Interesting article in Nan's links about boost to Bgprt businesses

[ctfjr]

The local businesses get a good bump from UConn games there. I find the Webster Arena a pretty nice facility but. . .

There must be something they can do about the traffic issues getting in and when you finally get to parking garage that $20 CASH sign for parking is less than inviting Even UConn doesn't charge that much

Our friends & I talked it over and for future games we are going to take the train from a close station, probably Milford and eat in Milford before the game (as a poster on another thread had recommended).

 

[brooke84z]

Thankfully, for those going to Sunday's game, Mohegan Sun is a much more welcoming experience. No traffic issues and free parking. Plus, the view is better because there are more seats close to the court. I'm looking forward to going to more WCB games there now that they're hosting the AAC tournament.

 

[uconnfan68]

The local businesses get a good bump from UConn games there. I find the Webster Arena a pretty nice facility but. . .

There must be something they can do about the traffic issues getting in and when you finally get to parking garage that $20 CASH sign for parking is less than inviting Even UConn doesn't charge that much

Our friends & I talked it over and for future games we are going to take the train from a close station, probably Milford and eat in Milford before the game (as a poster on another thread had recommended).

speaking of the facility... what is the outline in the paint supposed to depict?

 

[CTyankee]

Some telling quotes from the UConn staff.....

"There's a whole different vibe when you walk in here that you don't get at the XL Center," Auriemma said. "These people are not as accustomed to seeing us all the time.

"They get more excited about us being here, so I would like to play just enough games here where they don't get bored. Whatever number that is, I'm not sure what it is."

"Our athletic director is probably going to try and negotiate a deal where it's got to work for us," said Auriemma, whose team improved to 7-1 with the win over DePaul. "We've played one game at Gampel this year and we're going to Mohegan on Sunday. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I don't know what the right number is (for Bridgeport)."

Neither does UConn athletic director Warde Manuel. Or if he does, he's not saying: "There's no fixed number."

For Timpanelli, the strategy is clear -- for marketing, for economic development, for all kinds of exposure that benefits southwestern Connecticut and UConn.

You scratch my bottom line, I'll scratch yours.

"These games attract a significant Fairfield County crowd, which enables additional alumni and donors to participate," Timpanelli said. "The games also spread the audience and the reach of the sports programs at UConn to this part of the state."

But understand, this is not a cheap experience. These games are special, and tickets are priced that way.

Courtside tickets to Friday night's game were $173.10 through TicketMaster. The cheapest seats went for $29.75 through Ticketmaster, although even that seems excessive when you consider it's a $15 ticket with a nearly 100 percent markup for "fees," according to the Ticketmaster website.

For those unable -- or unwilling -- to drive to Storrs, a game at Webster Bank Arena is worth the extra cash.

"I really enjoy coming down here," Auriemma said. "I enjoy it personally and my team enjoys it."

But understand, this is not a cheap experience. These games are special, and tickets are priced that way.

Welcome to the Gold Coast...

 

[HoopsFan21]

speaking of the facility... what is the outline in the paint supposed to depict?

It's the outside of the building. This link has a picture of it: http://www.websterbankarena.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26700&ATCLID=205175323

 

[Fiftyish]

Ditto on the parking and traffic. We've been to the Webster Arena before but it was a few years back. Also, it was a day game. I don't remember ever running into a traffic jam like the one last night. Chaotic! Then the coup de grace, $20 to park.
I understand that the next time down there I will know what to expect, but wow, it was annoying.
The facility was great, and the food lines really moved fast.
And, we got to see the women play like they are ready to take on the world.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Bridgeport is the state's largest city. It's also in the population center of the state, Fairfield County. With this you are going to have lots of traffic especially at rush hour, local roads are often gridlocked, and parking isn't going to be cheap in general. It's why a lot of people use the train, and I'm glad we have the MTA because I try to avoid driving as much as possible. Naturally I would expect it to be a lot easier to get to Mohegan. It's in the middle of nowhere where the deer outnumber the people.

 

[CTyankee]

Train ticket from Norwalk to Bridgeport... Round trip, senior price... $4. Can't beat it...

 

[HoopsFan21]

Train ticket from Norwalk to Bridgeport... Round trip, senior price... $4. Can't beat it...

The train can be crowded, but it's really a good deal. For those coming from inland areas, I think one thing to try is taking the train from one of the valley towns. I think those trains generally terminate or transfer in Bridgeport.

 

[HuskyNan]

The train can be crowded, but it's really a good deal. For those coming from inland areas, I think one thing to try is taking the train from one of the valley towns. I think those trains generally terminate or transfer in Bridgeport.

Metro North can be great but last night it was at its worst. We were standing in the cold on Track 4 waiting for the 9:41 when there was an announcement that the local for New Haven would be leaving on Track 3. So, a the group of us, about 50 or so?, went down 2 flights of stairs, under the tracks, and up 2 flights of stairs to Track 3. And what happened five minutes after that? The local to New Haven pulled up at Track 4. A Metro North worker in the terminal said the train would wait for us, so we went back down 2 flights of stairs - most of us were seniors, some using canes - and up the other 2 flights only to see the train leaving. The crowd started to get a tad unruly, a situation made worse when an announcement was made that the next train would leave from, you guessed it, Track 3. We didn't believe the announcement, although about half the crowd did, going down then up two more flights of stairs. The train pulled into track 4 about 5 minutes after that but several of our bolder compadres stood in the doorway until the folks on the other side could get back over to us. One man did not look well, not that Metro North cared. The security guard there just shrugged.

My husband rides Metro North all the time and said this was a new one for him.

 

[Buckaroobanzai]

So coach wants to move more games to Bridgeport where the parking is $20 and the decent restaurants can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He seems to think that the XL fans are not grateful enough for the privilege of being present at non-competitive games (with the possible exception of Duke) on a schedule that I can safely characterize as drek. As a season ticket holder (for both XL and Gampel) I confess that I am most assuredly not grateful for mediocre games while potentially good games (DePaul and UCLA) are excluded from the season ticket schedule. Frankly, this unworthy season ticket holder would suggest to coach that he move all of the Hartford games to Bridgeport. Then I and, I suspect, many of my confreres can then abandon our season tickets, watch the 3 or 4 interesting games in the season on SNY or ESPN3 and coach can enjoy crowds of 3500 at Gampel.