Game location question

[Bills Fan]

As a non- resident of the Constitution State, my question is why would UCONN schedule games in Hartford at the XL Center for other than premier OOC games i.e. SC, TN, Louisville.. Specifically, why are we playing Georagetown and St John (also Nova) away from our true home court advantage at Gample where the students can walk to the games. As I wagtched the Nova game, I couldn't help but notice that the arena was no where near soldout. We have a tremendous on-campus facility. Why don't we use it for all Big East games? We certainly lessen our homecourt advantage when we play in Hartford. Is there some political reason behind this decision?

It's like Xavier playing their home games at Columbus OH or Georgia playing at Atlanta, just to throw out a couple of similar scheduling quirks.

 

[Bills Fan]

sorry---Gampel, not Gample

 

[Zarathustra]

Geno , kind of , answered this question a while back. He said
he agrees with you. But... in the years before media, streaming,
and big screen stuff, if people wanted a Big Game "feel" they
could not get it on a TV. so big arenas ( not to mention they
home court advantage and crowd). Then there is the $$$ factor.
I will be curious to see what other Boneyarders give as
feedback.
UCONN over the GOLDEN EAGLES this
afternoon. in Milwaukee, at a on campus facility!

 

[kjkj3]

Just my two cents…
$$$
The state of CT owns the XL Center. It costs UCONN to play games in Hartford. UCONN is a state school. So CT is paying itself for the teams (women and men) to play there. Plus, it gives fans from downstate an opportunity to see them play.

 

[mbr33ct]

As a non- resident of the Constitution State, my question is why would UCONN schedule games in Hartford at the XL Center for other than premier OOC games i.e. SC, TN, Louisville.. Specifically, why are we playing Georagetown and St John (also Nova) away from our true home court advantage at Gample where the students can walk to the games. As I wagtched the Nova game, I couldn't help but notice that the arena was no where near soldout. We have a tremendous on-campus facility. Why don't we use it for all Big East games? We certainly lessen our homecourt advantage when we play in Hartford. Is there some political reason behind this decision?

It's like Xavier playing their home games at Columbus OH or Georgia playing at Atlanta, just to throw out a couple of similar scheduling quirks.

I'm ok scrapping the XL Center in total for any basketball games, whether it's OOC or BigEast games. The advantage for any games on schedule is Gampel itself.

As to your initial question you may want to take a look at this thread link on the UConn Men's Basketball board for possible reasons. This topic has been covered plenty.

How UConn really feels about the XL Center

http://www.theday.com/article/20140609/SPORT01/306099950 I spoke to some folks in the UConn athletic department the other day to see if they were as touchy about this as I am. What I discovered was worse: ambivalence. "Honestly," one veteran of the department said, "if the XL Center...

the-boneyard.com

 

[Skeets]

I gave up my Gampel season tickets but kept my XL tickets. I was missing too many games, Gampel is a fairly long drive for me, sometimes is lousy weather, and the bench seating in Gampel is really uncomfortable for normal sized human beings. So, I'm pretty sure UConn keeps 1/2 of the home games in the XL center for me .

FWIW the XL center used to sell out or come real close to it. I had upper deck end zone seats (worst in the house) and those seats were usually 75% full. Mrs. Skeets liked those seats because there was less competition for the lady's room up there

 

[CL82]

I'm ok scrapping the XL Center in total for any basketball games, whether it's OOC or BigEast games. The advantage for any games on schedule is Gampel itself.

As to your initial question you may want to take a look at this thread link on the UConn Men's Basketball board for possible reasons. This topic has been covered plenty.

How UConn really feels about the XL Center

http://www.theday.com/article/20140609/SPORT01/306099950 I spoke to some folks in the UConn athletic department the other day to see if they were as touchy about this as I am. What I discovered was worse: ambivalence. "Honestly," one veteran of the department said, "if the XL Center...

the-boneyard.com

This has been talked about frequently on the men’s board. Here’s the synopsis.

When the Hartford Civic Center (former name of the XL Center) was built UConn played it’s on campus games at the Fieldhouse, which had a capacity of 3600. The Civic Center was brand-new and had five times the capacity. It was, at the time, “big time“. Once Gampel pavilion was built, games at the XL Center made less sense. Gampel was limited to around 8500 people, largely so that it couldn’t compete with Hartford for concert venues. Within a few years it was enlarged to seat over 10,000. At that point only the playing biggest games in Hartford made financial sense.

Keep in mind that playing basketball at Gampel is “free“ except for operating costs. Playing in Hartford is considerably more expensive because the university pays a well above market rate for the arena and does not get paid concession or parking revenue. It isn’t profitable for all but sellout or near sellout games.

And now what’s really interesting about all of this is that the state of Connecticut subsidizes the university, which pays athletic department, which then rents out the XL Center, which is owned by the state of Connecticut. The XL Center is run by the CDRA (Capital District Development Agency). It has significant losses every year. Basically, the current arrangement hides a portion of those losses within the athletic department budget.

One poster on the men’s board says that playing games in Hartford is a quid pro quo for UConn receiving state funds. That feels like mythology to me, but he claims to have first-hand knowledge of it.

 

[CajunHusky]

I look for patterns ..... and the pattern more times than not is if the students are not on campus then the games are at the XL Center. That is at least before the pandemic. There have been more variations the last two years because of crowd restrictions but now that full occupancy is now allowed that may be past.

 

[Linart]

I think I remember Geno saying that, even though he would prefer to play all his games at Gampel, they use the XL center to accommodate more fans like those from southern Connecticut who would have difficulty making it all the way out to Storrs. By the way, Bridgeport's CT Post always carries extensive coverage of UConn WBB so there are a lot of fans down there.

 

[CL82]

I look for patterns ..... and the pattern more times than not is if the students are not on campus then the games are at the XL Center. That is at least before the pandemic. There have been more variations the last two years because of crowd restrictions but now that full occupancy is now allowed that may be past.

That would be the optimal use of the XL center in my opinion. Use it for one or two very big games a year, and then a couple more during break. The 50-50 split of games that’s currently used is too high a Hartford mix.

 

[Baltic]

As a non- resident of the Constitution State, my question is why would UCONN schedule games in Hartford at the XL Center for other than premier OOC games i.e. SC, TN, Louisville.. Specifically, why are we playing Georagetown and St John (also Nova) away from our true home court advantage at Gample where the students can walk to the games. As I wagtched the Nova game, I couldn't help but notice that the arena was no where near soldout. We have a tremendous on-campus facility. Why don't we use it for all Big East games? We certainly lessen our homecourt advantage when we play in Hartford. Is there some political reason behind this decision?

It's like Xavier playing their home games at Columbus OH or Georgia playing at Atlanta, just to throw out a couple of similar scheduling quirks.

When the State Legislature approved the funding for Gampel they added a contingent that a certain number of games would have to be played in Hartford to help the economy of Hartford and defer costs to operate the Civic Center.

30 years later UConn is still obligated to play games there, whether that is good or bad politics dominates.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

Geno , kind of , answered this question a while back. He said
he agrees with you. But... in the years before media, streaming,
and big screen stuff, if people wanted a Big Game "feel" they
could not get it on a TV. so big arenas ( not to mention they
home court advantage and crowd). Then there is the $$$ factor.
I will be curious to see what other Boneyarders give as
feedback.
UCONN over the GOLDEN EAGLES this
afternoon. in Milwaukee, at a on campus facility!

fwiw, I think all home games should be at Gampel. Hartford is a wasteland, with no home team comfort.

 

[Boreifs]

I think I remember Geno saying that, even though he would prefer to play all his games at Gampel, they use the XL center to accommodate more fans like those from southern Connecticut who would have difficulty making it all the way out to Storrs. By the way, Bridgeport's CT Post always carries extensive coverage of UConn WBB so there are a lot of fans down there.

It’s not like Storrs is a significant distance from Hartford. The XL Center is an awful facility for older fans. The stairs are very steep and incredibly dangerous because of inadequate railing and the only bathrooms are at the top of the stairs. UConn needs to play all its home games at Gampel, which is much more suitable for basketball.

 

[CajunHusky]

I think I remember Geno saying that, even though he would prefer to play all his games at Gampel, they use the XL center to accommodate more fans like those from southern Connecticut who would have difficulty making it all the way out to Storrs. By the way, Bridgeport's CT Post always carries extensive coverage of UConn WBB so there are a lot of fans down there.

as in grow the fanbase, exposure, help recruiting, sport development ..... there are an awful lot of youngsters - kids with parents as well as youth teams etc - that can more easily make games at XL vs Gampel

 

[Centerstream]

I have often wondered about the attendance at the games at Gampel Pavilion. In my backward thinking, I thought the games were for the enjoyment of the player's classmates. But via television, it certainly appears, based upon the limited student section, that the place is filled with a lot more non students than with students. I am guessing that this is due to the huge non student fan base.

 

[Bills Fan]

Thanks for the replies. So basically it seems like good old fashion politics, with a tad of logic mixed in. I don't follow the men's program so I was unaware that it had been discussed on that Board. It is hard to believe one of the reasons offered-saving the downtown Hartford economy. If a few WCBB games can do that then I have a bridge I'd like to talk to you about.

I think the suggestion that big time OOC and school break times games be played in Hartford should take care of the politics and "Hartford economy" issues. Play the rest in Storrs where the team benefits from an energized fan base !

 

[Alydar]

This has been talked about frequently on the men’s board. Here’s the synopsis.

When the Hartford Civic Center (former name of the XL Center) was built UConn played it’s on campus games at the Fieldhouse, which had a capacity of 3600. The Civic Center was brand-new and had five times the capacity. It was, at the time, “big time“. Once Gampel pavilion was built, games at the XL Center made less sense. Gampel was limited to around 8500 people, largely so that it couldn’t compete with Hartford for concert venues. Within a few years it was enlarged to seat over 10,000. At that point only the playing biggest games in Hartford made financial sense.

Keep in mind that playing basketball at Gampel is “free“ except for operating costs. Playing in Hartford is considerably more expensive because the university pays a well above market rate for the arena and does not get paid concession or parking revenue. It isn’t profitable for all but sellout or near sellout games.

And now what’s really interesting about all of this is that the state of Connecticut subsidizes the university, which pays athletic department, which then rents out the XL Center, which is owned by the state of Connecticut. The XL Center is run by the CDRA (Capital District Development Agency). It has significant losses every year. Basically, the current arrangement hides a portion of those losses within the athletic department budget.

One poster on the men’s board says that playing games in Hartford is a quid pro quo for UConn receiving state funds. That feels like mythology to me, but he claims to have first-hand knowledge of it.

Mostly it's economics, not UConn's but downtown Hartford's. The XL was at it's best when the Whalers played there. When they left they took a lot of fan spending with them. That money was spent in the restaurants and bars around the XL. The pricey rentals around the XL suffered and many don't exist anymore. So property values declined. The banks that hold all that debt on the property have influence in the legislature and in the governor's office, no matter who is in charge. They want UConn playing in Hartford so that the property owners can pay their mortgages.

And so do I but for another reason. The drive to Storrs is nice from May till November. I like the longer ride up rt 66 & 32. But wcbb is November to March. The XL is an all-highway ride that takes a half hour.

 

[CL82]

For what it’s worth the Al Maguire center is pretty much the same size as the old Fieldhouse.

 

[sun]

It more than just Hartford economics.
There's always a parade in Hartford when they win a NC, a very large & meaningful event for the players & state.
They're the state's favorite team, it's understandable that the games get shared with the Capital City.
The campus is out of the way without direct highway access which isn't a fan friendly trip for many.
And the few jobs that the games generate goes a long way to support the same type of urban community where UConn recruits BB players from.
That's one way that the state's flagship university can give back to the state, communities & businesses that supports it and makes it possible.
UConn needs to sell tickets, and it makes sense to bring the games closer to the urban communities.
If folks know anything about the huge economic investment that the state gives UConn annually, then they would know that one hand washes the other, and that economic funding is a two way street.
A state university cannot only take, but they also need to give as their contribution to society at large.
That's an important part of their mission.