Its like they care more about drinking then the game itself.
Razed with something is probably the right answer. That something may not be another arena though.
The third option is incentivize third-party to operate a venue.
This discussion proobabky looks a lot different if Hartford had a pro team. Building a new arena at that point would be a lot easier. So it seems like they’re sort of stuck in that middle ground.
Fully agree. Hartford has a pro sports franchise playing at the XL Center, then it has revenue and is self supporting. UConn could pick and choose what games they want to play there and wouldn’t be locked in to a financially detrimental lease.
Also having Saturday games will change demand as well for both venues.
In the old real Big East there were soft tickets and hot tickets. It'll be the same thing with this new iteration Big East
Early November is what they said.
presumably there will be a request to donate rather than refund
I’m with you. And obviously none of these folks claiming to hate the XL ever went to a game at the old Boston Garden. Absolute pit but had tradition unmatched by anyplace else. From the dead spot on the parquet floor to the undersized rink to the rats.
Don’t forget the lichen hanging from the ceiling. And yeah, it was a magical place to see a game.
Totally agree with this. I suspect after a year or two, the whole Big East thing will wear off and nobody is going to be begging for tickets to see Creighton and Xavier, never mind Providence and Seton Hall. People have this romantic memory of full xl and Gampel for games but honestly that wasnt the case. The dirty little secret in UConn basketball is that attendance has been declining for the better part of a decade BEFORE the American Athletic Conference. Every year between 2006 and 2013 attendance was down year over year. The AAC accelerated the trend but it was already well underway. The move to the NBE might have temporarily changed that dynamic but I doubt it was a long term thing. With Covid and a season of empty stands it might not change that much.
Talked to them Friday. Be prepared for a lot of info
I'm curious how your drive to Hartford is 30 minutes longer. I know we both live in Eastern MA. The difference in the 2 for me is exactly 10 minutes. That's just the drive. Would seem to be more but out of Hartford you're on I-84 in minutes while from campus it takes a while to get to I-84. Now whether parking and walking to the arena is much different, I haven't timed that but I'm guessing it's about the same for both places.
They went over the options on what to do with your money and how it relates to allowing fans inside Gampel.
