No XL Center Next Year?

[zls44]

Every other blue-blood college in the country plays on-campus. There's a reason. It isn't hard to figure out.

Duke and UNC could play in Charlotte. They don't. UCLA could have moved permanently to Staples Center instead of spending 9-figures re-building Pauley. They don't. IU could move the games down the road to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They don't. Kansas could move the games to the vacant Sprint Center in KC. They don't.

This is about a home-court advantage. The bars and the restaurants and the parking are all whiny, meaningless things. A larger building where you watched Bird and Gretzky? Classic living-in-the-past New Englander mentality.

The XL Center is an outdated piece of garbage that should be imploded tomorrow. It's outdated in terms of seating, it's outdated in terms of technology, it's outdated in terms of the concourse, every single thing about it sucks.

Gampel has a lot of issues...but it's still on campus. The team is the UNIVERSITY of Connecticut basketball team. It belongs at the UNIVERSITY of Connecticut.

If you want to pick a team based on the bars, based on the ease of getting in and out, go root for CCSU. Lot of nice dive bars in New Britain, and your mild sensibilities won't be affected by the affront of having to wait in traffic for more than 15 agonizing minutes.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Every other blue-blood college in the country plays on-campus. There's a reason. It isn't hard to figure out.

Duke and UNC could play in Charlotte. They don't. UCLA could have moved permanently to Staples Center instead of spending 9-figures re-building Pauley. They don't. IU could move the games down the road to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They don't. Kansas could move the games to the vacant Sprint Center in KC. They don't.

This is about a home-court advantage. The bars and the restaurants and the parking are all whiny, meaningless things. A larger building where you watched Bird and Gretzky? Classic living-in-the-past New Englander mentality.

The XL Center is an outdated piece of garbage that should be imploded tomorrow. It's outdated in terms of seating, it's outdated in terms of technology, it's outdated in terms of the concourse, every single thing about it sucks.

Gampel has a lot of issues...but it's still on campus. The team is the UNIVERSITY of Connecticut basketball team. It belongs at the UNIVERSITY of Connecticut.

If you want to pick a team based on the bars, based on the ease of getting in and out, go root for CCSU. Lot of nice dive bars in New Britain, and your mild sensibilities won't be affected by the affront of having to wait in traffic for more than 15 agonizing minutes.

The second half of that is a little over-the-top, but I agree completely with the first part. Top-flight programs play on campus and foster a home-court environment that is hostile and intimidating to opposing teams. Playing at the XL Center in front of the suits occupying the first 20 rows doesn't accomplish that.

 

[Vuce]

I don't mind having games at both places but if I had to choose one it would be Gampel. It is further away from me but love having college games on Campus. I wish we had a better arena in terms of seating (hate the crammed in aspect of the benches) but it is what it is.

 

[Waquoit]

Every other blue-blood college in the country plays on-campus. ..This is about a home-court advantage. The bars and the restaurants and the parking are all whiny, meaningless things. ... Classic living-in-the-past New Englander mentality.... your mild sensibilities won't be affected by the affront of having to wait in traffic for more than 15 agonizing minutes.

Just to recap, the issue we were talking about was "game-day experience"? You said "This is a farce. Where do I even begin." When challenged to elaborate you added nothing except insults (not that I care, it's just a message board and you consider the source). When challenged again you changed the subject to home-court advantage. You clearly have a high opinion of yourself, don't let that ruin your game. As things stand now, you are all heat and no light. "Because" isn't a real reason.

I seem to be in the minority here by the fact I actually pay full price and go to (almost) all the games. I don't sense any greater home-court advantage in Storrs based on on-court play or fan response. I prefer going to Hartford and the superior "gameday experience". I think it's funny hearing from fans that don't go to all the games disregard the actual facts of the matter concerning the ticket buying fanbase.

 

[mcs333]

Duke and UNC would never play in Char.. it's 2.5 hours away!!

 

[zls44]

Just to recap, the issue we were talking about was "game-day experience"? You said "This is a farce. Where do I even begin." When challenged to elaborate you added nothing except insults (not that I care, it's just a message board and you consider the source). When challenged again you changed the subject to home-court advantage. You clearly have a high opinion of yourself, don't let that ruin your game. As things stand now, you are all heat and no light. "Because" isn't a real reason.

I seem to be in the minority here by the fact I actually pay full price and go to (almost) all the games. I don't sense any greater home-court advantage in Storrs based on on-court play or fan response. I prefer going to Hartford and the superior "gameday experience". I think it's funny hearing from fans that don't go to all the games disregard the actual facts of the matter concerning the ticket buying fanbase.

I prefer free parking, walking the campus, checking out the Sports Museum/Student Union, and Ted's over anything Hartford has to offer. Going to games in Storrs takes me back to being in college. Going to games in Hartford reminds me of what a *hole Hartford is.

 

[Marty Jackson]

the xl center is owned by the city, so I'm sure there is some agreement that uconn would continue to play games there. this notion that uconn will stop playing their games in hartford is ridiculous. It's the state capitol, it's centrally located, and a 16K seat arena exists.
Does the xl center need to be updated? sure. should the seating be more preferential to students? sure... But these are easy fixes. Moving games another hour away from stamford, greenwich and fairfield isn't going to help.
And for the genius who suggested that you could easily make up the 5K seat difference (only 50% of Gampel's capacity), at $50/seat that's $250K of lost revenue per game. at approx. 10-11 games per year, that's $3M of lost revenue per year.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Just to recap, the issue we were talking about was "game-day experience"? You said "This is a farce. Where do I even begin." When challenged to elaborate you added nothing except insults (not that I care, it's just a message board and you consider the source). When challenged again you changed the subject to home-court advantage. You clearly have a high opinion of yourself, don't let that ruin your game. As things stand now, you are all heat and no light. "Because" isn't a real reason.

I seem to be in the minority here by the fact I actually pay full price and go to (almost) all the games. I don't sense any greater home-court advantage in Storrs based on on-court play or fan response. I prefer going to Hartford and the superior "gameday experience". I think it's funny hearing from fans that don't go to all the games disregard the actual facts of the matter concerning the ticket buying fanbase.

trust me, you're not in the minority. That's why games are played in hartford.

 

[UCHuskies08]

We've won 3 NCs with our current set-up

All this talk about "REAL PROGRAMS ONLY PLAY ON CAMPUS" is a bunch of hot air.

I like driving 10 minutes to a game instead of an hour. Sue me.

 

[uconnell]

that's gotta be a joke

No, unfortunately is not. I know the people who gave up their tickets. Truthfully, if we didn't know the backway into Storrs so we wcould park in the south garage we wouldn't go either. Guess you don't know any elderly people..

 

[UConn5]

I'm torn. I like to ease of being able to attend games at the XL center (I'm down in Fairfield County) instead of having to trek to campus. However, if I am not attending the game, it is almost always evidence on TV that the crowd is much more intense at Gampel. Ultimately, I'd choose to ditch XL except for maybe a game or two early in the year. I understand the dual-streams of income that XL creates and the ease of access, but it just doesn't seem consistent with what other programs do, and I like the atmosphere to be as loud as possible.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Duke and UNC could play in Charlotte. They don't. UCLA could have moved permanently to Staples Center instead of spending 9-figures re-building Pauley. They don't. IU could move the games down the road to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They don't. Kansas could move the games to the vacant Sprint Center in KC. They don't.

Those arenas are significantly further from campus and the other schools home arenas hold a lot more seats than Gampel. Do I wish all the games were at Gampel? Sure I think we have a more consistent home court advantage there. Over time though, I think we would hurt the fan base. Right or wrong, that's just the facts.

Gampel (10,027) to XL Center - 30 minutes

Duke (12,000) UNC (21,750) to Charlotte 2.5 hours
Indiana(17,472) to Bankers Life 1 hour
Kansas (16,300) to Sprint Center 45 mins
UCLA (12,829) to Staples Center 20 mins

 

[whaler11]

Comparing the fan base here to the fan bases of other colleges is pointless. The people here behave differently than they do in other places. If you'd like to ignore that to the detriment of the program, that is your business. Hopefully the people that control the Athletic Department are smarter than that.

 

[uconnsox23]

Those arenas are significantly further from campus and the other schools home arenas hold a lot more seats than Gampel. Do I wish all the games were at Gampel? Sure I think we have a more consistent home court advantage there. Over time though, I think we would hurt the fan base. Right or wrong, that's just the facts.

Gampel (10,027) to XL Center - 30 minutes

Duke (12,000) UNC (21,750) to Charlotte 2.5 hours
Indiana(17,472) to Bankers Life 1 hour
Kansas (16,300) to Sprint Center 45 mins
UCLA (12,829) to Staples Center 20 mins

Cameron Indoor only holds (9314) slightly smaller than gampel. I think gampel could use a face lift regardless. The roof is in bad shape. It's a shame there's no way to expand the capacity.​