No XL Center Next Year?

[RIHusky13]

I'm not sure how legit this all is but the word on Twitter is that ESPN announced that UConn won't play any games at the XL center next season. I'm thinking it could just be that they have to renew a contact though.

Any other information out there?

 

[phillionaire]

that would be awesome. i hate having to take a bus there from campus.

 

[jfuchs91]

I'm seeing this on Twitter too, though I'm not sure how legitimate it is. I would certainly love this though. We'd be a much tougher team at home if all the games were at Gampel.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I want white-outs for every home game at Gampel. It's about time we had a home-court advantage befitting a big-name program.

 

[Yonick]

I have always felt that the only games at the XL center should be when students are off campus on school vacation.

 

[iam76]

sounds dumb. i buy that package!

 

[RS9999X]

Could be related to the Whalers complaints earlier in the week. The XL is trying to rape the renters

http://articles.courant.com/2012-03...dwin-lease-issue-whalers-sports-entertainment

Typical AHL team pays $9,000 for rent, gets $350,000 in concession revenue, and gets the revenue from premum seat/suite sales.

Whalers pay $25,000 for rent, get nothing from concessions, and get the revenue from only 1/6 of the premum seats/suites.

AEG wants more in next years contract. Malloy passed as 10% amusement tax as well. Renovation plans all rejected.

 

[RS9999X]

Financially it doesn't make sense/ The XL must be screwing them for it to make sense.

 

[Vuce]

Well, if there is an NCAA tourney ban for Uconn then this might be a good thing. No way Uconn will sell tickets to fill up the XL if fans know it is basically an exhibition season.

 

[Waquoit]

I want white-outs for every home game at Gampel. It's about time we had a home-court advantage befitting a big-name program.

Not to let the facts trip you up, but outside of the Gameday game, the better crowds were in Hartford this year and it wasn't even close. This could be just a negotiating tactic, but leaving Hartford would be a killer to the program.

 

[Dann]

i'll wait to see more on this before really thinking about it but first thoughts:

-xl is what 5k bigger? so gampel prices will go up to help get that lost $. i'm all for on campus games tho, i like a school being a on campus athletics wise. student section wise etc...makes kids and the ommunity more involved in campus and gets alum back to campus alot more which means more donations and school pride.

-this could be just a hint that in fact the xl is going to get $$ for that revamp and they plan do do it asap which would be why uconn can't play there next year construction wise...

-also ppl always argue where the better crowds are. the reason we argue about ti no matter what side your on is becuase were in the position to play at 2 dfferent places. if gamel was our home the downtown crowd would be upset and blah blah. but guess what, aren't they building a dt up in storrs or trying to start one? susan is clearly molding a new culture and one that will be sucessful. dont argue change, embrace it and be a good fan. it seems to be for the better longterm for the school. as a diehard fan but not a lum myself who really 90% of games i have ever gone to were in xl if its was a uconn home game, im all for on campus. big time schools especially in big time conf's have most if not all psorts on campus. playing bball on campus full time could be help to a BiG move.

-the xl over the years has been a mess no? i still hold out hope that one day the xl is redone and a nhl team is in there. or a ahl team and a nbad team is. that would be fine also. on top of that i hope the state sells the rent to the mls for a team. ct is a great mk for them to get soccer wise. take that $$ and do a 50-60k on campus stadium down the road. rent the rent for the next 15 years until that time as part of the agreement. then years from now u can build a new gampel thats 15k with a bigger student section and all that jazz this program will need by them. this is just dreams tho....

 

[Waquoit]

...makes kids and the ommunity more involved in campus and gets alum back to campus alot more which means more donations and school pride.

-the xl over the years has been a mess no?

I just can't see how cutting out the XL leads to getting " alums back to campus alot more which means more donations and school pride." In reality, it means less alum and community involvement.

And how is the XL a mess?

 

[Devland]

I'm pretty sure this started when John Saunders mis-spoke on the preview of the UMass-Seton Hall NIT game. Seton Hall is playing in a smaller on campus arena so they did a spot on other Big East teams that normally play in larger arenas that also play some games in smaller on campus arenas. Someone must have put it on twitter and it becomes fact. As usual social media is the fantasy world.

 

[whaler11]

Jacobs already tweeted that the management at XL already has a contract for next year and games scheduled.

It would be awfully stupid to turn their backs on the fans who have been loyal in Hartford for decades. Storrs is just a miserable trip on weeknights, and the donations they would lose by limiting the tickets as much as they would is a silly idea.

 

[Palatine]

I knew Connecticut was anti-business but trying to rip off the state university is brazen even by Democratic standards.

 

[UCweCONN]

We will not come close to selling out XL next year and neither will the women. Half of the seats were empty for the Women's BE tourney. We need to re-establish a home court advantage like we had in the '90's and stop letting the dollar be the deciding factor. A rocking, full house Gampel crowd is much better for the team and recruiting than a catatonic, half-empty XL. I for one am hoping we go back to playing all home games at Gampel as it would definitely improve our home record. For those that say a small arena will be a negative, Duke does pretty well playing at Camren (spelling?).

 

[husky8273]

It's possible that there are more games at XL next year as the governor's new oversight commission (Capital Region Development Authority) presses for more events at the XL

 

[UCDaveD]

XL is way more convenient for me, coming in from Bristol, but screw it, I love Gampel and I'd absolutely love all of our games to be played there.

 

[Ts5034]

We will not come close to selling out XL next year and neither will the women. Half of the seats were empty for the Women's BE tourney. We need to re-establish a home court advantage like we had in the '90's and stop letting the dollar be the deciding factor. A rocking, full house Gampel crowd is much better for the team and recruiting than a catatonic, half-empty XL. I for one am hoping we go back to playing all home games at Gampel as it would definitely improve our home record. For those that say a small arena will be a negative, Duke does pretty well playing at Camren (spelling?).

Agree. Bottom line is no recruit is coming to Uconn so they can play at the XL Center. Ask every single Uconn player over the last 20 years where they liked playing better. I guarantee the answer would be 100% Gampel.

 

[ruskin]

Who was person who started this on the air? Saunders?

 

[uconnbill]

games should be played on campus. The state screwed UConn when it built Gampel at 8,000+ and only was expanded when it was realized it was to small of a venue. It should have been 12,000+ when it was first built but the state had to protect the XL center. For game day experience the Gampel wins hands down.

Politics is why football is off campus and that teh Gampel was built to small.

 

[uconnfan68]

I knew Connecticut was anti-business but trying to rip off the state university is brazen even by Democratic standards.

It's BIG BUSINESS doing that, not Democrats.

 

[uconnfan68]

games should be played on campus. The state screwed UConn when it built Gampel at 8,000+ and only was expanded when it was realized it was to small of a venue. It should have been 12,000+ when it was first built but the state had to protect the XL center. For game day experience the Gampel wins hands down.

Politics is why football is off campus and that teh Gampel was built to small.

Well politics and infrastructure. Can't bring 50k in/out on 1 lane roads.

 

[UCDaveD]

Well politics and infrastructure. Can't bring 50k in/out on 1 lane roads.

Yeah, that'd be a freaking nightmare. Just not feasible without some major construction on 195

 

[uconnbill]

Well politics and infrastructure. Can't bring 50k in/out on 1 lane roads.

I agree with that part that the infrastructure needed an upgrade. It could have been done fairly easily as I have talked to a couple of engineers you know what was once brought up what needed to be done on Rte 195, before the stadium on campus was crushed by political folks in Hartford.
Connecticut politicians always does the bare minimum when it comes to projects like Gampel and Rentschler field. Both should have been bigger. The Rent should have been 50,000 seats and I know a few wanted that in Hartford from both sides of the aisle.
We are not just a small state but small thinking state as well.