UCF did not seem prepared to handle crowd

[herbiep]

They kept a large crowd jammed in outside till 12:00 PM, than once inside the building, another wait to climb a stairway to the stars. Than everyone racing to find the best seats, they do not have reserved seats,(so they told us). I purchased tickets through UCF in September, and was advised, not reserve seats, first come first served, pick any seat you want. Therefore we made the one hour drive from home, and arrived at 10:00 AM, and in a short period of time was joined by many Uconn fans, for the two hour wait. We finally made our way down to good seats, a few rows behind the Uconn bench, only to be told a short time later, after most of the goods seats were filled, that we were in RESERVED SEATS. HUH. After much conversation with usher, I told them, "I am not moving", and explained the no reserve seat story which I was told. They finally agreed. I really feel these seats were tickets sold through Uconn, and they requested a block of reserved seats for their tickets, however, this should have been conveyed to people buying tickets locally. After the game I spoke to UCF customer service person, and they advised me, THEY DO NOT HAVE RESERVED SEATS for womens basketball, for anyone. Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, the day was fun, and we won. Thank you for listening to this rant.

 

[EasyEd]

When I went to UConn games, they didn't let you in the building until an hour before the game. So you might have expected that wait before you went in. They must have had an elevator because I saw handicapped people on the main concourse, so you didn't have to take the stairs. I didn't try to sit behind either bench, but on the other side of the arena. From where I sat it was pretty obvious that the seats behind the benches were reserved as those seats looked different. The half court section between the benches didn't look reserved. Overall, I thought it was a great experience, but I won't heed her call to have UConn fans living in Florida come and watch when UConn wasn't playing. It took me one and a half hours to drive there. While driving by the Disney exits it may me wonder where the team stayed and if they got a little vacation in.

 

[pinotbear]

Went to a UConn game at Villanova a few times - the first one, probably more than 15 years ago, was like your situation herbiep. Long line outside (several buses had come down from CT, full of fans), purchased months ahead, no reserved seating, some contentious moments in the stands as folks tried to stake out seats and hold them for friends. Subsequently, when I went to games at Villanova, there were assigned, reserved seats - and the price was much higher, too.

Very few schools WCBB programs draw more than a few hundred fans - and, the Athletic Dept. sometimes just can't believe that their usual practice of just throwin' the doors open before game time won't cut it when UConn comes to town. The host Athletic Dept. doesn't want to invest in the time, money, and staffing needed for a "women's game", but, they're mistaken.

 

[UcMiami]

Probably true - the game had double the attendance of their normal crowd, and probably some extra ticket requests from Uconn compared to their standard opponent. 2300 people in a 10,000 seat arena probably means little rush for 'good seats' normally.

 

[vtcwbuff]

You are probably right about not being prepared to handle the attendance. Last year they averaged 672 for home games. So far they are averaging around 2300, double that for the UConn game.

Here's hoping that increased interest and a new coaching staff that includes a UConn connection, will turn the program around. They have already won more games this year than they did all last season.

 

[Carnac]

They kept a large crowd jammed in outside till 12:00 PM, than once inside the building, another wait to climb a stairway to the stars. Than everyone racing to find the best seats, they do not have reserved seats,(so they told us). I purchased tickets through UCF in September, and was advised, not reserve seats, first come first served, pick any seat you want. Therefore we made the one hour drive from home, and arrived at 10:00 AM, and in a short period of time was joined by many Uconn fans, for the two hour wait. We finally made our way down to good seats, a few rows behind the Uconn bench, only to be told a short time later, after most of the goods seats were filled, that we were in RESERVED SEATS. HUH. After much conversation with usher, I told them, "I am not moving", and explained the no reserve seat story which I was told. They finally agreed. I really feel these seats were tickets sold through Uconn, and they requested a block of reserved seats for their tickets, however, this should have been conveyed to people buying tickets locally. After the game I spoke to UCF customer service person, and they advised me, THEY DO NOT HAVE RESERVED SEATS for womens basketball, for anyone. Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, the day was fun, and we won. Thank you for listening to this rant.

If any women's team can fill an arena, it's UConn. Most venues no longer sell reserve seats because of the low turnouts. I've attended two USC home games, and 3 UNLV home games this season. There were less than 500 people at any of those games. All seats sold at those sites for women's games are unreserved. I looked at the box score for a USC game last week, it reported the attendance as being 255. And this was for one of the two major women's D1 teams in Southern California.

The Stanford game two years ago was sold out. And they raised their ticket prices accordingly. I paid $55 per ticket for a horible seat that normally sells for $30 for their major opponents, $15 for their less attractive ones. I guess they needed the money. Needless to say, they gouged the crap out of us.

 

[herbiep]

When I went to UConn games, they didn't let you in the building until an hour before the game. So you might have expected that wait before you went in. They must have had an elevator because I saw handicapped people on the main concourse, so you didn't have to take the stairs. I didn't try to sit behind either bench, but on the other side of the arena. From where I sat it was pretty obvious that the seats behind the benches were reserved as those seats looked different. The half court section between the benches didn't look reserved. Overall, I thought it was a great experience, but I won't heed her call to have UConn fans living in Florida come and watch when UConn wasn't playing. It took me one and a half hours to drive there. While driving by the Disney exits it may me wonder where the team stayed and if they got a little vacation in.

My point was not to complain about the overall experience. You say it was obvious the seats behind both benches looked reserved. The point was, I was informed by their ticket people at UCF, that they DO NOT HAVE RESERVED SEATS, and the customer relations person confirmed that after the game. Did not ruin the game for me, but, was not necessary.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

My point was not to complain about the overall experience. You say it was obvious the seats behind both benches looked reserved. The point was, I was informed by their ticket people at UCF, that they DO NOT HAVE RESERVED SEATS, and the customer relations person confirmed that after the game. Did not ruin the game for me, but, was not necessary.

Doubtless true - but I'm surprised. In many years of going to RU away games, we sometimes were able to get team comps (virtually all games include somewhere around 50 freebies to the visitors, recorded on an NCAA approved form, signed by the player or coach requesting, and issued only upon showing ID), including the WNIT championship game in El Paso (happened after we moved to AZ). Although the arena was "general admission" - the 2 rows behind the RU bench were reserved for the team comps. Saw similar situations elsewhere.

As to the comment about teams having reserved seats, Arizona does - at least for season tickets, draws usually a few over 1000. For the annual "kid's" game, they reserve a section for season ticket holders and make the entire arena otherwise general admission. It works, I have never seen anyone fighting over their seats.

OTH - for volleyball, we have aisle seats at the back of the season ticket holder section (row 9), a great place to watch from. However, health concerns have prevented frequent attendance. Every time we do attend, we have to "chase" someone out of our seats, although we have never had a problem doing so.