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Post by gman2 on Nov 28, 2011 12:33:02 GMT -6
What happens when the Panthers knock off a notable non-conference opponent and interest spikes? It doesn't. Interest didn't spike that much in the 1992-1993 season when we beat Wisconsin. Interest didn't spike for Green Bay when they beat Wisconsin at home. Getting back to the NCAA tournament on a regular basis will spike interest. |
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Post by Hack on Nov 28, 2011 13:01:57 GMT -6
What happens when the Panthers knock off a notable non-conference opponent and interest spikes? It doesn't. Interest didn't spike that much in the 1992-1993 season when we beat Wisconsin. Interest didn't spike for Green Bay when they beat Wisconsin at home. Getting back to the NCAA tournament on a regular basis will spike interest. I agree with your point about getting to the NCAAs on a regular basis. However, the public barely knew about D1 basketball at UWM in 1992, and UW was still a below-average Big 10 program. Fast forward to today where UWM has multiple NCAA appearances and conference titles in its history and UW has been a top-tier program for the past decade ... a win would provide a bit of a bump in interest. Your point is valid though. A consistent winner that results in NCAA bids will do it. |
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Post by Spirit of Bruce on Nov 28, 2011 13:02:29 GMT -6
That said, the arena has two places - on the main footprint and in the corridor between Riverside HS and Cambridge Commons. If it's not there, then the university should seriously consider purchasing the US Cellular Arena - our current seven-year occupation has cost the university a great chunk of money - and if an on-campus arena is impossible, I'd hope that they know that we need to purchase the arena and renovate it to make it our own. Has the idea of purchasing the Cell been discussed amongst the powers that be? One would think the income opportunities outside of Panther basketball might make that appealing. It would presumably be more cost effective than new construction, but I would imagine that the on-campus arena crowd (of which I include myself, as long as it's big enough, i.e. 7,000-8,000 max. capacity) would not be happy with the idea. But if the price was right, I'd take the Cell. |
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Post by PantherU on Nov 28, 2011 13:17:52 GMT -6
Graduation comes close to packing the Cell.
However, that doesn't mean we should make it bigger to accommodate it. There's one thing you can do for graduation that you can't do for basketball games - you can split them.
Right now, we have two dates. At our own 6,500-seat place, we could divide it into three graduations to accommodate everyone - Letters and Science could split off and have its own, there are so damn many of us every year. L&S '10 baby!
As long as we don't get into the 7.5k+ range, I think we should be fine. 5k is too low.
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Post by BBFran on Nov 28, 2011 13:29:44 GMT -6
Agree with BP. I am strongly of the belief that an on campus arena should be available for some other campus events like convocations and commencements. But commencements are the only events that would need to be split, and that's common at big universities.
I thought the UALR arena looked great, btw.
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Post by illwauk on Nov 29, 2011 17:25:18 GMT -6
I think I'm pretty much on board with everyone who says 6,500. Aside from it being a reasonable number for our basketball program that gives it room to grow, there are currently no indoor venues in the Milwaukee area of this size. This is important because many concert/event promoters who don't have the money to eat the cost of renting the Bradley Center or The Cell are forced into venues such as the Eagle's Ballroom (The Rave) and the Milwaukee Theater which have capacities of 2,500-3,500. Just think of all the outside revenue a brand-new mid-sized venue in an area that skews towards the demographics that concert promoters love could easily bring in.
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Post by Hack on Nov 29, 2011 18:13:44 GMT -6
I think I'm pretty much on board with everyone who says 6,500. Aside from it being a reasonable number for our basketball program that gives it room to grow, there are currently no indoor venues in the Milwaukee area of this size. This is important because many concert/event promoters who don't have the money to eat the cost of renting the Bradley Center or The Cell are forced into venues such as the Eagle's Ballroom (The Rave) and the Milwaukee Theater which have capacities of 2,500-3,500. Just think of all the outside revenue a brand-new mid-sized venue in an area that skews towards the demographics that concert promoters love could easily bring in. Bingo. |
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mwu
Sophomore
I am U-Dub U-M
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Post by mwu on Nov 30, 2011 0:47:18 GMT -6
I think I'm pretty much on board with everyone who says 6,500. Aside from it being a reasonable number for our basketball program that gives it room to grow, there are currently no indoor venues in the Milwaukee area of this size. This is important because many concert/event promoters who don't have the money to eat the cost of renting the Bradley Center or The Cell are forced into venues such as the Eagle's Ballroom (The Rave) and the Milwaukee Theater which have capacities of 2,500-3,500. Just think of all the outside revenue a brand-new mid-sized venue in an area that skews towards the demographics that concert promoters love could easily bring in. +2 I would love to put a dent in the rave's business, that place is a dump. |
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Post by nickpanther78 on Nov 30, 2011 17:09:32 GMT -6
I think 6,500-7,000 would be ideal. You build a new place, and the season ticket sales will go up just because of that. I think if you go an smaller than 6,500 it makes our program look to small. The reality is that the school has a large enrollment, so act like it somewhat. I know some of you have said a 5,000 seater, but to me why even bother doing that? Total waste in my view. You have a 5,000 seat place on campus right now. My main concern with a on campus arena is where are people going to park?? I hope they build two new parking structures with it then!
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Post by skrapheap on Dec 1, 2011 15:31:47 GMT -6
. I know some of you have said a 5,000 seater, but to me why even bother doing that? Total waste in my view. You have a 5,000 seat place on campus right now. My main concern with a on campus arena is where are people going to park?? I hope they build two new parking structures with it then!
The Horizon League requires that home arenas seat at least 5000. (There must be some kind of exceptions possible, because i believe the Gentile Center at Loyola seats less than that number.)
In my opinion, the initial size of the arena should depend on how quickly you can expect growth in the average attendance and
whether the arena will be used for more than just basketball. Right now the average is less than 5000/game.
If all the increase you can expect in the near to mid-term is an increase to around 5000/game, then you may have the scenario some envision, of making tickets more desirable because they are hard to get, if you build a 5000 seat arena. Then you can justify expanding the seating because there are people waiting to fill the extra seats.
If you can make the case that attendance will ramp up more quickly, or if you don't think the "tough ticket" effect will help as much as others do, or if you count on the arena having other uses, you can justify starting out with a larger arena. i am in this camp. i agree with the folks who think the arena should seat 6500-7000 to start, and who argue that while the game attendance may not jump to 6500/game, an arena of that size will be useful for other events, some of which will bring extra revenue to the University.
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Post by BBFran on Dec 8, 2011 11:48:44 GMT -6
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Post by Hack on Dec 8, 2011 11:57:10 GMT -6
Looks great, and will be a tough place to play if they fill it.  Waaaay too small for Milwaukee to consider something like this. Capacity dropped from 5,200 to 4,486. |
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Post by BBFran on Dec 8, 2011 13:57:27 GMT -6
That is too small, but I never believed that alleged 5,200 capacity in the Gentile. It was kind of like the alleged 5,000 capacity in the Klotsche.
But for a school Loyola's size that looks like a great facility. I'm looking forward to seeing a game there.
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Post by PantherU on Dec 8, 2011 15:11:29 GMT -6
I would prefer that the only bleacher seating be in the student section, and chairback seats be spared no expense.
This is something I think that most people have glossed over. While we talk about location and size, what we should be talking about something more important, and that's comfort. While Milwaukee doesn't have most of its games on TV, right now there is something in place for Panther fans who are tech-savvy to set up a television viewing feed from the internet for home games. This will only get easier in the future, with the strong possibility that HLN could shift to a network setting and HLN games being available through cable providers.
The point I'm making is that many fans have found that watching Packer, Badger, Brewers and Bucks games at home are far better than them having to spend money getting down to the arena, parking, and getting a restaurant meal before or after the game.
As such, with the new arena we need to make sure that comfort and amenities are priorities, to make sure we can still draw that Milwaukee fan who otherwise might watch the game at home. They have the opportunity to make comfortable chair back seats with scoreboards that display every possible statistic and video for fans to enjoy. Do this, and you make sure fans of the program go out of their way to get to the game. Don't, and you might find real fans in Milwaukee making the decision to watch games in the comfort of their own home.
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mwu
Sophomore
I am U-Dub U-M
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Post by mwu on Dec 9, 2011 0:14:39 GMT -6
BP is absolutely right in catering to the average fan's comfort. I won't get into the mathematical formula too extensively but, needless to say leg room is important esp. for all of us over 5'9" (the design median height).
Plus I would think we would want it to be easy for TV broadcasts to use our facility. Therefore, well equipped media rooms and TV sight-lines should be considered too. This is something that Loyola's new arena configuration doesn't seem to do very well.
A seperate note: I wonder if the Loyola D-Board rants about the Horizon League's admin being rigged against them allowed them to make an arena significantly under the 5000 seat League minimum. If that's the case shouldn't the Green Bay Men's team be allowed to hold their games in the Kress Center on campus?
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