XL Center Games in Jeopardy?

[RockyMTblue2]

CT budgetary issues have Jacobs eyeing the XL Center's future.

Jeff Jacobs: XL Center Questions Dog Huskies, State

"The Republicans' adopted budget — one Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed — cuts $1.2 million from the CRDA operating budget. This move would slash deeply into money used to close the gap of $1 million to $2 million in annual XL Center losses. CRDA officials have said the cuts could threaten the XL Center's ability to keep its doors open.

The $115 million for the XL Center bonding over the next two years in the Democrats' proposed budget also was wiped to zero in the adopted budget. Malloy had asked for $125 million as part of a major $250 million renovation that the CRDA believes would make the building profitable.

Those UConn games you figured on taking your kids to in 2022? Maybe they're all in Storrs."
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"We certainly hope the CRDA is successful with XL and we play in both locations," Benedict said. "We're both in difficult situations. We also have a perfectly good facility on campus that we could move our basketball teams to if something happened. We understand lots of fans enjoy coming to Hartford. But we'll have to see how things work out."

Me? I'm with David Jorgensen of the CRDA who said a city without an arena, frankly, is a joke. Yet I wonder if folks have forgotten how much UConn's athletic success meant to the state, to Hartford, to the university. I wonder how much folks are willing to give to keep our sons and daughters in state.

Drop the puck, bounce the ball, yeah, I wonder where this ends.

 

[Alydar]

There will be a lot of pressure to keep the XL running from those financial institutions that hold the paper on the real estate surrounding the XL. If the value of that property drops so does the viability of all those mortgages.

 

[CL82]

From my perspective, either the state gets a reasonable ROI from it's ongoing investment in the XL or it doesn't. I hear CRDA members talking about positive impact the XL has on Hartford, hotels, restaurants, etc., but I've never seen hard numbers or studies, just vague statements.

If the XL has ceased to be an productive investment, perhaps the state should stop subsidizing it. If there really is a niche to served, let it be served by private investment.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

From my perspective, either the state gets a reasonable ROI from it's ongoing investment in the XL or it doesn't. I hear CRDA members talking about positive impact the XL has on Hartford, hotels, restaurants, etc., but I've never seen hard numbers or studies, just vague statements.

If the XL has ceased to be an productive investment, perhaps the state should stop subsidizing it. If there really is a niche to served, let it be served by private investment.

Downtown Hartford has always struck me as too small to be the vibrant place people seem to always be seeking and it certainly is not the place to rebuild a sports complex. The infirmities of the XL are well documented. Do the Huskies lose in this process if the XL goes the way of the dodo? Some revenue and a not insignificant fan attendance, but would something come along to take its place?

 

[BigBird]

Would the loss of the XL really be a harm to the UConn WBB?

 

[HoopsFan21]

Would the loss of the XL really be a harm to the UConn WBB?

I don't know if harm is the right word, but a lot of the games are played there as only 7 or 8 games a year are played in Gampel, and if nothing else it makes it easy for visiting teams to get in and out.

 

[BigBird]

I don't know if harm is the right word, but a lot of the games are played there as only 7 or 8 games a year are played in Gampel, and if nothing else it makes it easy for visiting teams to get in and out.

I guess I was wondering about it, in light of comments made elsewhere that UConn doesn't make it (logistics) easy for the student fanbase by taking games off campus.

 

[Artifact]

If XL Center is shuttered because of lack of public finances, then a private entity such as the Conn Sun basketball arena may come into play. Bridgeport arena ?

 

[cbraarj]

I say play at Gampel because it is about student athletes with the operative word being student. The demand for people to see the team is not like it used to be when Gampel and the XL Center sold out every game. How many games in Hartford have been sold out last 5 years?