Forever Seats?

[Lambeau]

Only current season ticket holders are eligible for the first round (week or so) of seat selection.

 

[J187Money]

I forget is a AD donation for extra points tax deductible?

No. Have to choose between the points and the tax deduction. So since the new tax law passed I usually opt for the deduction other than for the seat donations.

 

[husky8273]

No. Have to choose between the points and the tax deduction. So since the new tax law passed I usually opt for the deduction other than for the seat donations.

with the SALT deduction limited to $10,000 and an increased std. deduction, fewer taxpayers itemize so the charitable deduction is not relevant for most

 

[temery]

Don’t move me from a chairbacks to bleachers!!!

I still don't get how the bleachers work. How many butts are too big for the space allotted?

 

[Stew Crew]

I still don't get how the bleachers work. How many butts are too big for the space allotted?

Too many. One year, when we were still up there, we had two guys on the end that ran about 250-275 each. They took up almost. 4 spots themselves. The only way it worked out was that my two boys were 6 and 8 years old.

The rows are also too narrow. Your knees are touching the person in front of you and you have knees in your back unless you lean forward.

Regarding the new seating, I heard from someone within the AD that after the renovation, there will be less lower bowl seats at Gampel but more lower bowl seats in Hartford. Other than that, they didn’t have any more details.

 

[HooperScooper]

I still don't get how the bleachers work. How many butts are too big for the space allotted?

As someone who sat in the bleachers last night I can comment. Our seats were on the end of a row and my son was the seat next to the aisle. He kept asking for more room because he had no room to sit and was getting pushed out to the aisle. It doesn't take a lot from the 40 +/- people in a row to take up more room than is allotted. The biggest thing with the bleachers is they're just uncomfortable with no back support. Even my 2 sons who are in their 20s were saying it's terrible. We laughed that we pay a lot more for seats at Gampel but we feel like the seats are like being back at high school. It is what it is. I can deal with it for 2 hours.

I always wondered why they didn't put chairs in at Gampel instead of the bleachers. How much more could it have cost to fill in with more seats? I realize they would have had less seats then. It was a cost conscience decision at the time. Kind of like building a house when you're younger and having limited money and then 10 years later you're asking yourself why you scrimped on certain things in the house that you hate and aren't convenient.

 

[temery]

As someone who sat in the bleachers last night I can comment. Our seats were on the end of a row and my son was the seat next to the aisle. He kept asking for more room because he had no room to sit and was getting pushed out to the aisle. It doesn't take a lot from the 40 +/- people in a row to take up more room than is allotted. The biggest thing with the bleachers is they're just uncomfortable with no back support. Even my 2 sons who are in their 20s were saying it's terrible. We laughed that we pay a lot more for seats at Gampel but we feel like the seats are like being back at high school. It is what it is. I can deal with it for 2 hours.

I always wondered why they didn't put chairs in at Gampel instead of the bleachers. How much more could it have cost to fill in with more seats? I realize they would have had less seats then. It was a cost conscience decision at the time. Kind of like building a house when you're younger and having limited money and then 10 years later you're asking yourself why you scrimped on certain things in the house that you hate and aren't convenient.

can you bring one of those portable chair backs that clamp onto the bleacher?

 

[Stew Crew]

can you bring one of those portable chair backs that clamp onto the bleacher?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any so I would assume no. They might actually make things worse as there is not enough leg room now. The persons behind you would be banging into it constantly.

I’m also guessing the average portable chair back is wider than the bleacher seats at Gampel. Realistically, everyone in a row of bleachers would need to be below 170 lbs to even come close to comfortably sit in the bleachers. And anyone above 5’10” is too tall.

 

[temery]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen any so I would assume no. They might actually make things worse as there is not enough leg room now. The persons behind you would be banging into it constantly.

I’m also guessing the average portable chair back is wider than the bleacher seats at Gampel. Realistically, everyone in a row of bleachers would need to be below 170 lbs to even come close to comfortably sit in the bleachers. And anyone above 5’10” is too tall.

They should put spikes on both sides of your seat.

 

[gampelcrazies]

As someone who sat in the bleachers last night I can comment. Our seats were on the end of a row and my son was the seat next to the aisle. He kept asking for more room because he had no room to sit and was getting pushed out to the aisle. It doesn't take a lot from the 40 +/- people in a row to take up more room than is allotted. The biggest thing with the bleachers is they're just uncomfortable with no back support. Even my 2 sons who are in their 20s were saying it's terrible. We laughed that we pay a lot more for seats at Gampel but we feel like the seats are like being back at high school. It is what it is. I can deal with it for 2 hours.

I always wondered why they didn't put chairs in at Gampel instead of the bleachers. How much more could it have cost to fill in with more seats? I realize they would have had less seats then. It was a cost conscience decision at the time. Kind of like building a house when you're younger and having limited money and then 10 years later you're asking yourself why you scrimped on certain things in the house that you hate and aren't convenient.

They only did bleachers so they could sell/raise more with chairbacks. If they could do it over again I’m sure they would do full chairbacks with more premium seats

 

[Rondogg]

I went to Gampel 20 years ago. It was uncomfortable enough to never return.

 

[Vancat]

can you bring one of those portable chair backs that clamp onto the bleacher?

Back in the Field House days, the people in front of us did that and man, it was not good for us.

 

[Waquoit]

Back in the Field House days, the people in front of us did that and man, it was not good for us.

I didn't realize they made those back then.

 

[mjmoney23]

Regarding the new seating, I heard from someone within the AD that after the renovation, there will be less lower bowl seats at Gampel but more lower bowl seats in Hartford. Other than that, they didn’t have any more details.

Shocked there would be less lower bowl seats at Gampel. Compared to XL, those seats are pretty big (including leg room), I can see them adding more seats based on the overall size. The bleachers are brutal, if you count the seats per row compared to a comparable chair back row. Take the center court sections; 14 chair backs vs 18 bleachers.

 

[Vancat]

Shocked there would be less lower bowl seats at Gampel. Compared to XL, those seats are pretty big (including leg room), I can see them adding more seats based on the overall size. The bleachers are brutal, if you count the seats per row compared to a comparable chair back row. Take the center court sections; 14 chair backs vs 18 bleachers.

They are adding handrails. I'm sure the whole design changes. Been watching people trip up and down the current stairs for years now.

 

[temery]

Back in the Field House days, the people in front of us did that and man, it was not good for us.

It makes no sense to me for them not to have actual chairs everywhere at Gampel. Sure, there would be fewer seats in the upper sections compared to bleachers. But the fatties who fill those former bleacher seats will easily make up for the lost money at the concession stand.

 

[Stew Crew]

They only did bleachers so they could sell/raise more with chairbacks. If they could do it over again I’m sure they would do full chairbacks with more premium seats

I don't think that was the reason. Financing for Gampel was always an issue. At the time of approval, cost and meeting minimum requirement to host Big East games were the primary motivators. Availability of season tickets was not an issue. Fundraising was a fraction of what it is today and seats were reassigned every year based on priority points. You paid the same price, minus any donation to the UConn Fund, whether you were in the front row or in the last row.

You have to remember that when construction of Gampel was announced, UConn was the doormat of the Big East at literally the all-time low point of the program.

 

[Stew Crew]

Shocked there would be less lower bowl seats at Gampel. Compared to XL, those seats are pretty big (including leg room), I can see them adding more seats based on the overall size. The bleachers are brutal, if you count the seats per row compared to a comparable chair back row. Take the center court sections; 14 chair backs vs 18 bleachers.

They are adding luxury seating, whatever that means, that will command even higher prices/seat donations than today. I assume these seats will take up more room than the current seats. Seats in lower bowl are about the same width as XL, but the rows are definitely wider at Gampel.

 

[6in25]

As a Gampel bleacher dweller, I have come up with the perfect solution to this problem. First, as one poster recently said (I won't reveal their identity, but it rhymes with Shmee Shmemery), "Real fans stand for the entire game so why bother with seats?" Then, if you really want to sit, you just wait until there is about 8 minutes left in the game, and apparently 1/3 of the spectators leave. You're welcome

 

[HuskyHawk]

They are adding luxury seating, whatever that means, that will command even higher prices/seat donations than today. I assume these seats will take up more room than the current seats. Seats in lower bowl are about the same width as XL, but the rows are definitely wider at Gampel.

Gampel has really wide aisles. You don't see that at most venues. Not AFH, not the Dunk, not Boston Garden. It's very open, airy feeling as a result. That giant, wide walkway between the upper and lower levels is usually built behind them, not in front. It's really an odd design.

Bleachers suck. It is what it is. At AFH most of the bleacher fans just stand the whole game. They should have made Gampel bigger and used more chairbacks but the reality is no school cares about the comfort of the student fans. You don't see bleachers at an NBA arena because everyone is a paying customer.

If they ever move on from Gampel or do a major update, it needs to end up looking more like the Dunk/Amp. All chairbacks, 12,000, probably doesn't take up much more space than Gampel. Doing that and playing Hockey there would have been smarter than building a hockey arena.