Is there a reason why we don’t play games in Boston? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

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

FfldCntyFan said:
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.
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I have an idea along those lines
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MrSec224 said:
Why on EARTH would either team lose the home revenue of this to play neutral site?
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This. Plus now that I am paying so much more for my tickets why would I want a game taken away from me?
 
superjohn said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
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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
 
UConnSwag11 said:
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.
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Because it's (retch, puke)....Boston?
 
auror said:
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.
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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.
 
aburks41 said:
As someone who lives in Boston, yes please. Tons of UConn alums here.
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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).
 
MrSec224 said:
Us playing in MSG is much more valuable then playing in Boston.
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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 ;)
 
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
 
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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.
 
Guapo said:
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
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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.
 
superjohn said:
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.
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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.
 
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"
 
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.
 
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BKLYN said:
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"
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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.
 
superjohn said:
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.
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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
 
BKLYN said:
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"
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Well now with the “Heart of New England” thing, it seems like the windmills are tilting back towards Boston
 
auror said:
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.
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He said Boston and NYC, I found it surprising considering NYC is over 12 times more populated than Boston. If we're doing metro areas NY is over 4 times more populated than Boston metro area and the University needs to step up their game in NYC and the NY metro area.

I don't think he was talking about people living in Manchester, NH. Providence. RI.
Waterbury, CT. and Paterson, NJ.
 
Guapo said:
Well now with the “Heart of New England” thing, it seems like the windmills are tilting back towards Boston
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Without any data to back this up, I feel like Boston is becoming a more popular destination for young grads than NYC is. I’m in Boston with the rest of my friends and we all went to UConn. I don’t know a single person that moved to NYC. I know about 20 people who moved to Boston after graduation though.

UConn is still undeniably a NYC brand, and we always will be as long as the BET is played at the Garden. I don’t know how much benefit UConn would get from trying to build a bigger brand presence in Boston. Boston as a whole doesn’t care about college sports. It’s not a college basketball city at all, but NYC is
 
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Sub-optimal use of time and money. End of story.
 
Guapo said:
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
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The emphasis should be on getting good games on campus. There is no need to schedule MSG anymore since SJU and BET do that for us already. No more Newark; Barclays or new arena in Queens aren't acceptable either. NJ is covered thanks to SHU anyway.

I am OK with Boston once in a blue moon (e.g. every 5 years) if it means getting a game against Gonzaga or Duke; not a mid major regional state U.

If Gonzaga wants to do a "home and home" of Boston / Vegas you take the call, if Duke wants to do MSG one off, fine. Outside of that come to Storrs or Hartford. That includes Syracuse.

College hoops is about the college atmospheres and outside specific situations (BET, NCAA Tourney), it isn't being replicated in neutral environments. It isn't a traveling road show.

UConn playing in Boston v. UMass or MSG v. Cuse doesn't do anything anymore. In fact in both cases it's just benefitting the other party more than it is UConn since neither of those schools own those markets and need the exposure to get a leg up over their conference peers, something UConn doesn't need. And I say all this as someone that can walk to MSG.

A game in Boston once in awhile is a good idea to get local alumni engaged but it shouldn't be a routine thing.

Another example of something that could work is a Men's Women's Doubleheader v. Notre Dame in Boston. That is a headliner event, as opposed to v. St. Bonnies and UCLA in Newark.

As fans we should want better than what we've been getting of recent.
 
aburks41 said:
Boston as a whole doesn’t care about college sports. It’s not a college basketball city at all, but NYC is
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NYC isn't really a college basketball city either. It's a professional sports city as much as Boston is. It's really BET and bust as far as college hoops goes. St. John's sells out like 1 game a year at MSG despite pulling from 20+ million people.
 
auror said:
NYC isn't really a college basketball city either. It's a professional sports city as much as Boston is. It's really BET and bust as far as college hoops goes. St. John's sells out like 1 game a year at MSG despite pulling from 20+ million people.
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MSG hosts early season tourneys, BET, and the NIT (rip). Teams make an effort to play games there. Is there ever anyone trying to play games in Boston at TD Garden? It’s got a different vibe to it
 
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