XL Center- Plan C, D or ???

[Ha Who]

considering the other arenas in the State, does Hartford even need an arena?

 

[John]

bang your head all you want, UConn should be pulling up roots from Hartford anyway.

 

[Waquoit]

UConn should be pulling up roots from Hartford anyway.

Because why?

 

[John]

Because why?

there's an entire thread on this, do you need a link?

edit: here ya go Dave Benedict on future of XL Center

 

[Waquoit]

there's an entire thread on this, do you need a link?
edit: here ya go Dave Benedict on future of XL Center

Feeling strong enough to make a declaration yet when asked for a reason you give out homework. You don't have a few reasons off the top of your head?

 

[John]

Feeling strong enough to make a declaration yet when asked for a reason you give out homework. You don't have a few reasons off the top of your head?

Lots of empty seats for a building UConn has to rent. UConn should only be playing 3-5 games max per season in Hartford and consolidate in Storrs.

 

[Guapo]

Time is a flat circle.

 

[freescooter]

The problem with playing 3-4 games in Hartford isn’t the concept. It is what 3-4? Do you want to move the 3-4 big games, let’s say Villanova, PC, and 2 big time NC games ( I can’t honestly name another “big” Big East team besides Villanova but PC is nearby) so they are away from Gampel and maybe you have a shot at a few extra bucks but less homecourt advantage or do you put the typical crud that occurs during semester break, the Texas Southerns and New Hampshires of the world that might draw a little better in Hartford than in Storrs without students But won’t fill the place by any means?

 

[John]

The problem with playing 3-4 games in Hartford isn’t the concept. It is what 3-4? Do you want to move the 3-4 big games, let’s say Villanova, PC, and 2 big time NC games ( I can’t honestly name another “big” Big East team besides Villanova but PC is nearby) so they are away from Gampel and maybe you have a shot at a few extra bucks but less homecourt advantage or do you put the typical crud that occurs during semester break, the Texas Southerns and New Hampshires of the world that might draw a little better in Hartford than in Storrs without students But won’t fill the place by any means?

Good question - I'd say get the 3-5 that give them the best chance for filling up the place. They need to cut the cord on losing money there with the UNH/UMBC/NJIT etc games.

 

[UConnDad]

Good question - I'd say get the 3-5 that give them the best chance for filling up the place. They need to cut the cord on losing money there with the UNH/UMBC/NJIT etc games.

Now this I like. Put the 3-5 best games at the XL. My man!

 

[superjohn]

The problem with playing 3-4 games in Hartford isn’t the concept. It is what 3-4? Do you want to move the 3-4 big games, let’s say Villanova, PC, and 2 big time NC games ( I can’t honestly name another “big” Big East team besides Villanova but PC is nearby) so they are away from Gampel and maybe you have a shot at a few extra bucks but less homecourt advantage or do you put the typical crud that occurs during semester break, the Texas Southerns and New Hampshires of the world that might draw a little better in Hartford than in Storrs without students But won’t fill the place by any means?

The Big East is one of the best conferences in basketball and yet you do this is in every single thread you post in...what's the point?

 

[mussels]

Luxury bunkers, lol.

My initial reaction also. Bunker - heavily reinforced military installation constructed mostly underground. Can't afford that ? We have something almost as nice, and a little less expensive in our Mausoleum seating. Can't justify the expense when you won't be going to all the games. We offer flexible multi-game packages in our still-private industrial storage tank section.

So I googled bunker seating, and it turns out to be a thing. All the rage accross many sports. Who knew ?

 

[Ts5034]

Good question - I'd say get the 3-5 that give them the best chance for filling up the place. They need to cut the cord on losing money there with the UNH/UMBC/NJIT etc games.

I like the idea of giving the XL less games. I understand that its going to be difficult to choose which ones they would get. I think you have to give Hartford most of the games during winter break like they do now, plus maybe 2 Big East games? But 2 or 3 Big East games probably fall during the winter break anyway so that would take care of itself. Im sure XL management would want a solid slate of games every year like a Villanova, Xavier, Creighton, and a marquee non conference game at least

 

[Guapo]

The Big East is one of the best conferences in basketball and yet you do this is in every single thread you post in...what's the point?

Stop. @freescooter is one of the dumbest and most transparent trolls here. Don’t feed him.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Now this I like. Put the 3-5 best games at the XL. My man!

Ah yes, great idea! Move the season's best games away from the place we have the highest home court advantage! Makes sense, the team will do much better! They'll love it!

 

[Chief00]

Chief you really can’t have it both ways. You want an updated facility maybe you have to chang seats. It’s that simple. And the attendance Thing is just not sustainable in any case. As I pointed out in detail in another thread UConn had been seeing attendance decline since 2006 or there about. Despite 2 national championships In the period. The days of people shelling out money to watch the Huskies obliterate Texas Southern or Central Connecticut are gone and not coming back. They will likely have a short term blip with the new Big East, but it isn’t lasting 5 years. Live attendance at sporting events is just not what it was in 1996. Not in Fenway Park, not in Yankee Stadium, not at the Dean Dome and not at the XL center. Building/renovating more seats to attract fewer fans is just not reasonable. Within a couple of years UConn in the Big East won’t be that big a deal. Schedule a non-conference game wit UNC or Michigan State or Duke and you can sell out anywhere. But games with midlevel Big East teams will draw 7500.

Update it without the luxary BS. There’s so many common sense operational and customer service low hanging fruit improvements that can be made in a building that has been poorly managed for decades.

 

[CTBasketball]

The easy answer is play 3 games at XL (the maximum required to not claim the venue as a home court in the NCAA Tournament selection process), so when we finish 30-1 we get priority seeding and sent straight to Hartford for Rounds 1 and 2!

 

[BlueDogs]

Connecticut, as usual, screwed up. Should put together some sort of RFP tha included a gambling parlor/ sports betting component to the downtown development and made a new arena part of the deal. You want to run a casino in Hartford you build Hartford a new arena. The Casino gets to keep all gambling revenue plus arena revenue from events they run. If pro team ever relocated to Hartford they get revenue from tickets/suites/concessions from the sporting events. The City of Hartford get an attraction to bring people into the City on a regular basis. Sports betting is only going to get bigger. CT missed the boat.

Getting the Casinos to expand to Hartford years ago made sense to complements and create more draw for the convention center and downtown, but that requires a creative thought beyond the imagination of the boxes of rock running this state.

 

[WrenchFan69]

Take this funding, ditch UConn's on campus ice forum idea, pool the money, get a billionaire to kick it a nickel for a brand new arena while bringing back the Whalers

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Luxury bunkers, lol.

it’s a bad trend to ruin prime seating in favor of a bar area. Move the bar areas across the concourses so they don’t interfere with seating. Accept that this is an old building. Make the seating and viewing of the actual event as nice as possible.

if the bar venues are nice enough they will attract pre game and post game anyway. In Philly we have the Xfinity Live! venue across the parking lot and not even attached to the arena. It thrives even for college events. Some students and fans watch the game there and don’t even enter the arena.

Love the PBR Bar at Xfinity Live. I went there after (don't judge) Wing Bowl a few years ago. Lol

 

[Chin Diesel]

The easy answer is play 3 games at XL (the maximum required to not claim the venue as a home court in the NCAA Tournament selection process), so when we finish 30-1 we get priority seeding and sent straight to Hartford for Rounds 1 and 2!

NCAA isn't coming back to XL any time soon.

 

[John]

Ah yes, great idea! Move the season's best games away from the place we have the highest home court advantage! Makes sense, the team will do much better! They'll love it!

Hartford does perfectly well home court advantage wise

 

[Dogdeacon]

1. Move-able walls are always one of the worst ideas in construction, crazy costs, inevitably break. A stupid curtain is fine if you have to do this at 1/10,000 the cost.

2. What if UConn played a couple games in Providence, yes twice as far as HCC, but restaurants, hotels, bars and sends a shot across the bow of HCC. 14,000 capacity by the way.

3. The long-term answer is to figure out Hartford first and until the the HCC should be scrapped. If you feed the cash cow you continue to get an inferior facility. Plenty of examples of cities that have grown or been revitalized, it'll take years. Need to make the owner/developer bleed and sell.

 

[Kolumbo]

$ 28 million - 01/21/1990 - 8,241 - Gampel Pavilion
$119 million - 04/27/2002 - 12,508 - Peterson Events Center
$238 million - 10/10/2010 - 22,090 - KFC YUM! Center
$181 million - 08/16/2013 - 15,500 - Pinnacle Bank Arena
$173 million - 10/14/2017 - 10,387 - Wintrust Arena
$524 million - 08/26/2018 - 17,341 - Fiserv Forum (and Bucks)

List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas - Wikipedia

Just checking out costs of some other facilities.

 

[bfs3]

The problem with playing 3-4 games in Hartford isn’t the concept. It is what 3-4? Do you want to move the 3-4 big games, let’s say Villanova, PC, and 2 big time NC games ( I can’t honestly name another “big” Big East team besides Villanova but PC is nearby) so they are away from Gampel and maybe you have a shot at a few extra bucks but less homecourt advantage or do you put the typical crud that occurs during semester break, the Texas Southerns and New Hampshires of the world that might draw a little better in Hartford than in Storrs without students But won’t fill the place by any means?

Personally I would like to see 1 or 2 top flight out of conference games a year there. Not necessarily top flight programs but match ups. I’d love to see a home and away with Syracuse, Louisville or Memphis. Those shouldn’t be tough gets for us even if it’s just 1 of those at home and 1 away the following year.

I don’t think we would have trouble selling out Villanova, Louisville/Syracuse Georgetown, Creighton in a typical season at the XL center. I think we could have packed the house for NC State, USC or if we had Miami at XL instead of Gampel last year.