Demolish the XL center

[CL82]

@WingU-Conn - Sure you did. Here’s the sequence:

Why don't Seton Hall, Providence, and St. John's play all of their games on campus

Because they are small private universities that can’t afford to build a 10,000 seat on-campus arena?

Or because they don't care about the on campus experience?

$240+/-, $250+/-, and $700+/- million dollar endowments at each. They can afford it.

I get why you are running away from it now. It was a dumb statement. But here’s the thing, your new position suggesting that these three small private universities have donors in the wings waiting to pony up $175 million for an arena project really isn’t any brighter.

 

[aburks41]

Are there any financials out there? I have to imagine UConn is losing money on XL Center games. It's all about the state trying to inject what little money and life they can into downtown Hartford.

And once again, everything comes at the expense of the biggest asset the university has left, it's basketball program.

 

[pj]

Instead of demolishing the XL Center, why don't we threaten to demolish it unless Creighton and other Big East teams pay us to keep it open?

I think there are unexplored revenue opportunities here.

 

[BlueMAB]

@WingU-Conn - Sure you did. Here’s the sequence:







I get why you are running away from it now. It was a dumb statement. But here’s the thing, your new position suggesting that these three small private universities have donors in the wings waiting to pony up $175 million for an arena project really isn’t any brighter.

You’re insufferable, intentionally obtuse and not worth my time.

 

[kemba]

It's generally clear who the UConn alum are and who aren't.

Many fans are UConn fans because they got to see the team in Hartford. I was able to go to Hartford games as a child. I didn't step foot in Gampel until I was an adult because tix were near impossible to get.

And it wasn't the drive, because we'd go to games at the Fieldhouse before Gampel, and we'd go to soccer games when Morrone was coaching.

this place greatly undervalues the impact playing in Hartford has had in helping UConn become the program it is.

Why doesn't Michigan play in Detroit? Culture for one. They are in an area of the country where people don't look down their noses at State U in favor of private schools. They take pride in their state school, and have a history of athletic excellence that predates the 80s and 90s. They weren't building a program in the 80s, they were already a major athletic department thanks to their football program and huge amount of alums. (Insert Auburn for Michigan and the argument is the same).

Put plainly, they never even had to consider doing that.

Why don't Seton Hall, Providence, and St. John's play all of their games on campus?

There was a time when playing in Hartford was helpful but it’s not anymore. Getting tickets in gampel hasn’t been challenging since what, early 2000s? None of those schools have a gampel. Also all of those schools have a much better off campus arena to play in than xl. If they have to use xl, limit it to the games over break, and maybe one big game if no big games fall over break.

 

[Deepster]

I think we're 11 pages into a lot of overthinking.

Hartford was always a commuter city and that's worse due to COVID and likely never getting back to where it once was with telecommuting.

Suburbs have better dining and drinking options that are safer and closer to each other.

Venues like the casinos have stolen the concerts from the XL Center because the facilities are newer with better entertainment options under one roof.

No one cares about the Wolf Pack, no more Whalers or NHL opportunities in the future.

The State knows if they lose UConn at the XL, that venue is dead and buried. That's it. Period the end. Nothing to do with proximity, students, fan base loyalty, etc, etc, etc. Those games are the only guaranteed revenue that facility sees with more than 5,000 in attendance all year and the State won't let that leave.

 

[Hi-Low]

I think we're 11 pages into a lot of overthinking.

Hartford was always a commuter city and that's worse due to COVID and likely never getting back to where it once was with telecommuting.

Suburbs have better dining and drinking options that are safer and closer to each other.

Venues like the casinos have stolen the concerts from the XL Center because the facilities are newer with better entertainment options under one roof.

No one cares about the Wolf Pack, no more Whalers or NHL opportunities in the future.

The State knows if they lose UConn at the XL, that venue is dead and buried. That's it. Period the end. Nothing to do with proximity, students, fan base loyalty, etc, etc, etc. Those games are the only guaranteed revenue that facility sees with more than 5,000 in attendance all year and the State won't let that leave.

If UConn Men & Women 14-15 dates per year are the only thing keeping XL standing then it should close...the power & upkeep alone must cost more than the revenue the place generates.

XL doesn't work for UConn basketball anymore....it's become a burden for UConn (men at least) to play home games in the building.

 

[Deepster]

If UConn Men & Women 14-15 dates per year are the only thing keeping XL standing then it should close...the power & upkeep alone must cost more than the revenue the place generates.

XL doesn't work for UConn basketball anymore....it's become a burden for UConn (men at least) to play home games in the building.

Here are all the events from October through May. 28 dates for UConn Hockey, Men's and Women's Basketball. 35 Wolfpack games (they average 3,900 a game for the last 4 seasons).

I think you'll see from the rest of the calendar, yes....the UConn games are the only thing keeping the lights on.

13 Uconn Hockey

8 Uconn Men's Basketball

7 Uconn Women's Basketball

35 Hartford Wolfpack

Disney On Ice presents Mickey's Search Party

Stars on Ice

2 Harlem Globetrotters

Monster Jam

WWE Presents Friday Night Smackdown

Journey Freedom Tour

The Sneakerhead Invasion

TobyMac Hits Deep Tour

My Why Tour, Presented by Toyota, USA Women's National Hockey Team vs Canada

PLAYBOI CARTI: King Vamp

PTO Expo

Hartford Wedding & Bridal Expo

 

[Guapo]

Here are all the events from October through May. 28 dates for UConn Hockey, Men's and Women's Basketball. 35 Wolfpack games (they average 3,900 a game for the last 4 seasons).

I think you'll see from the rest of the calendar, yes....the UConn games are the only thing keeping the lights on.

13 Uconn Hockey

8 Uconn Men's Basketball

7 Uconn Women's Basketball

35 Hartford Wolfpack

Disney On Ice presents Mickey's Search Party

Stars on Ice

2 Harlem Globetrotters

Monster Jam

WWE Presents Friday Night Smackdown

Journey Freedom Tour

The Sneakerhead Invasion

TobyMac Hits Deep Tour

My Why Tour, Presented by Toyota, USA Women's National Hockey Team vs Canada

PLAYBOI CARTI: King Vamp

PTO Expo

Hartford Wedding & Bridal Expo

Gross.

 

[Kolumbo]

georgetown.
plays at 20k seat capital one arena. its alternative is a gym. and that school has a $2.6 billion endowment.
and its best win is over Longwood.

 

[Guapo]

Georgetown needs to build an 8-10k seat arena right across the Key Bridge in Rosslyn

 

[huskymedic]

-> A few of the specifics according to the plan

• Capacity: Approximately 10,136
• Timeframe: TBD
• Price tag: $183 million
• Location: Four possible locations were presented, one was preferred.
• Student seating: Approximately 2,200 student seats to surround 3/4 of the lower-level by the floor.

Byrne said they visited multiple college basketball arenas -- both renovated and new builds for inspiration. That tour included stops at Ole Miss, whose new arena was completed in 2016 and has many design features that also appear in Alabama’s proposed building. Other stops included James Madison, Virginia, Illinois, DePaul and Cincinnati. <-

 

[Guapo]

-> A few of the specifics according to the plan

• Capacity: Approximately 10,136
• Timeframe: TBD
• Price tag: $183 million
• Location: Four possible locations were presented, one was preferred.
• Student seating: Approximately 2,200 student seats to surround 3/4 of the lower-level by the floor.

Byrne said they visited multiple college basketball arenas -- both renovated and new builds for inspiration. That tour included stops at Ole Miss, whose new arena was completed in 2016 and has many design features that also appear in Alabama’s proposed building. Other stops included James Madison, Virginia, Illinois, DePaul and Cincinnati. <-

Why aren’t they building it in Birmingham?

 

[Guapo]

Why aren’t they building it in Birmingham?

I just wish someone would think of the alumni

 

[Get a Job]

I just wish someone would think of the alumni

I'm with you on preferring Gampel over XL, but I think you are overplaying your hand a little here.

 

[Guapo]

I'm with you on preferring Gampel over XL, but I think you are overplaying your hand a little here.

Shhh

 

[Guapo]

I'm with you on preferring Gampel over XL, but I think you are overplaying your hand a little here.

I am s*it posting, I admit. But, the question remains why doesn’t Bama (or x, y or z school) split their games in the urban area where their alumni are located?

 

[Kemba Time]

I am s*it posting, I admit. But, the question remains why doesn’t Bama (or x, y or z school) split their games in the urban area where their alumni are located?

Because Tuscaloosa has a 100,000 friggin' people. To get Mansfield even a quarter of a way to that you better start counting the residents that moo.

And the reason people in Raleigh drive 39 minutes to Chapel Hill is because it gets them to Chapel Hill. The people saying Storrs being 39 minutes from downtown Hartford makes it difficult to get to Gampel on weeknights are starting their drive an hour south of Hartford in Fairfield or Bridgeport -- not in downtown Hartford.

And I know, I know, fans in Kansas City leave work at 12:30 on Tuesday to get to Lawrence for Jayhawks games. But this ain't Kansas and our fans don't operate that way, that's why Gampel has like 3,000 season-ticket holders -- but sure, let's double the number of games there and draw like an A-10 team, especially at a time when there's a thread on this site every other day about how current students don't care about basketball enough to show up or clap like they used to or whatever the complaint of the day is.

Speaking of which, enough about how hard it is for students to get to Hartford on weeknights a handful of times a year. Like half of us are UConn alumni and we all know the biggest decision we were making at 5 p.m. on a game night was whether to go to Huskies for happy hour or pregame in the dorm. You can leave Storrs at like 5:30-6 on a Tuesday and get back to campus at like 9:30-10 a handful of times a season and still graduate on time, I promise.

Fans who go to games in Hartford care every bit as much about this program as the ones who go to games in Storrs, and just because you and a few others decide to s*it post about it every time there's a loss at the XL Center -- which like 5 minutes of internet research disproved having any real impact on performance -- doesn't make that less true.

 

[August_West]

Because Tuscaloosa has a 100,000 friggin' people. To get Mansfield even a quarter of a way to that you'd need to start counting the residents that moo.

why is Tuscaloosa now building a 10k arena?

XL fanbois need to man up or Get the you know what out. .

 

[8893]

Here are all the events from October through May. 28 dates for UConn Hockey, Men's and Women's Basketball. 35 Wolfpack games (they average 3,900 a game for the last 4 seasons).

I think you'll see from the rest of the calendar, yes....the UConn games are the only thing keeping the lights on.

13 Uconn Hockey

8 Uconn Men's Basketball

7 Uconn Women's Basketball

35 Hartford Wolfpack

Disney On Ice presents Mickey's Search Party

Stars on Ice

2 Harlem Globetrotters

Monster Jam

WWE Presents Friday Night Smackdown

Journey Freedom Tour

The Sneakerhead Invasion

TobyMac Hits Deep Tour

My Why Tour, Presented by Toyota, USA Women's National Hockey Team vs Canada

PLAYBOI CARTI: King Vamp

PTO Expo

Hartford Wedding & Bridal Expo

I think you're massively underestimating Playboi Carti.

 

[Kemba Time]

why is Tuscaloosa now building a 10k arena?

XL fanbois need to man up or Get the you know what out. .

And here comes the guy who couldn't even give away 9 courtside tickets to Gampel. Talk about a fanboi. But thanks for proving my point directly, fans who are telling you why they go to games in Hartford matter just as much whether you want to throw your little shade at them or not. So damn sick of seeing people belittle other UConn fans for literally wanting to support the team. And who the heck cares what Alabama is doing? Playing games in both venues matters for UConn because this is how UConn's fan base works. Why don't we put an 101,821-seat football stadium on campus and see how it fills up? That worked at Alabama, right?

 

[uconnfan68]

?

See what you posted. Hello Harford!

 

[8893]

See what you posted. Hello Harford!

Yes, but I didn't write the article; and it was about Hartford.

 

[August_West]

And here comes the guy who couldn't even give away 9 courtside tickets to Gampel. Talk about a fanboi. But thanks for proving my point directly, fans who are telling you why they go to games in Hartford matter just as much whether you want to throw your little shade at them or not. So damn sick of seeing people belittle other UConn fans for literally wanting to support the team. And who the heck cares what Alabama is doing? Playing games in both venues matters for UConn because this is how UConn's fan base works. Why don't we put an 101,821-seat football stadium on campus and see how it fills up? That worked at Alabama, right?

You are the one who made the excuse Tuscaloosa has 100k. Why are the building a 10k arena? My point has always been that we’ve negatively outgrown ( and some of it is team , some of its just todays day and age) 16k barn. It’s bad for us.

 

[August_West]

And here comes the guy who couldn't even give away 9 courtside tickets to Gampel. Talk about a fanboi. But thanks for proving my point directly, fans who are telling you why they go to games in Hartford matter just as much whether you want to throw your little shade at them or not. So damn sick of seeing people belittle other UConn fans for literally wanting to support the team. And who the heck cares what Alabama is doing? Playing games in both venues matters for UConn because this is how UConn's fan base works. Why don't we put an 101,821-seat football stadium on campus and see how it fills up? That worked at Alabama, right?

I’d give less away at XL. From previous experience.