Wren Baker Sets Timeline, Covers Benefits of WVU’s West Tower Project

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – From the moment he took over WVU’s director of athletics, Wren Baker started viewing the Milan Puskar Stadium press box as a problem. Not only is it outdated – it’s been in place since 1980, but it doesn’t provide West Virginia the revenue opportunities that other schools benefit from at their stadiums.

Now over three years on the job, Baker can take comfort in knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to fixing this problem. With construction on a  new $150 million West Tower project set to begin following the conclusion of the upcoming 2026 season, Baker discussed his plans and what everything means for West Virginia during his annual press conference.

And for Baker, everything has been going according to his plan so far. He even went as far as to say the fundraising is going “incredibly well” and they remain on target in their goal to have WVU’s West Tower up and running for the open of the 2028 season.

The West Tower, a structure that will include a new press area, but most importantly, offer VIP/premium seating opportunities on par with the top football revenue generators in the Big 12, is expected to bring in about $6 million in extra revenue each year.

But what about the time in between? Well, Baker admitted nothing has been finalized yet about where the media, and again, most importantly, those who sit in the suites that do currently exist, will sit throughout the 2027 season while the structure is being built.

“We would look at where can we build some temporary suites in the stadium so that people are not displaced totally,” Baker said. “To be completely candid, it allows us to keep the revenue and not go a year without revenue. We’re trying to do that in a way where it’s also a good test run for maybe future additional premium seating. If this goes well and people like it, we may add that as a permanent element later. Exploring a lot of those. Not quite there yet in terms of what that looks like and where we put all those structures, but definitely plan to do some temporary accommodations for some of our best donors and business supporters.”

A view from the hill behind Milan Puskar Stadium. (WVSN photo by Mike Asti)

In the interest of calming any concerns about a reduction in attendance and seating for those who can’t afford premium options, Baker referred to any subtraction in capacity as minimal. With the project a necessity for WVU, Baker classified the change as only a loss of “a few hundred” seats.

“I know we lose a little bit of capacity, but it’s minimal,” Baker said. “A few hundred, so it’s not really that much of a change capacity wise. When you put chair-back seating in instead of bleachers in a section, that changes it. It’s a little bit to be determined. We’re still looking through that and we have people that help us with the analytics and analysis of that, but I don’t anticipate any major changes. Even when we have adjusted prices, generally, I will always go down on our most affordable tickets.”

Baker closed by bringing up the addition of premium seating options for men’s basketball games at the Hope Coliseum, something WVU was able to make happen without having to endure a total facelift like at the football stadium.

“In men’s basketball, we saw a price decrease for the cheaper seats and part of that was when we did the analysis, we were pretty high on the low end and weren’t where we need to be on the upper end relative to peers,” Baker said. “Our best asset, and it goes back to why we continue to do caravans, is the market share. Everybody in this state cares, so we’re very careful and intentional to not do something to deteriorate our market share. That means having tickets that Joe Blow can afford, so we really try to keep that affordability there. Not for the best seats and the premium. We can’t do that and compete. But that get-in point, we try to keep as affordable as we can.”

For a related story, Wren Baker confirms West Virginia’s answer to the Big 12 concerning their private capital offer.