All home games at Gampel

[hthusky74]

When we were filling HCC and Gampel for both the men and women some state legislators were screaming their constituents couldn't go to a game (of course a lot of them were the ones who opposed the 12,000 seat campus arena). Now you want to move all the games to Gampel restricting the ability to see a game even more? What planet are some of you people from?

 

[LIUCHusky]

Because it was built in 1990 and 8,000 was a huge jump from 4,000. No one knew our attendance and our program were going to jump like it did. If it was all conspiracy, why did they add 2,000 seats

The original plan was to build a 12,000 seat basketball only facility in Storrs. Hartford politicians saw a building with that capacity as a threat to the Civic Center. They were afraid that Gampel would compete with their building for concerts and that there would be no need to play any UConn basketball games in Hartford. Gampel would never have gotten funded without UConn compromising at 8,OOO seats.

 

[Waquoit]

Do any of the people clamoring for more games at Gampel actually go to games there? It sucks for the spectator. I've never been to a less comfortable facility and that includes Fenway. Like other prime-time games, the Florida game was great. But that's only a few a year. The cupcake games this year didn't draw flies. Leaving Hartford entirely would hurt, not help, the program.

 

[ctchamps]

Have you ever been to the RAC?

No but I remember how that court gave Rutgers a decent home court advantage in the 90's. I've argued a long time in this forum about the need to elevate the crowd's passion at games to help the players. And I maintain that position. I hate that exuberant long term fans got pushed into obscurity by corporate contributions. I've been to the AZ game at Gampell and the Kansas game at the Hartford Civic Center in the 90's, two extremely exciting games in the two venues. I suffered from ear ringing for a week after that Kansas game.

I'm not arguing an all or none position. There is value with the XL center and games at Bridgeport. The value has to be maximized. But not if the games are poorly attended.

The reality is college sports incur expenses. There is a need to pay for coaching salaries, travel expenses, athletic scholarships, training facilities, equipment and so on. This is just as important as the excitement level at games. A balance can be achieved. Lew Perkins made the mistake of going in the direction of revenue raising at the expense of getting the passionate fans to games. You are making the mistake of getting the passionate fan base to games at the expense of needed revenues plus exposure to markets. Neither is the best approach.

 

[David 76]

The original plan was to build a 12,000 seat basketball only facility in Storrs. Hartford politicians saw a building with that capacity as a threat to the Civic Center. They were afraid that Gampel would compete with their building for concerts and that there would be no need to play any UConn basketball games in Hartford. Gampel would never have gotten funded without UConn compromising at 8,OOO seats.

I stand corrected. But when Gampel was being planned, no one was going to UCONN games (bball or hockey)It opened during the Dream Team Season which changed everything. If they wanted 12,000 seats, they had much more foresight than I would given them.

 

[CL82]

I guess the question is why was HCC by far the loudest for 89-90 games GTown, Cuse and the NCAA tourney as well that year? 16K plus lunatics, OLD legacy fans who loved them and were pushed out by the business it is of big time college basketball........I do not blame Bazz for the obvious but he has no idea how great Hartford was or still could be. But keep making sure those people, who were never on the train ride prior to the JC successful ride, get those real good seats which are usually empty unless they bring in Michigan State or Kansas.

Hartford is fine, our fan base isn't, it's spoiled!

Pre HDTV and TV broadcast of every game. Those games were amazing. It was a great period for Husky basketball, but I'm not as confident as you that it can be recreated in Hartford.

Do a "neutral tourney" at the casino. An early season game in Bridgeport and few in Hartford but move most the games to Gampel. Now, if Hartford starts selling out, maybe you reconsider.

 

[Rumrunner]

Since it is the University of Connecticut that we're talking about, the primary consideration must be the benefit to the students at the university.

It is easier, less disruptive, and cheaper for students to attend HOME games where they live, which last time I looked is Storrs.

Now since UCONN is looked at as a state owned pro franchise by politicians, and these politicians control the purse strings to a significant portion of UCONN's capital budget and operating budget, the welfare of the students, much like comments in this thread, will be far down on the priority list.

Which sucks.

 

[mauconnfan]

Since it is the University of Connecticut that we're talking about, the primary consideration must be the benefit to the students at the university.

It is easier, less disruptive, and cheaper for students to attend HOME games where they live, which last time I looked is Storrs.

Now since UCONN is looked at as a state owned pro franchise by politicians, and these politicians control the purse strings to a significant portion of UCONN's capital budget and operating budget, the welfare of the students, much like comments in this thread, will be far down on the priority list.

Which sucks.

There are many fans off campus who spend more money for their seats on and off campus....so while most fans agree with you in regards to catering to the students, their tickets are cheapers, bring in less revenue so there needs to be a max number provided to them allowing the businesses and fans who donate to share in the events whether it is in Hartford or Storrs,......

 

[uconnbill]

Because it was built in 1990 and 8,000 was a huge jump from 4,000. No one knew our attendance and our program were going to jump like it did. If it was all conspiracy, why did they add 2,000 seats

It is not a conspiracy at all. I talked to a number of legislators who wanted to protect the Civic Center and would not let the Gampel to be built smaller than original talked about in the planning stages. They added 2000 seats because of the demand and the ability to make more money.

 

[David 76]

Pre HDTV and TV broadcast of every game. Those games were amazing. It was a great period for Husky basketball, but I'm not as confident as you that it can be recreated in Hartford.

Do a "neutral tourney" at the casino. An early season game in Bridgeport and few in Hartford but move most the games to Gampel. Now, if Hartford starts selling out, maybe you reconsider.

Husky mania hit CT like a ton of bricks in the 89-90 season and for a couple of years after. The uppermost seat at the HCC was a prize. The novelty wore off for the less intense fans. TV coverage became much more frequent. Finally, this recession put another hit on ticket buyers. Plus UCONN really put the squeeze on season ticket holders- raising prices and moving their seats further away.

 

[Greathusky]

These kind of posts COMPLETELY MISS THE POINT of the problem.

I was stuck in the north garage with about 150 other cars until 9:45. A few of you having a secret parking place where they don't ticket is not a global solution, is it? It was gridlock on campus until 10 pm, and the other several thousand people stuck in traffic also don't care that jslack03 knows someone that knows someone that lets him park in a faculty spot, or whatever it is you do.

Never ever park in the garage. I park in the lot next to the garage and go out the back roads. I am on Rt 44 heading west in 10 minutes. Take that all the way to I-84.

 

[Waquoit]

Since it is the University of Connecticut that we're talking about, the primary consideration must be the benefit to the students at the university.

Primary? I don't think so. Big-time college sports are for the alumni, or so the saying goes.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Since it is the University of Connecticut that we're talking about, the primary consideration must be the benefit to the students at the university.

It is easier, less disruptive, and cheaper for students to attend HOME games where they live, which last time I looked is Storrs.

Now since UCONN is looked at as a state owned pro franchise by politicians, and these politicians control the purse strings to a significant portion of UCONN's capital budget and operating budget, the welfare of the students, much like comments in this thread, will be far down on the priority list.

Which sucks.

EXACTLY. We are talking about College Basketball here. What the heck is going on with a few of the posters here?!?! This is not a professional sports team here, a College student crowd is what builds enthusiasm and excitement for the program. And those college students today, when they graduate will be huskies forever and will spend and donate tons of money back to the school depending on whether their college years were memorable or not. If they are not able to attend half of the games today, they probably won't feel as attached to the programs. The Gampel should be expanded to 15,000 seats somehow and play at least 85% of the home games at the Pavilion. expand the infrastructure to allow more traffic. Its costly for sure, but it is the best for the future of Connecticut basketball. Playing at Hartford at a half-full arena does not sound exciting at all...

 

[hthusky74]

EXACTLY. We are talking about College Basketball here. What the heck is going on with a few of the posters here?!?! This is not a professional sports team here, a College student crowd is what builds enthusiasm and excitement for the program. And those college students today, when they graduate will be huskies forever and will spend and donate tons of money back to the school depending on whether their college years were memorable or not. If they are not able to attend half of the games today, they probably won't feel as attached to the programs. The Gampel should be expanded to 15,000 seats somehow and play at least 85% of the home games at the Pavilion. expand the infrastructure to allow more traffic. Its costly for sure, but it is the best for the future of Connecticut basketball. Playing at Hartford at a half-full arena does not sound exciting at all...

 

[Waquoit]

If they are not able to attend half of the games today, they probably won't feel as attached to the programs.

The student section at Gampel was only full for the Florida game. All the others to date have been less than 2/3's full. Why weren't the students able to make those games?

 

[CL82]

The student section at Gampel was only full for the Florida game. All the others to date have been less than 2/3's full. Why weren't the students able to make those games?

Well, I hear that traffic's a bitch....

EXACTLY. We are talking about College Basketball here. What the heck is going on with a few of the posters here?!?! This is not a professional sports team here, a College student crowd is what builds enthusiasm and excitement for the program. And those college students today, when they graduate will be huskies forever and will spend and donate tons of money back to the school depending on whether their college years were memorable or not. If they are not able to attend half of the games today, they probably won't feel as attached to the programs. The Gampel should be expanded to 15,000 seats somehow and play at least 85% of the home games at the Pavilion. expand the infrastructure to allow more traffic. Its costly for sure, but it is the best for the future of Connecticut basketball. Playing at Hartford at a half-full arena does not sound exciting at all...

We are expanding the University size so some infrastructure improvements make sense. Why not do it a piece at time and gradually build up capacity?

 

[mauconnfan]

Thanks been a while........GREAT stuff!! The Bros. were some of the best.........and this one of theirs!

 

[Huskybass]

I can't believe that anyone who has been to a game at Gampel actually prefers going to a game at the XL center. All of the great homecourts nationwide are on campus. Ask any player which building provides a stronger home court advantage and I bet nearly all of them would say Gampel. I'll gladly drive a little further to go to Gampel, where the students are more a part of the scene. I have/had season tickets to both buildings, the XL center just does not provide the same homecourt advantage that Gampel does.

 

[GlastonTim]

The big games at Gampel are great, the ones against mediocre comp aren't. The big games at XL, like Cuse last year are pretty darn good too. With the games at the XL, we go out to dinner at a nice restaurant, go to the game and then have a beer to celebrate(hopefully) after. It's a whole evening of entertainment. Loading the schedule with top 50 teams will improve things. I'd rather go to a cupcake game at the XL because of the dining and drinking options than Gampel any day. Play better OOC games!

 

[mauconnfan]

I can't believe that anyone who has been to a game at Gampel actually prefers going to a game at the XL center. All of the great homecourts nationwide are on campus. Ask any player which building provides a stronger home court advantage and I bet nearly all of them would say Gampel. I'll gladly drive a little further to go to Gampel, where the students are more a part of the scene. I have/had season tickets to both buildings, the XL center just does not provide the same homecourt advantage that Gampel does.

Again preferences right? Gampel has never achieved the vibe which HCC did for the GTowns, the Cuses, KU game and others ("back in the day") although you may be right now and the tide may have turned as the state of the fan has.......again too many people eventually started buying tickets just because it was the thing to do and the bandwagon became full suddenly, mostly full of people without legacy and attachment to the basketball team..........so maybe you are correct now but if the fanbase can come back to the same vibe of the 89-mid 90's it's clearly louder and more fun than Gampel and i must say it's not close when you add what GlastonTim says about post-celebrations and such........the parties after some of those games at the Russin Lady, Challengers, The Fed, Civic pub and such were great memories........too bad the "new" fans don't feel the same!

 

[David 76]

I think Shabazz and Jim Calhoun are on record that the crowds these days are better (more intense) at Gampel. Unless we move the fan base back a decade or two, the home crowd advantage is better at Gampel with school in session.