Thank you XL Center

[CL82]

Would have been more empty seats if people had to drive all the way to Storrs.

Well, yeah, because the game would’ve been in Storrs and the XL center doesn’t have any other events that remotely draw like Connecticut basketball.

 

[XLCenterFan]

Let’s follow that up with an even better crowd vs Villanova 2 weeks from tonight.

It will be sold out. It will be raucous.

 

[CL82]

Anyone in the building wouldn’t second guess the crowd tonight. Unless you’re just a lifetime hater. What a student turnout.

It sounded great on television too. I love hearing the U C O N N cheer on the way to a time out commercial break. It sounds like winning.

 

[businesslawyer]

We keep talking about this good crowd for a "Tuesday" thing... but then I put on the Arkansas Auburn game afterwards and that place was filled to the brim, not an empty seat in sight... on a Tuesday night.

I understand Arkansas were playing the #1 team in the country.... but we're UConn. We're ranked, playing another ranked team in a huge Big East game. You're telling me we can't fill every seat in that arena?

Does Duke have good "Tuesday" crowds with visible clusters of empty seats at the bottom?

It really sucks that people have tickets like 3 rows back from the court, and hold on to them and don't go.

But also- this wouldn't happen at UConn in the OBE days right? Lots of empty seats for a Big East ranked matchup on a Tuesday night? Is covid still just keeping people away, whereas in Arkansas, no one really gives a **?

Is that part of it? Of course it is. My son will be up from DC for the home 'Nova game and wants to go. I would kill to go, but am not sure I'm ready to sit in a 15k arena at the moment, even though when we played Bonnies in Newark before the variant exploded cases I was. I can't be the only person for whom this is still an issue, because I know many people who are still more cautious than I am.

 

[Madmannsucks]

You must not have been there, or you're blinded by hate fueled by silliness

Loudest crowd of the year.

They were loud. I moved to Colorado over 20 years ago. When I see them it is on TV. I have seen quite a few empty seats even for high profile games. That is why I asked.

 

[huskyjawz]

Is that part of it? Of course it is. My son will be up from DC for the home 'Nova game and wants to go. I would kill to go, but am not sure I'm ready to sit in a 15k arena at the moment, even though when we played Bonnies in Newark before the variant exploded cases I was. I can't be the only person for whom this is still an issue, because I know many people who are still more cautious than I am.

Same. Went to that game, and haven't been to a game since. For one reason only.

 

[awfuldan]

Was at the game. Super fun time, great crowd. Definitely the best game I've been to this year.

Just looked up the attendance numbers for that Arkansas/Auburn game. ESPN says there were 20,327 there in a building that has a 19,368 capacity. Crazy!! I think we woud easily sell out XL Center for a game against the #1 team in the country, but don't know how we'd get 1,000 over capacity.

 

[ucawn]

The XL Center was rocking, best crowd this year. Great game!!

Next 2 games will blow that crowd out of the water through… especially Xavier. Very fun game to be a part of tho

 

[Vancat]

I am a staunch Gampel vs XL fan. However, I distinctly remember the early days when we were on the rise and starting to beat Gtown & Syracuse- the Civic Center was crazy loud and it was really exhilarating to be a part of it. The only thing I ever have been at that was louder, crowd-wise, was a Triple Crown race at Belmont. And that lasted like 3 minutes.

 

[willie99]

Do people really believe that empty seats are about the arena and not fan interest? Seriously?

When we were emerging, we had all the sellouts and fan interest some of these other schools have today. Other schools simply have a more engaged fan base. And it has nothing to do with XL or GP, because GP has empty seats and the student section doesn't remotely compare with our best years

We're complacent, we're spoiled, both our arenas are dinosaurs. But WINNING will help


PS: Dook's rat infested high school gym always looks full because they put the students in the lowers rows across from the cameras. And even Dook has had complaints about waning student interest and empty free bleacher seats.

Duke basketball: Cameron Crazies owe Blue Devils an apology

Current students are damaging part of the Duke basketball program's mystique by either not showing up to home games at all or arriving with limited passion.

balldurham.com

 

[willie99]

They were loud. I moved to Colorado over 20 years ago. When I see them it is on TV. I have seen quite a few empty seats even for high profile games. That is why I asked.

My apologies, I thought you were being sarcastic, lot of that going on around here nowadays

 

[CTBasketball]

Next 2 games will blow that crowd out of the water through… especially Xavier. Very fun game to be a part of tho

Seton Hall will be underwhelming because of the 8:30pm weekday tip. I’d imagine Xavier @ Gampel on Sat 2/19 should be sold out, as well as the Villanova game the following Tues at XL.

 

[CL82]

Seton Hall will be underwhelming because of the 8:30pm weekday tip. I’d imagine Xavier @ Gampel on Sat 2/19 should be sold out, as well as the Villanova game the following Tues at XL.

You’re probably right about the Seton Hall game, which is a shame, because they match up well with us and a raucous XL Center would help.

When the place is packed for meaningful games, the noise level can be impressive there. The athletic department should follow the same discounted ticket methodology that worked so well last night. Consistently Seeing a packed XL Center will encourage people on the fence to buy tickets.

 

[TMB4405]

Honestly I am fine with 12-13k at XL. As many have pointed out the building is antiquated. I will no longer go
To a game if I have to sit anywhere above the middle of upper section. Too far away from the court as it’s a design from 1950. New arenas higher sections are still good to watch from but XL terrible. So I don’t judge anyone who won’t go and sit there.

 

[bendm]

Give people a,reason to show up and they'll show up. Give people a reason to cheer and they'll cheer.

Where do you get off? sold out arenas are not limited to top 10 teams. Last night was a game between two ranked BE teams it should have been a sell out but for the dumb 6:30 start

 

[HuskyHawk]

Would have been more empty seats if people had to drive all the way to Storrs.

FTFY

The empty seats you see in the lower bowl at XL (and at Gampel too) are never allocated to students. Those go to the high donation level corporate types, doctors and lawyers (and TikTok stars I suppose). They tend to be (a) busy and (b) "casuals". This is a problem we've had for decades so I don't understand why people blame the arena. You want those seats behind the benches filled so it looks good on TV, give them to students like Duke does. But since our AD is $40M+ underwater each year, I don't see it happening.

The crowd was loud enough. A strong XL crowd is louder than a strong Gampel crowd just because of the nature of the building.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I remember going to Uconn/Pitt in 09, the game Blair threw Thabeet over his shoulder and the XL center being completely packed. Hopefully now that UConn is back in the big east they can rebuild old rivalries that were lost when we moved to the AAC.

 

[CL82]

The empty seats you see in the lower bowl at XL (and at Gampel too) are never allocated to students. Those go to the high donation level corporate types, doctors and lawyers (and TikTok stars I suppose). They tend to be (a) busy and (b) "casuals". This is a problem we've had for decades so I don't understand why people blame the arena. You want those seats behind the benches filled so it looks good on TV, give them to students like Duke does. But since our AD is $40M+ underwater each year, I don't see it happening.

The crowd was loud enough. A strong XL crowd is louder than a strong Gampel crowd just because of the nature of the building.

It would be great yes there was a simple way for lower bowl season ticket holders to be able to indicate that they were not using their seats so that they could be made available to others. It would be great to have students in there, but I could see the potential conflict with other season-ticket holders if you had kids jumping up and down. maybe create a Season ticket holders perk that allows people higher up to be able to move down? I don’t know, but I do hate seeing the seats around the sideline being empty.

 

[John]

Where do you get off? sold out arenas are not limited to top 10 teams. Last night was a game between two ranked BE teams it should have been a sell out but for the dumb 6:30 start

oh, it's just the 6:30 start? lol

 

[Waquoit]

Empty seats in the suits area has been way more prevalent at Gampel for a decade. It's funny that dopes are picking today to make it an issue just because the bad XL Center crowd myth has been dispelled, yet again.

 

[CV1]

This quote fires me up about how XL was the 6th man on the court last night. Great job! Crowd really brought it last night from the start.


“I thought UConn played a phenomenal game,” Smart said. “They played with the gift of desperation. The way they started the game, I think was probably as important as any other thing that happened.”

“We always talk about playing with violence,” Smart added, “they were the more violent team. You could see they had real resolve. The crowd was great, and they said, ‘Nah, you’re not coming in here and doing this.’”

 

[Vancat]

Maybe there should be an incentive to give back your seats if you're not going.

 

[CL82]

Smart said. “They played with the gift of desperation.

 

[CL82]

Maybe there should be an incentive to give back your seats if you're not going.

If those are corporate/business seats, the incentive may be less meaningful than just making the process time efficient. Agree though.

 

[Vancat]

If those are corporate/business seats, the incentive may be less meaningful than just making the process time efficient. Agree though.

Yes, I thought of that, too & agree. They're not ALL suits, though.