Is there a reason why we don’t play games in Boston?

[Tenspro2002]

I thought people wanted an upgrade to our schedule

I wouldn't play BU there, but we should be able to get a big P5 type program to come in like we did with Gonzaga a while ago.

 

[MrSec238]

I've been saying this for years.

The idea you don't play in Boston because you play in MSG is silly.

Boston is a top ten media market. it is valuable to to be relevant there. Plus it's an easy ride for students, many of whom love the town.

Its tough to play at both when you take a trip every year and want to play home games though. If BC was relevant sure. But until they are it doesn’t make sense. Maybe UMass

 

[superjohn]

There're really no value/point to it. Boston isn't a college basketball town and all the recruits in the area already know all about UConn. Providence is the only other good New England team and we already play each other multiple times per year in our home gyms. I'm all for scheduling as many big time out of conference opponents to play UConn at home and at our other home, MSG.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

That would be fine. But all these people are proposing a Beanpot style tournament which means it would need to replace Atlantis/PK85/Maui. I believe you can only play in 1 MTE per year

I'm not saying an official tourney - just a scheduling agreement where over the course of 5 or so years you play a sort of round robin.

 

[Palatine]

Its tough to play at both when you take a trip every year and want to play home games though. If BC was relevant sure. But until they are it doesn’t make sense. Maybe UMass

I also thought we should should play Providence in Boston Garden. Close enough to both schools to be neutral but also to draw a big crowd. It could be an event.

 

[MrSec238]

I also thought we should should play Providence in Boston Garden. Close enough to both schools to be neutral but also to draw a big crowd. It could be an event.

Why on EARTH would either team lose the home revenue of this to play neutral site?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm not sure the OP was implying that it needed to be a local (to Boston) opponent. I personally believe that a reasonable (or better) profile opponent from outside the northeast would be sufficient.

I've been saying for nearly two decades that one thing we should do is play games in both Boston & NYC every year and take the approach that both cities and everything between them is ours.

I have an idea along those lines

 

[LIuconn]

Make it a Saturday afternoon against a KU, UNC, Duke or reputable school with a decent enough alumni base in New England.

 

[beerfan]

Why on EARTH would either team lose the home revenue of this to play neutral site?

This. Plus now that I am paying so much more for my tickets why would I want a game taken away from me?

 

[auror]

There're really no value/point to it. Boston isn't a college basketball town and all the recruits in the area already know all about UConn. Providence is the only other good New England team and we already play each other multiple times per year in our home gyms. I'm all for scheduling as many big time out of conference opponents to play UConn at home and at our other home, MSG.

It would be nice to play a high profile neutral game there more than once every 15 years for the alumni. The recruits around NYC know about UConn also. There's no reason we couldn't play the equivalent of the Bonnies game we played at the Prudential every few years in Boston. We play in MSG 2-5 times every year now. A quick Google lists Purdue and Michigan as having large Boston alumni bases.

 

[BIIIG]

Unless this is playing a road game or boston or a neutral site tournament couldn't be more out on this idea. Splitting home games up into two venues already is frustrating, and back when they were mixing in Bridgeport games too it was chaos. I get a lot of ppl in Boston but any other major team has ppl commute throughout the whole state. CT one of the smallest states in the country and already makes more regional accommodations than most schools. UConn should be trying to consolidate home games under one roof, not having more home roofs

 

[Beowulf]

Every once-in-a-while they should look too. I would think a yearly thing might be tough but once every couple of years would be fun. Not sure I'm opposed to UConn playing anywhere every once in a while. Have a once a decade showcase in Wyoming for all I care. It's always fun

 

[Rich]

When was the last time we played a game in Boston?

I think it would be nice to play a game there everyone in awhile. Good for recruiting and to create some more buzz around the program.

Because it's (retch, puke)....Boston?

 

[superjohn]

It would be nice to play a high profile neutral game there more than once every 15 years for the alumni. The recruits around NYC know about UConn also. There's no reason we couldn't play the equivalent of the Bonnies game we played at the Prudential every few years in Boston. We play in MSG 2-5 times every year now. A quick Google lists Purdue and Michigan as having large Boston alumni bases.

I guess but there's only so many neutral site games against big time opponents you can schedule that are outside of the tournaments and I'm choosing MSG every time over Boston. I have zero interest in playing BC, UMass, BU, Northeastern.

 

[gsmooth]

As someone who lives in Boston, yes please. Tons of UConn alums here.

I live in Boston, too. I wouldn't mind an annual game here at TD Garden whether that is against UMass, BC, or a high profile program (i.e. Gonzaga in 2008).

 

[gsmooth]

Us playing in MSG is much more valuable then playing in Boston.

I live in Boston, and would love an annual game here. However, you are correct, a game at MSG is much more valuable. But how about both?

That doesn't hurt my feelings coming to that reality though as my family roots and birthplace are from NYC

 

[Guapo]

We already play enough games off campus and at neutral sites so I don’t really condone doing this more, but it’s worth noting that, while the school really pushes the NYC connection, I think* more alum end up in Boston than NYC

 

[BlueMAB]

So we're going to double and triple ticket fees, and then add single a high profile game 90 minutes from the capital that would presumably be a neutral site venue that isn't included in the (already grossly overpriced) season ticket package?

Sounds like fun.

 

[superjohn]

We already play enough games off campus and at neutral sites so I don’t really condone doing this more, but it’s worth noting that, while the school really pushes the NYC connection, I think* more alum end up in Boston than NYC

I find that hard to believe considering NYC is over 12 times bigger than Boston. If true we're severely lacking in getting students jobs in NYC. That's where the money is.

 

[auror]

I find that hard to believe considering NYC is over 12 times bigger than Boston. If true we're severely lacking in getting students jobs in NYC. That's where the money is.

New York metro is only a little less than 3x larger than Boston metro. Still a lot more, but Boston proper is notoriously small compared to its metro, so makes more sense to compare metro areas (considering that's where the vast majority of people who work "in Boston" live and would be drawing from to get people to a game).

The money is also in Boston. Bio tech and startup hub among other things. Median metro salary: Boston 94k. NYC 83k. Recent college grads is also 5k more in Boston.

 

[BKLYN]

Though Boston is closer and many alumni are in the area, I feel like UConn has chosen to stick with branding itself as "New York"

During realignment, there was much more value with UConn being in NYC's market than in Boston's.

Boston clearly has BC as the university of the city (even though no one in Boston gives a about BC, having lived in Boston) it's tough to see UConn as a real player.

NYC doesn't have the type of name brand association with a college & city. Therefore, it makes sense for UConn to keep branding itself as "New York City's Team"

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

I think when you look at UConn being in the tightly packed Northeast, it makes sense to play games in Boston and NY/NJ. In this NIL world, the more influencers and monied people seeing your product (games) the better. CT being such a small geographic and populated state really begs to be known and appreciated regionally/super-regionally. College sports is the best marketing tool a University has. We have to think about the bigger picture.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Why not just schedule an attractive home game for the fans who are getting soaked having to pay full boat for University of Maryland eastern shore every winter.

 

[gsmooth]

Though Boston is closer and many alumni are in the area, I feel like UConn has chosen to stick with branding itself as "New York"

During realignment, there was much more value with UConn being in NYC's market than in Boston's.

Boston clearly has BC as the university of the city (even though no one in Boston gives a shhh iii ttt about BC, having lived in Boston) it's tough to see UConn as a real player.

NYC doesn't have the type of name brand association with a college & city. Therefore, it makes sense for UConn to keep branding itself as "New York City's Team"

I can attest to that. BC isn't even a tiny blip on the radar over here. Boston really doesn't care all that much about college sports in general unless it's a national brand name in football or basketball that is coming into town for a game or the one of it's many universities' hockey team is doing well, and even then for the latter it doesn't move the needle all that much.

 

[Guapo]

I find that hard to believe considering NYC is over 12 times bigger than Boston. If true we're severely lacking in getting students jobs in NYC. That's where the money is.

The school published a cool map a couple years back with the number of alumni in each city, which is where I’m recalling this from. I tried to do a Google image search for “UConn Alumni Map” but all it comes back with are pictures and maps of the Alumni dorms lol