Gampel v XL Center Records - Daily Campus

[aburks41]

Stratton’s Take: UConn men’s basketball should play more weekday games on campus

On Tuesday night the reported attendance for UConn’s contest against the Creighton Bluejays, at the XL Center was 10,443 — just 67% of the 15,558 capacity the arena boasts. Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies’ on-campus arena, holds 10,167 people. If you took the people from the XL Center...

dailycampus.com

Nice article that takes about 3 minutes to read. Biggest takeaway:

In CONFERENCE games since 2016 (excluding covid year), UConn is 9-11 at the XL Center, and 19-4 at Gampel.

The "venue doesn't matter" crowd can have fun trying to explain this one. And before you say "but we play all the better teams in Hartford", the article already covers that. We have played 7 ranked teams at home during that time span. We are 0-4 at the XL and 2-1 at Gampel.

We have to stop playing at the XL Center. We almost have a better record on the road than we do at our "home" arena. That is inexcusable. Can't wait for another empty XL Center on Tuesday at 6:30 against Marquette.

 

[Get a Job]

Stratton’s Take: UConn men’s basketball should play more weekday games on campus

On Tuesday night the reported attendance for UConn’s contest against the Creighton Bluejays, at the XL Center was 10,443 — just 67% of the 15,558 capacity the arena boasts. Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies’ on-campus arena, holds 10,167 people. If you took the people from the XL Center...

dailycampus.com

Nice article that takes about 3 minutes to read. Biggest takeaway:

In CONFERENCE games since 2016 (excluding covid year), UConn is 9-11 at the XL Center, and 19-4 at Gampel.

The "venue doesn't matter" crowd can have fun trying to explain this one. And before you say "but we play all the better teams in Hartford", the article already covers that. We have played 7 ranked teams at home during that time span. We are 0-4 at the XL and 2-1 at Gampel.

We have to stop playing at the XL Center. We almost have a better record on the road than we do at our "home" arena. That is inexcusable. Can't wait for another empty XL Center on Tuesday at 6:30 against Marquette.

Here, here, Stratton Stave!!

 

[Icehawk]

The bottom line here is we have to step back and assess what the goal is here. Is the goal to get as many paying adults as possible into the stadium? Or is it to let students appreciate the greatness of their collegiate basketball teams?

I think this is a good point - and likely we, as fans, have a different POV from the business that is UCONN. The author points out, and I agree, that hooking the students on BB will make them (paying) fans in the long run. Having alumni funds incoming is critical to a school.

 

[Ts5034]

Interesting stuff. I didnt read the article, but does the fact that we usually play the bigger games vs tougher teams in the league in Hartford have anything to do with the records?

 

[aburks41]

We have a year to year lease at the XL too. We could very easily walk away from it if our AD actually values winning and restoring the student support to where it was 10 years ago.

We literally pay money to go less than .500 at "home". Disgusting.

 

[navery12]

Interesting stuff. I didnt read the article, but does the fact that we usually play the bigger games vs tougher teams in the league in Hartford have anything to do with the records?

From the first post of this thread:

The "venue doesn't matter" crowd can have fun trying to explain this one. And before you say "but we play all the better teams in Hartford", the article already covers that. We have played 7 ranked teams at home during that time span. We are 0-4 at the XL and 2-1 at Gampel.

 

[aburks41]

From the first post of this thread:

The "venue doesn't matter" crowd can have fun trying to explain this one. And before you say "but we play all the better teams in Hartford", the article already covers that. We have played 7 ranked teams at home during that time span. We are 0-4 at the XL and 2-1 at Gampel.

He could have stopped at "I didn't read". Lol

 

[Waquoit]

"If you took the people from the XL Center Tuesday and placed them in Gampel..."

That's the only way to pack Gampel on a weekday. You would have to physically take people and put them in Gampel because they don't go there voluntarily.

 

[Get a Job]

Can someone with an insane amount of time on his or her hands please do the following: Find the average shooting percentage for UConn for each of the past 10 seasons at each venue. Find the average shooting percentage for opponents for each of those seasons, at each venue. Subtract opponents' shooting percentage from UConn's for each venue in each season. We would then have a better, though still not perfect, measuring stick to find out if UConn really shoots better at Gampel compared to XL.

I doubt anyone will have the time or will to do this, which is understandable, but short of this type of analysis, I haven't seen any actual evidence to support the claim that UConn shoots more poorly in Hartford compared to Storrs. To be clear, my "feeling" is that the team does perform better in Gampel for sure, but I like data and hate feelings.

All that said, for a hundred other reasons, I don't think UConn should play games at the XL Center, with the possible exception of one marquee matchup per season, when students are on break.

OK, so I did the last 5 years, but ignored last year because we didn't play at XL.

O. M. G. The effect expected by this board is real, and it's huge (at least over the 4 seasons analyzed)!

	Gampel FG delta	Gampel 3P delta
2021-2022	.100	.057
2019-2020	-.005	.000
2018-2019	.060	.087
2017-2018	.067	.153
Mean	.056	.074

Over the aforementioned seasons, UConn's average FG% advantage at Gampel was 5.6% better than at XL. Their relative 3P% advantage was 7.4 percent better! I am completely shocked at how stark this difference is. Granted, this doesn't say anything necessarily about wins and losses, but damn!

I am not an expert in statistics, so please feel free to critique my method. The link below will bring you to the spreadsheet I created and used for the analysis. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the methodology.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1026LdhrZANJ2AxJJm1FhuEb1qHts-FGmUEgt1qzJ9cA/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Huskies86]

I am an alumni and 30+yr season ticket holder that lives in NY. XL is an easier trip for me.

But all home games should be played at Gampel. My annual support would remain the same.

 

[superjohn]

I would like to see our shooting percentages in Hartford vs. Storrs. I've heard for decades it's harder to shoot at the Civic Center/XL.

 

[UconnU]

We have a year to year lease at the XL too. We could very easily walk away from it if our AD actually values winning and restoring the student support to where it was 10 years ago.

We literally pay money to go less than .500 at "home". Disgusting.

I fully agree. Our product is significantly worse in Hartford for a number of reasons. We sacrificed our football program for basketball. It’s time to also sacrifice some bars in Hartford for basketball and save the taxpayers some money in the process. Demolish the building.

 

[TerryBoyz]

Why stop at 2016? You can do this analysis for 20 seasons. What am I missing?

 

[superjohn]

I fully agree. Our product is significantly worse in Hartford for a number of reasons. We sacrificed our football program for basketball. It’s time to also sacrifice some bars in Hartford for basketball and save the taxpayers some money in the process. Demolish the building.

It's amazing they built a football stadium in East Hartford instead of on campus and they've been sinking money into the dump in Hartford for all these years. The state and University just can't get out of it's own way.

 

[Waquoit]

Why stop at 2016? You can do this analysis for 20 seasons. What am I missing?

Pre-AAC, the Gampel and XL records were virtually identical. So going back 20 years doesn't help the argument.

 

[Get a Job]

I suspect that if we control for all of the independent variables (most notably opponent strength, as noted by @Kemba Time), we would find a much smaller "Gampel vs. XL success effect" than we expect (and smaller than I found in my rudimentary analysis). That said, XL sucks for so many reasons. On net, I think it would be better for everyone if all but one or two big matchups per year were played at Gampel, even if it wouldn't help our W-L results.

 

[EnochRoot]

Pre-AAC, the Gampel and XL records were virtually identical. So going back 20 years doesn't help the argument.

Not saying you’re wrong, but show your work.

 

[Guapo]

Playing in Hartford sucks and is antithetical to what college sports is.

The record difference is largely inconsequential but lends further credence to the overall obvious view of it sucking

 

[Guapo]

The fact that they let potential recruits attend games there is embarrassing

 

[Waquoit]

Not saying you’re wrong, but show your work.

I made a post years ago showing that exact thing. I spent an airplane ride with the media guide and pen and paper. I'm sure the post still is up if you care to go find it. Another poster independently confirmed my findings in a separate post but I forget who that was.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Anyone else notice the lack of pep band the past few games? COVID reasons? Especially at XL feel like the lack of a band really makes the place seem quieter

 

[navery12]

Did UConn not play at the XL Center until 2011? I have all the data to post records since 2000 but seems weird there were no games played between 2000 and 2011

 

[Waquoit]

Did UConn not play at the XL Center until 2011? I have all the data to post records since 2000 but seems weird there were no games played between 2000 and 2011

Is it because it was probably called the Hartford Civic Center then?

 

[Waquoit]

I just read Silly Steve's article, he ends The bottom line here is we have to step back and assess what the goal is here. Is the goal to get as many paying adults as possible into the stadium? Or is it to let students appreciate the greatness of their collegiate basketball teams?

I'm hoping someone can teach this guy the facts of life before he hits the real world.

 

[navery12]

Is it because it was probably called the Hartford Civic Center then?

That was my first guess, but has 6 games listed for 2001 there and nothing else. Guessing College Sports Reference might just be wrong, 87 at XL and 6 at HCC versus 288 at Gampel doesn't seem right

 

[BigFanCT]

People will show at Gampel. They will. It may be a different crowd, more people from the northern CT area. Same amount of people from the central CT area, maybe. Less New Haven/Fairfield county by far. It may make fans of those counties a little angry. But it's still a worthwhile trip for them for weekend games.

If we are serious about capturing an obviously new era of students and turning them into fans/donors for life, XL has to end. It's dreadful in there. I've been to almost every home game for about 30 years now. What it has become is embarrassing.

People will show for Gampel games. Weeknight or weekend.

 

[August_West]

It's amazing they built a football stadium in East Hartford instead of on campus and they've been sinking money into the dump in Hartford for all these years. The state and University just can't get out of it's own way.

Let's face it, the best thing for the state AND the university would be to locate the University of CT IN Hartford. But that would make too much long term sense and then we would have a bunch of choads on here sayin "but muh dairy bar"

 

[Waquoit]

People will show at Gampel. They will. It may be a different crowd, more people from the northern CT area. Same amount of people from the central CT area, maybe. Less New Haven/Fairfield county by far. It may make fans of those counties a little angry. But it's still a worthwhile trip for them for weekend games.

If we are serious about capturing an obviously new era of students and turning them into fans/donors for life, XL has to end. It's dreadful in there. I've been to almost every home game for about 30 years now. What it has become is embarrassing.

People will show for Gampel games. Weeknight or weekend.

But they don't. The seats are sold and they don't show, especially weeknights. Wishing won't make it so.

 

[Rashadsmask]

Don’t disagree with playing all games in Gampel, but the atmosphere would improve at the XL if it wasn’t such a dump.Make it a modern facility with good amenities and restaurants and it becomes a destination for people. It would completely change the vibe. Of course, that would mean that there was some foresight in Hartford, and that might be asking too much.

 

[UconnU]

The fact that they let potential recruits attend games there is embarrassing

Yep.