Hartford > Gampel

[firstnline]

Hawley Armory, whippersnapper!

I saw some old pictures of the crowds at Hawley Armory, but I can't remember what site it was. Incredible. Google has a few pics from the 1940s.

 

[CL82]

Can we move games back to the Fieldhouse where they really belong. What a site for sore eyes that would be for us old dudes. The noise in there blows the XL and Gampel away.

Or should we move them all to Bridgeport because it’s even more convenient for Fairfield County fans than Hartford?

 

[CL82]

Well Tuesday at XL is going to be absolutely insane. Not fair to include in this argument.

I think you’re right. It should be terrific.

That’s probably the best use of the XL. A few high profile games when the team is on a roll, and a few more when school is not in session.

 

[WestHartHusk]

I think you’re right. It should be terrific.

That’s probably the best use of the XL. A few high profile games when the team is on a roll, and a few more when school is not in session.

You can’t really plan for “on a roll” when scheduling. I’d do games there during break +1 (Nova for men, Tenn for women this year).

 

[Yardigan]

At the same time, CT is the only state where 45 minutes is considered "far." That always gets me. For such a small state, nothing is far.

I beg to differ...here in Rhody, 20 minutes is referred to as Rhode Island Far.

 

[huskymedic]

And the thing is that the 10k announced is tickets. You can cut that by 40% for the actual attendance.

How much do you cut that if you want to be accurate?

20-60%

I went with middle

Close on your math for Gampel the last couple of games as well per Mike Anthony this morning:

-> The announced crowd Saturday at Gampel Pavilion was 10,167, the second consecutive sellout in a building that the UConn men’s basketball team has used as a stage to rip through a little portion of the schedule that it needed to…

…There were actually just 6,790 fans in attendance Wednesday for the Seton Hall game. That’s the number of tickets scanned for entry. There were 7,608 fans in attendance Saturday.<-

 

[HooperScooper]

There were 7,608 fans in attendance Saturday

Seemed the place was full. Anyone at the game yesterday want to comment on that statement that Gampel was only 75% full on Saturday?

 

[CL82]

Close on your math for Gampel the last couple of games as well per Mike Anthony this morning:

-> The announced crowd Saturday at Gampel Pavilion was 10,167, the second consecutive sellout in a building that the UConn men’s basketball team has used as a stage to rip through a little portion of the schedule that it needed to…

…There were actually just 6,790 fans in attendance Wednesday for the Seton Hall game. That’s the number of tickets scanned for entry. There were 7,608 fans in attendance Saturday.<-

Have to say it looked like more on TV.

 

[Get a Job]

Have to say it looked like more on TV.

Looked full in person too

 

[kemba]

Seemed the place was full. Anyone at the game yesterday want to comment on that statement that Gampel was only 75% full on Saturday?

Maybe that number doesn’t include students since they don’t pay for tickets? Also, I don’t think the true capacity is 10,167 now that one of the corners they use for the press

Looked very full, for Xavier, and the prices on the secondary market make it seem unlikely there were that many no shows. Seton hall looked much further from a true sell out, but still that number seems low

 

[Palatine]

The crowd last night was 1000x better than any other crowd we’ve had this season.

They had a lot to cheer about. First half was as well as the Huskies played this year.

 

[TheChamps990411]

It wasn’t that packed before tip. I was there.

Yeah, not packed at all.

 

[Big Loubowski]

Mike Anthony just wrote an article regarding the XL center lease today and from the summary, it looks like the AD provides some thoughts. It is behind a paywall so maybe someone with access can post a summary?

 

[navery12]

Mike Anthony just wrote an article regarding the XL center lease today and from the summary, it looks like the AD provides some thoughts. It is behind a paywall so maybe someone with access can post a summary?

Most enlightening quotes are here:

“We’re part of the state, and we’re the flagship of the state,” athletic director David Benedict said. “So there is certainly an appreciation for how we are helping the state and a lot of people in downtown Hartford by playing there. … I’m not sure that it necessarily helps UConn athletics or UConn basketball as much as it does a lot of other entities.”

UConn pays a per-game rent of $40,500 for men’s and women’s basketball and $20,500 for men’s hockey, plus $20,000-$30,000 in facilities fees for each event. The CRDA also collects a $3 surcharge per basketball ticket (up to 12,450 tickets) and a $2 surcharge per ticket for hockey tickets (up to 4,600)

Benedict said attendance must be “well north” of 10,000 for UConn to avoid operating at a loss at the XL Center on a given night. And by playing in Hartford, revenue potential built into events at Gampel is sacrificed. UConn takes no money from XL concessions or parking. It does control sponsorship signage revenue for Hartford games, but not suite or loge seating. Cost and lost opportunity adds up to several millions of dollars, annually.

“There is a comfort level with Gampel that you don’t have with XL,” Benedict said. “And then you add the fact that, aesthetically, it’s not necessarily exciting for our kids to play down there. A lot of Big East members play in off-site facilities, so this isn’t necessarily unusual. But look at those facilities. Most of them are NBA or NBA-like facilities. Everybody knows, factually speaking, the building is old and it needs a major renovation. There’s nothing necessarily about that building that is a pro right now for anybody, whether it’s our student-athletes and the amenities they have there, or our fans.”

 

[AntG168]

Yeah, not packed at all.

I meant was

Edit: nevermind I thought I was responding to something else haha

 

[WrenchFan69]

I’m fine with both XL and Gampel to be fair but Jon Rothstein really has been entrenched in this debate and just crapping all over the XL center. Has to have been asked to do this by UConn staff because there is no way he cares about this issue that much to continue to bring it up.

Rothstein has never had a problem continually voicing his niche opinions on twitter. Guy is a fiend for this stuff. He definitely cares this much. Look how often he tweets about Temple (probably the 6th best basketball program in the AAC currently) going back to the A10.

 

[superjohn]

 

[JB75]

I have season tickets to XL. I have no problem with the games being split half and half -XL Center much more easily accessible for most of us in the Hartford Area 10-20 minute drive max - parking pretty easy- All my buddies are in our 30s and 40s with families and still cheer super hard -not like the stuffy white suits in the lower sections - even though hartford is not what it used to be for bars and restaurants - And as far as pregaming is concerned Hartford way better —we went to the Seton Hall game last week in gampel -Bidwell Tavern was mobbed and forget about going to Ted’s , if you’re not there three hours early you’re not getting in. no place else to really pregame up there— I’m fine with the split- tomorrow XL will be rocking— the providence game was insane but the crowd just never had a chance to fully explode because we played like crap. Magine if this nova game was a 6 PM Saturday night game at XL? Hartford wud be nuts. Remember also a lot of uconn fans fell off the map after last title / move to the AAC ollie years / we’re just starting to get the electricity back —providence was a chance we fumbled , let’s not mess up tomorrow —unfortunately we’re gonna need those casual fans to make things pop in the future.
Ps: If you want to pregame tomorrow probably gonna have to get to the Tavern at 5:30 LOL

 

[AntG168]

I mean come on. What else do we need to hear.

 

[AntG168]

I have season tickets to XL. I have no problem with the games being split half and half -XL Center much more easily accessible for most of us in the Hartford Area 10-20 minute drive max - parking pretty easy- All my buddies are in our 30s and 40s with families and still cheer super hard -not like the stuffy white suits in the lower sections - even though hartford is not what it used to be for bars and restaurants - And as far as pregaming is concerned Hartford way better we went to the Seton Hall game last week in gampel -Bidwell Tavern was mobbed and forget about going to Ted’s if you’re not there three hours early you’re not getting in. no place else to really pregame up there— I’m fine with the split tomorrow XL will be rocking— the providence game was insane but the crowd just never had a chance to fully explode because we played like crap. Magine if this nova game was a 6 PM Saturday night game at XL? Hartford wud be nuts. Remember also a lot of uconn fans fell off the map after last title / move to the AAC ollie years / we’re just starting to get the electricity back —providence was a chance we fumbled let’s not mess up tomorrow unfortunately we’re gonna need those casual fans to make things pop in the future.
Ps: If you want to pregame tomorrow probably gonna have to get the Tavern at 5:30 LOL

UConn is not Hartford’s team. I live 40min from Hartford and 1hr from Gampel. The extra 20 minutes should not be an issue. We act as if Gampel is in another state. If any of my friends from out west or Texas seen UConn fans complain about a 40-60 minute commute the view of our fanbase would change drastically. People in Texas drive an Hr to church every week lol. It’s not the treacherous commute UConn fans make it out to be.

 

[Scoe]

UConn is not Hartford’s team. I live 40min from Hartford and 1hr from Gampel. The extra 20 minutes should not be an issue. We act as if Gampel is in another state. If any of my friends from out west or Texas seen UConn fans complain about a 40-60 minute commute the view of our fanbase would change drastically. People in Texas drive an Hr to church every week lol. It’s not the treacherous commute UConn fans make it out to be.

Right and I agree that most games should be in Gampel, going into Hartford isn’t exactly like going into Baghdad.

 

[Big Loubowski]

Most enlightening quotes are here:

“We’re part of the state, and we’re the flagship of the state,” athletic director David Benedict said. “So there is certainly an appreciation for how we are helping the state and a lot of people in downtown Hartford by playing there. … I’m not sure that it necessarily helps UConn athletics or UConn basketball as much as it does a lot of other entities.”

UConn pays a per-game rent of $40,500 for men’s and women’s basketball and $20,500 for men’s hockey, plus $20,000-$30,000 in facilities fees for each event. The CRDA also collects a $3 surcharge per basketball ticket (up to 12,450 tickets) and a $2 surcharge per ticket for hockey tickets (up to 4,600)

Benedict said attendance must be “well north” of 10,000 for UConn to avoid operating at a loss at the XL Center on a given night. And by playing in Hartford, revenue potential built into events at Gampel is sacrificed. UConn takes no money from XL concessions or parking. It does control sponsorship signage revenue for Hartford games, but not suite or loge seating. Cost and lost opportunity adds up to several millions of dollars, annually.

“There is a comfort level with Gampel that you don’t have with XL,” Benedict said. “And then you add the fact that, aesthetically, it’s not necessarily exciting for our kids to play down there. A lot of Big East members play in off-site facilities, so this isn’t necessarily unusual. But look at those facilities. Most of them are NBA or NBA-like facilities. Everybody knows, factually speaking, the building is old and it needs a major renovation. There’s nothing necessarily about that building that is a pro right now for anybody, whether it’s our student-athletes and the amenities they have there, or our fans.”

Thanks for posting this. I would hope that the AD is leveraging the poor condition of the facility not for reduced rent in a new lease but for a major upgrade/renovation to the building. With all this recent debate, one would think that at least one of the journalists would ask the politicians where that stands.

 

[AntG168]

Right and going into Hartford isn’t exactly like going into Baghdad.

We are spoiled. We’re talking about the extra 20min like that’s not just 4 meek mill songs and I’m there. It’s preposterous lol

 

[Scoe]

We are spoiled. We’re talking about the extra 20min like that’s not just 4 meek mill songs and I’m there. It’s preposterous lol

I wouldn’t give a damn if I had to drive 4 hrs. You either make the drive to Storrs or you don’t.

 

[Waquoit]

We are spoiled. We’re talking about the extra 20min like that’s not just 4 meek mill songs and I’m there. It’s preposterous lol

It's a lot more than 20 minutes even if you speed.