Hartford > Gampel

[Waquoit]

You've said this enough times that I have to ask, would you really stop going to games if they only played at Gampel?

I won't get season tickets anymore. But I imagine I'll still go to a game now and again if it's not a bench seat. So I'll still be attending more games than 95% of this board.

 

[Get a Job]

So they're just fans of convenience then and not UConn? I just find it hard to believe there's a significant number who fall into that category

we lunatics on the Boneyard think the world revolves around UConn basketball (which it should!), but I'd guess that small logistical factors can have large effects on fan turnout.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was quite a large group of people that wouldn't attend as many games if they were all at Gampel. For one, there would be thousands fewer seats available for each of those would-have-been XL games, so there's that. Anyway, whether or not total attendance would fall or rise, there could be other compelling reasons to stop or mostly stop playing games at XL.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Folks thinking that moving all the games to Storrs will cut costs while maintaining the same level of fan and financial support are dreaming.

Win and everything else follows. You’ve got yourself wrapped around the axle on this because it is convenient for you. The numbers are earlier in the thread, we are losing money in Hartford.

 

[JohnFSilver]

The notion that there were ~7,500 people at the game on Saturday is patently absurd. Like others here, I was there and it's just wrong. Would love to know more from MA if the quote he got only pertained to scanned tickets or actual butts in seats. For instance - do all students get a barcode scanned when they enter? If not, are they included in that 7,500 number? Similarly, does it account for guests, player tickets, comped tickets? Does it account for barcode scanner malfunctions? I saw the latter happen on my way in. I'd hazard a guess that the number he quoted does not include all students.

That said, it'd seem the most reasonable proposal for a home site split would be:

• All winter break games at XL
• One early-season cupcake at XL, perhaps on a weekend or over Thanksgiving break
• One good spring session conference game at XL, preferably a weekend
• All other home games at Gampel

Using this year's schedule, that'd come out to:
CCSU - GP
Coppin - GP
LIU - GP
Binghamton - XL
MD-ES - GP
Grambling - GP
PC - XL
Butler (in its original scheduled slot) - XL
SJU - XL
GT - GP
CU - GP
MU - GP
SHU - GP
XU - XL
VU - GP
DeP - GP

Guys. For some reason, only in Connecticut is scanned tickets a thing.

I think it goes back to Rentschler Field when they would announce 32000 and there were 18 in the building. For some reason, this pissed off press row. We have a weird dynamic here. Why is attendance a thing? For some people, it helps reinforce the narrative that UConn isn’t big time, or their fans are spiked front runners.

I just never got into the fans aren’t in their seats early or UConn gooses the attendance figures. What does it matter?

You think nfl sells out every game and has 100% attendance? Of course not .

Also, scanned misses the band, support staff, media. and who knows if students get scanned in. Since they are not paid tixs, why would they be scanned?

The notion that gampel was only 75% full is absurd.

The key metric is not attendance, it is gate revenue. If you give tickets away for $5, I bet you could get Huge attendance.

To me, the metric is how much revenue you brought in with the gate for that game and divide by number of available seats.

That is what matters.

If I go to a broadway play, is it before a half packed house at the nederlander theatre? Stupid.

Edit: This is a good reminder that if UConn scanned 7500 tickets for Xavier, there is zero chance that it is 75% capacity. Perhaps that is not the metric that should use to determine capacity.

That is objectively false. All that number represents is how many tickets were scanned. Not how many people were there. It is tickets scanned + non-scanned attendees= attendance.

I had arguments for years over this. Most people like to say UConn is lying.

There are industry standards for how to count, if a ticket is sold, and the person doesn’t show up does that count as a sold Seat?

 

[J187Money]

I'm in East Haven.

XL is 42 minutes for me.
Gampel is 1:10.

So it's an extra hour (ignoring traffic/parking), plus it is much easier to get out of Hartford after a game.

So it isn't nothing - and for a marquee matchup I'm there. But for a midweek game against an average opponent? Maybe.

I won't stop buying season tickets - and I try to find people to go when I can't, but let's stop pretending there isn't a difference.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I could live with this. You realize they would have to dramatically increase the seat donation at Gampel with an equivalent decrease at XL. You could try it and see if fans would pay. I think fans would give up season tix at XL and spend the money on th 2 or 3 good games you would schedule there. I’m there either way but can see issues.

Not true.

Given UConn must sell "well over 10K tickets" to break even at XL due to the costs to play there plus lost costs.

 

[JB75]

and as someone mentioned before there wud be way fewer season tickets available for the games if they were all are at gampel. Definitely would affect me and my friends … I think it’s perfect the way it is now — maybe an extra couple games at gampel as part of XL season ticket holders package. (6 total in Hartford - rest at gampel?) I mean how many games really hurt us this year at the Civic Center?( as I still call it ) maybe just the Creighton game— tmrws a really important game I believe for the XL Center/Hartford -moving forward -those bars and restaurants need to be packed -even though it’s a stupid Tuesday game - too bad it’s not a Saturday night tip. And again I don’t live in Texas or the Midwest Im acccustomed to most things being within 20 30 minutes max -when you work all day and have two children an extra 25 minute drive means a lot -especially on ride home.

 

[JohnFSilver]

and as someone mentioned before there wud be way fewer season tickets available for the games if they were all are at gampel. Definitely would affect me and my friends … I think it’s perfect the way it is now — maybe an extra couple games at gampel as part of XL season ticket holders package. (6 total in Hartford - rest at gampel?) I mean how many games really hurt us this year at the Civic Center?( as I still call it ) maybe just the Creighton game— tmrws a really important game I believe for the XL Center/Hartford -moving forward -those bars and restaurants need to be packed -even though it’s a stupid Tuesday game - too bad it’s not a Saturday night tip. And again I don’t live in Texas or the Midwest Im acccustomed to most things being within 20 30 minutes max -when you work all day and have two children an extra 25 minute drive means a lot -especially on ride home.

I like what you said. I don’t live in Texas or Midwest. We are at a faster pace here. We got office jobs, and tight schedules.

How insane does it feel to have to start school at 7:25 am. Why not 7:30 am?

We are ingrained here to count minutes. And, as far as XL vs. Gampel. I worked at the JI for 15 years and lived in Farmington, CT.

People were stunned that I went to work everyday on the other side of the river. (Why don’t you move closer!) East and West of the river is a thing. It’s one of the reasons the rock cats moved to Hartford.

 

[JB75]

As a sidenote I did have some old guy behind me tell me to sit down with a minute left in the XL Marquette game— I told him to chill and that this was a big win - we all had a good laugh about it after so I do get the pro gampel points - but still

 

[August_West]

and as someone mentioned before there wud be way fewer season tickets available for the games if they were all are at gampel.

So my only comment is that you are not buying “ season tickets” when buying XL package. You are buying XL package . And that’s great . UConn needs every fan they can get. However these days it’s a “ loss leader” . And AD can’t afford to take losses. On court or off.

 

[Waquoit]

Win and everything else follows. You’ve got yourself wrapped around the axle on this because it is convenient for you. The numbers are earlier in the thread, we are losing money in Hartford.

This is not true. My comments are based on the history of the ticket buying fanbase. If they liked Gampel so much the season tickets there would be sold out. It's not close. The great crowd last weekday was preceded by a flash sale. Not only is UConn not losing money, they are making more Tuesday playing in the XL than they would at Gampel.

 

[Kemba Time]

So my only comment is that you are not buying “ season tickets” when buying XL package. You are buying XL package . And that’s great . UConn needs every fan they can get. However these days it’s a “ loss leader” . And AD can’t afford to take losses. On court or off.

That seems to come down to how much “well north” of 10,000 AD David Benedict means and if that number includes the seat donations that don’t seem to be mentioned in this conversation as an XL revenue or something general.

Playing a horrid non-conference schedule during the tail end of a pandemic while fan interest is maybe 75% back from recent AAC/performance issues, XL is going to average 11,638 fans per game this season (going from box scores and adding in my head so +/- on margin of error here). Swap in one decent non-conference game for MD-ES, move 1-2 lower-figure attendance games to Storrs and that number quickly hits 13k or so. Again, playing a loss leader non-conference schedule, coming out of a pandemic, at a time when casual fan interest is back but not actually BACK quite yet.

Look, AD David Benedict is clearly choosing his words to put the screws on Hartford/the State to upgrade the arena, sweeten the deal for UConn and likely looking at a split that moves a few games to Storrs, which is exactly what an AD should be doing with an expiring contract and some leverage, but he also lays out a path that isn’t all that difficult to envision from this season alone.

 

[How Sway?!]

Simple. The state either improves XL so that it is a peer to other off campus arenas in the league or that half and half split is done. If Hartford wants to continue to benefit economically, they'll need to pinch in their fair share.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Another factor that I'm sure is included in UConn's financial analysis/all-in assessment on this (but not spoken about by coaches and maybe every blue moon by the AD) is donations. My hunch is that most donations within CT come from people 45 minutes to two hours from Storrs. Not that all these people are season ticket holders, but I think that has to carry some weight in all of this.

 

[MU in MKE]

Attendance and atmosphere between the locations is an interesting topic. Something I just realized today, because of a comment on the MU board, was that despite the poor choice (in my opinion) of which games to play at Gampel vs XL, UConn is the ONLY school to show an increase in attendance this year in the BE. The rest of the conference are all down this year (probably b/c of covid) but despite the poor scheduling, UConn's attendance being up is pretty remarkable. Well, maybe not since it's the first season in the BE where fans can attend and the team is playing better. But at least the scheduling isn't completely holding fans back.


Side note @JB75 and @JohnFSilver, I can't speak for Texas, but I'm not sure where you get your impressions of the midwest from. We're not all rolling off the farm 2.5 hours before game time, knowing that it's the only thing going on in town and we might as well make the long trek because we've just got all this magical time to spare. I believe all the midwest Big East metro areas except Omaha are larger than Hartford.

Now if you'll pardon me, I only have 2 hours for lunch and that barely gives me time to get to the nearest convenience store and back to the office production line?...

 

[Bonamassa]

One minus for Gampel are the bench seats. Crammed in with knees in your back and your knees in the back of the person in front of you. No room for your coat. Now that they're serving beer get ready for the spills on people. It will be a tough maneuver even for a sober person.

 

[drayenob]

Noticed this from Kenpom:

Home games played at Gampel Pavilion (10,167, 93rd largest in D-I) or XL Center (15,564)

Home court advantage: 4.2 (6th in D-I)

I guess the XL center doesn't hurt too much.

I'm an XL season ticket holder. I would not be a Gample ticket holder because there is no way I could make the weekday games.

If this were to happen the occasional Saturday game would be an impossible ticket. Why not have the game where more fans can enjoy?

 

[Kemba Time]

Another factor that I'm sure is included in UConn's financial analysis/all-in assessment on this (but not spoken about by coaches and maybe every blue moon by the AD) is donations. My hunch is that most donations within CT come from people 45 minutes to two hours from Storrs. Not that all these people are season ticket holders, but I think that has to carry some weight in all of this.

The loss in potential donations of a Storrs-only scenario cannot be overstated. Given freedom to choose in UConn’s current split, more than 7,000 have chosen to become XL Center season-ticket holders. If we want to say 2,000 of those 7,000 are both venues season holders now, that leaves 5,000 fans you are taking a leap will:

A) Become Gampel season ticket holders who continue to donate despite making access more difficult than what they have chosen.

B) Double their investment. Currently single-venue fans buy 8-10 games in either venue. (Unless we are talking about splitting Gampel seasons up into a Blue & White package that comes with having to purchase 16-18 home games, simply doubling the number of games you have to buy becomes a financial issue for at least some of our current base in either location). AND increase their seat donation to make up for what one Gampel and one XL fan give for their current split.

C) Make donations after giving up their seats. Since moving to Gampel is about the students and the environment, you can’t really add a significant number of Hartford-only fans to Gampel as season-ticket holders, even in a best-case scenario that they would want to do so. And every fan who gives up their tickets and donor status also becomes less likely to give future additional donations — especially after being sold on These Are Your Forever Seats plan during a low-point in the program.

This is why the sweet spot for AD David Benedict is finding what allows UConn to maximizes Gampel while keeping enough in Hartford that XL season-ticket holders feel like they are getting enough big games to justify filling the arena while continuing to donate and choosing to keep their seats.

 

[CL82]

Not only is UConn not losing money, they are making more Tuesday playing in the XL than they would at Gampel.

Exclusive of seat licenses, not buy a whole heck of a lot. I did a quick and dirty computation and The XL Center, if sold out, makes, maybe, $25,000 more than a sold out Gampel. And that doesn’t take into account whatever the teams costs are in playing in Hartford. I don’t know if they stay overnight, I don’t know what the buses cost.

Note that that is not a knock on the XL Center per se. The Nova game is exactly the kind of games we want to be playing there. I think the atmosphere is going to be insane there. As has been noted thoroughly in this thread, when full, for a big game, the XL has great game day atmosphere.

But, if you really want to advocate for games in Hartford, maybe some of your ire should be directed towards the CDRA’s ridiculous pricing policy for Connecticut games.

 

[zls44]

Also, what if the money spent on paying rent for the XL plus increased concessions revenue with beer being sold now could help pay for actual dang seats?

How come folks can pick XL over Gampel because of not having benches but Gampel getting rid of benches couldn't help those ticket sales? As would the planned Gampel renovation?

I ask again, why does @Waquoit want UConn basketball to fail? Why does he want the opposite of what the students, most fans, coaches and players want? He clearly wants the program to be worse off.

 

[superjohn]

Attendance and atmosphere between the locations is an interesting topic. Something I just realized today, because of a comment on the MU board, was that despite the poor choice (in my opinion) of which games to play at Gampel vs XL, UConn is the ONLY school to show an increase in attendance this year in the BE. The rest of the conference are all down this year (probably b/c of covid) but despite the poor scheduling, UConn's attendance being up is pretty remarkable. Well, maybe not since it's the first season in the BE where fans can attend and the team is playing better. But at least the scheduling isn't completely holding fans back.


Side note @JB75 and @JohnFSilver, I can't speak for Texas, but I'm not sure where you get your impressions of the midwest from. We're not all rolling off the farm 2.5 hours before game time, knowing that it's the only thing going on in town and we might as well make the long trek because we've just got all this magical time to spare. I believe all the midwest Big East metro areas except Omaha are larger than Hartford.

Now if you'll pardon me, I only have 2 hours for lunch and that barely gives me time to get to the nearest convenience store and back to the office production line?...

Thanks for tackling that. I was going to comment on how out for touch their comments are but didn't bother.

 

[Bonamassa]

If the state is going to put money into the XL do it right and not half-assed. I know what we're going to get though. What's our motto? Oh yes, "Connecticut, the half-assed State."

 

[Get a Job]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I read that plans for XL Center renovations have involved the elimination of thousands of seats?

 

[Waquoit]

Everyone says UConn loses money at the XL with a 10K crowd. If it was 11K they would say 11K. So I'll round up and say 10,284 is the break-even. The capacity Tuesday will be 16,284. The difference is 6,000 sold tickets, at $30 that's $180,000. For one game. You're not getting that back with Gampel beer sales. And sure, get rid of the bench seats. But capacity goes with. Can't sell seats that don't exist.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Also, what if the money spent on paying rent for the XL plus increased concessions revenue with beer being sold now could help pay for actual dang seats?

How come folks can pick XL over Gampel because of not having benches but Gampel getting rid of benches couldn't help those ticket sales? As would the planned Gampel renovation?

I ask again, why does @Waquoit want UConn basketball to fail? Why does he want the opposite of what the students, most fans, coaches and players want? He clearly wants the program to be worse off.

What's the planned Gampel renovation?

 

[JohnFSilver]

Noticed this from Kenpom:

Home games played at Gampel Pavilion (10,167, 93rd largest in D-I) or XL Center (15,564)

Home court advantage: 4.2 (6th in D-I)

I guess the XL center doesn't hurt too much.

I'm an XL season ticket holder. I would not be a Gample ticket holder because there is no way I could make the weekday games.

If this were to happen the occasional Saturday game would be an impossible ticket. Why not have the game where more fans can enjoy?

This is essentially the issue. Going to gampel takes something away from the UConn fan —convenience.

It really comes down to that. I am headed to nova Tuesday and Women’s game Friday.

If it was gampel, I gotta be honest, takes
More planning .

 

[WestHartHusk]

This is not true. My comments are based on the history of the ticket buying fanbase. If they liked Gampel so much the season tickets there would be sold out. It's not close. The great crowd last weekday was preceded by a flash sale. Not only is UConn not losing money, they are making more Tuesday playing in the XL than they would at Gampel.

That is just not true. DB just told you he needs well over 10k to BREAK EVEN in Hartford. Do you think he is losing money in a building that is paid off, where he gets concessions and parking?

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I read that plans for XL Center renovations have involved the elimination of thousands of seats?

No, it includes a moveable wall system to reduce seating for events not needing full capacity. Still about 15-16k for a sold out basketball game.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Everyone says UConn loses money at the XL with a 10K crowd. If it was 11K they would say 11K. So I'll round up and say 10,284 is the break-even. The capacity Tuesday will be 16,284. The difference is 6,000 sold tickets, at $30 that's $180,000. For one game. You're not getting that back with Gampel beer sales. And sure, get rid of the bench seats. But capacity goes with. Can't sell seats that don't exist.

Lies, damn lies, statistics, then Waquoit math.

So you got to $180,000 in profit on 16,000 tickets. In a 10,000 seat arena that is paid off UConn only needs to sell tickets for $18/each. Hint: they sell them for more than $18/each. No beer needed (but it sure is a nice perk).

 

[Waquoit]

I ask again, why does @Waquoit want UConn basketball to fail? Why does he want the opposite of what the students, most fans, coaches and players want? He clearly wants the program to be worse off.

I've been a UConn BB fan for over 50 years and still pay money and go to games yet here's a numbnut that keeps saying I want the program to fail. Because I support a status quo that has brought us four titles. We've won more that Kansas and they hired Naismith. Playing home games in a barn clearly gets the program prepared to play in the buildings where the Big Dance is held. UConn is known for bringing it in any region. Would that have come with all the home games in an often indifferent on-campus facility? I say no. I clearly want continued success for a program that does things their way. This guy wants UConn to just fall in line.