground.

“A project like that takes on a different dimension when you consider the economic realities we face moving forward,” Cohen said.

The “new economic reality” Cohen mentions is in reference to the NCAA’s recent $2.8 billion settlement, which opened the Pandora’s Box for college athletes getting paid by their respective institutions with a revenue-sharing system.

“I think in years past, you just blow into – I mean ram into – these opportunities and especially premium opportunities at all your facilities,” Cohen said. “Now you take a little bit of a step back and say, ‘You know, there’s a new economic reality we have to adjust to.’”

Adding premium seating options has been a staple of Cohen’s tenure at Auburn.

Since his hiring in 2022, Cohen has spearheaded premium seating options at Auburn’s football, basketball and baseball facilities.

Ahead of the 2023 football season, Auburn experimented with the addition of six field-level suites. In April, Auburn not only announced that those field-level suites would be permanent, but it also announced the addition of the “Locker Room Club,” which will allow fans to watch football games from along the east sideline of Pat Dye Field.

According to Cohen, these premium seating additions have paid off.

“I also think we have a need for increased premium opportunities in Jordan-Hare because we have waiting lists for all our premium opportunities,” Cohen said. “We just opened a premium opportunity, the Locker Room Club, and we already sold out of it in less than two weeks, which really speaks to the passion of our fanbase and what is happening to our football program.”