Only an exhibition, but that’s a good result for the men 
https://x.com/drakeadhardin/status/1691985957543661830?s=61

 

Let’s hope they can put something together this year. Been awhile now.

Random thoughts: If games will eventually be played at the on campus community stadium instead of at Cownie:
1. Is it real grass?
2. Will soccer games have all the football lines still?
3. What will Drake do for locker rooms? Does each team have their locker rooms on campus somewhere already, like the fieldhouse or Bell Center?

If the answer to these are the less desirable answers... Maybe that on campus stadium isn't aaaaaaas cool for recruiting as I thought.
Glass half empty guy.

The only answer I have is for your first question.  No, not real grass.  Will be the same surface as Drake stadium

I can't imagine that it won't have football lines, since the stadium will be used for high school football games every week.

1. As already mentioned it will be field turf.
2. There is a way to do this, but I doubt Drake spends the time or money to do it. Lines can be painted and removed on field turf. It happens all the time in venues shared by NFL and MLS teams. 
3. New locker rooms, team rooms, training rooms, etc are being built just for Drake soccer north of the home stands in the black building (I think that is the final color) connected to the stadium. All primary Drake locker rooms, team rooms, and offices will be separate of the Des Moines Public School/general locker rooms. I believe the soccer locker rooms are currently in the fieldhouse. 

There is a lot behind the scenes you cannot see from the road if you drive past the stadium which I imagine is why the process looks like it is moving slowly. There are rooms, locker rooms, etc. under the home stands and the press box is divided into multiple rooms. The buildings in the north corners also have several rooms, locker rooms, concession stands, restrooms, storage, etc. When you walk in you will actually be walking on the second level of the structure. As you go in between the stands on the home side there are also concession stands and restrooms. The visitor side is a little less flashy. It was originally supposed to match the home side, but I think budget cuts, space, and time changed it to one giant stand instead of multiple levels. 

It will be nicer than most small college football stadiums once it is finished. :D

You can kind of see some of it in the latest KCCI story talking about the delayed opening. 
First football game in Mediacom Stadium to be played in the first week of October

Way back in 2019 with the announcement post, that had an image of it without football lines.
Hopefully that can happen!

Very excited for this.

Looks like the official grand opening is mid-October now. I thought they projected the featured Drake men's game would be October 7 vs Northern Illinois and women's would be October 8 vs. Valpo with the original delay announcement. Now best guess would be women's October 15 vs Evansville and men's October 18 vs Bradley assuming they follow the DM Public schools like previously announced. No official announcement has been made by Drake yet. The total Drake and the DM Public Schools split for just the stadium portion was $24 million, but I heard the estimate for the entire facility with the added Drake only amenities (locker rooms, training rooms, etc.) was around $60 million. 

The featured DM high school football games were announced.

October 12 - Waukee @ DM Roosevelt
October 13 - Marshalltown @ DM Lincoln
October 19 - Indianola @ DM North
October 20 - Newton @ DM Hoover

Mediacom Stadium nears completion

There will be a ribbon cutting October 12 at 5pm. 

The link posted was broken. Here a better link. 

Mediacom Stadium nears completion

This is probably the toughest the MVC has been in a decade. Missouri State isn’t quite as good as Creighton, but they’re a pretty solid program. The affiliate members from the MAC have boosted the middle, along with Belmont and UIC.

Not a great start for the DU men. They lost to Kansas City for the first time in years and barely edged WIU, a pretty weak program. Going to need to get better quickly.

From Hardin on the new stadium:
Football lines will be present on the pitch for our soccer games and soccer lines will be on the field for football games. We won’t be changing them out like some of the NFL stadiums do for MLS games.

Looks like the Drake featured opening will be followed by DMPS grand opening. Drake has updated their websites.

Drake University Men's Soccer vs Northern Illinois, Saturday, October 7 at 6:00pm, Mediacom Stadium
Drake University Women's Soccer vs Valparaiso, Sunday, October 8 at 1:00pm, Mediacom Stadium 

Drake also plays Valpo at Drake Stadium in Football at 1pm on October 7. It is homecoming weekend, so those visiting campus attend the double header that day. 

Football lines is a little disappointing but not unexpected. I think it’s still worth the upgrade in location.

I guess they may wind up there at some point for a one off game, but for now, Saturday looks to be the final game at Cownie for the men. (The women have been at the football stadium for a couple of years.)

On the girls side, D beat UNI 2-1.
Zoey Mahoney had the goal of the game..and probably of the season with a flip throw-in that glanced of the keeper for a goal.
Unfortunately I can't find any media of it. SportsCenter made it the top play of the day so if someone finds that link on the ESPN site, please add this to the thread.

Game Summary


Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

LINK TO SPORTSCENTER #1 PLAY OF DAY

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

The Drake website now lists the October 10 men's game and October 15 women's game as the first games in Mediacom Stadium. It would be ideal to keep the dates on homecoming weekend so they get a big crowd. Not sure if the dates really have been switched again or if this is a website issue. No formal anoucement from Drake. 

The release for Hoops Fest references the old venues. So that makes me think there’s a further delay, unless whoever wrote the release was pulling from an erring source. 

https://godrakebulldogs.com/news/2023/9/21/drake-athletics-drake-hoops-fest-coming-to-east-village-oct-5.aspx

Maybe the rain this week caused extra delays. 🤔

Saw this interview when looking for another article. It is a week old... 
Meet Zoey Mahoney, the Drake women's soccer player whose goal went viral