US Cellular to get a face lift......

[pnthr2bag]

New scoreboard, new seats coming to U.S. Cellular Arena

[GoPanthers33]

Great news!

I actually like the Cell a lot but it's nice to see it getting a touch up.

Any chance the seats could be Black or something? Red/Blue fits the Wave but the Panthers? Not so much.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

I didn't see this coming. I'm really shocked to hear about this. What is wrong with the old seats? 8,800 new seats! I do like the scoreboard, but the videoboard is too small. So, I'm glad a new scoreboard is coming.

[Pounce Needs Pals]

women's football coming to the Cell
www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/248591571.html

[Lutzow10]

Any word on what is going to happen when naming rights expire?

[Super King]

Cool, I guess. The Cell is one of the better midsize arenas in the country, a much better experience than the awful cramped leaky Bradley Center. But that videoboard is indeed atrocious.

[uwmfansince1997]

Mar 5, 2014 12:00:35 GMT -6 GoPanthers33 said:

Great news!

I actually like the Cell a lot but it's nice to see it getting a touch up.

Any chance the seats could be Black or something? Red/Blue fits the Wave but the Panthers? Not so much.

I actually heard about this on the radio. Yes, they noted that the seats would be black and gold. The Waves contract will be up in 2yrs, while the Panthers have a 5 yr deal. But changing the seating color over the next 3 yr renovation project, says alot to me. I can see the place getting completely gutted and remodeled.

[GoPanthers33]

Mar 7, 2014 11:21:57 GMT -6 uwmfansince1997 said:

Mar 5, 2014 12:00:35 GMT -6 GoPanthers33 said:

Great news!

I actually like the Cell a lot but it's nice to see it getting a touch up.

Any chance the seats could be Black or something? Red/Blue fits the Wave but the Panthers? Not so much.

I actually heard about this on the radio. Yes, they noted that the seats would be black and gold. The Waves contract will be up in 2yrs, while the Panthers have a 5 yr deal. But changing the seating color over the next 3 yr renovation project, says alot to me. I can see the place getting completely gutted and remodeled.

That is great to hear!

Now I can't wait to see the final result.

[PantherU]

I'm surprised to see no mention of this from the University.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using proboards

[PANTHERfan]

Here's another article that makes mention of the black and gold seats:

www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2014/03/06/why-the-cell-will-get-3-million.html

That's a nice touch. It's always been strange having the place decked out in black and gold, only to have the seats be a mismatch.

I guess what we can infer from this is that any long term plans for an on-campus arena are a loooooong ways out. The Cell is clearly going all in on the Panthers.

[Lutzow10]

This shows that we have much more leverage and pull now, than before we moved back to campus. As much as I hate the guy, and feel he did next to nothing for this university, maybe Geiger's move to the KC was part of a longer plan. It seems like the WCD really really missed us last year based on how much was done last minute for this season, and how much is already in the works for the future. I can see us being an even bigger priority to them than what these improvements make it seem like now. I mean it is a smart move on their part to put most of their chips on UWM, instead of spreading them around the board equally with the Wave and their other tenants and events. I just cant believe it took them until now to realize it.

I honestly can't see our Athletic Department and Chancellor having the knowledge and knowhow for this to have been part of a long term and carefully thought out plan to fix our athletics woes. But how crazy would it be if Geiger came in to be the fall guy. He comes in, pisses a ton of people off, they take the risk of a temporary loss in fans and donors, and they purposefully make Geiger look like an idiot and asshole so that they can bring in a new AD who can't do wrong in comparison. Braun comes in, moves us back to the Cell, WCD realizes how much they miss us, up their support, and things look like they are drastically improving from the abyss that Geiger left. The swift change from awful to fast and steady improvement draws the attention of donors and fans who had started to give up, they are drawn back in by the excitement and change, and our athletics program goes from a complete joke to a success story in a matter of a couple of years

.....Nahhhhhhhhh. That would be giving them way to much credit. They just got extremely lucky and will most likely find a way to f*** it up again. Lol

[Super King]

The year at the Klotsche served no purpose other than negotiation leverage to drop the price at the Cell.

[Lutzow10]

Mar 7, 2014 12:52:26 GMT -6 PANTHERfan said:

I guess what we can infer from this is that any long term plans for an on-campus arena are a loooooong ways out. The Cell is clearly going all in on the Panthers.

If the WCD puts all their chips in our basket and our relationship becomes beneficial to both the university and the WCD, do we really need to move to a campus arena?

I mean look at the positives of a downtown arena:

-its in a location easily accessible to fans because of its central location in the city and the fact that it is so close to the freeway. Whether you are coming fro the north east west or south its fairly easy to get to. This was one of the reasons many didn't like the KC. It was way out of the way and added another 10-15 minutes of travel time to the majority of fans.

-its location is beneficial for those looking to be in walking distance of locations to get a bite to eat or drinks before the game. Unless a campus arena was within blocks of north avenue it is quite the walk for anyone to do so.

-The Cell is large enough to fit fans for big ticket games and has the capacity if the program ever moves to greater heights. Any on campus arena would run the risk of not being big enough down the line, which would be a huge waste of funds. And if an on campus arena was built for the future, it is a huge sum of money for where our program is now.

-If the WCD is investing in our program being their big ticket, the facility will feel like its ours. Why spend money on a campus stadium when you rent one that feels like like you are in a campus building. They are putting in black and gold seats. I am only guessing that they plan on making the Cell feel even more like its OUR arena down the line. More signage. Change in concourse and entrance color schemes. And all or most of this is done with the WCDs dollar.

There are more reasons, but i feel like these make my point. I was one that felt like our own arena would be a much better thing for milwaukee athletics. But now that the WCD seems like they are finally realizing that we are their money maker and things can be mutually beneficial if we work together, why spend a bunch of money for something we don't really need. we have 4 more seasons in the cell under the current contract. I say we wait and see where these positive changes take us and how things are looking down the line before we jump back on the campus arena bandwagon. Who knows, things could change, but I feel like we are moving in a good direction here.

[Lutzow10]

Mar 7, 2014 14:17:35 GMT -6 Super King said:

The year at the Klotsche served no purpose other than negotiation leverage to drop the price at the Cell.

Oh i totally agree. Just thought it was funny to think about the idea that everything the Athletics department has done was part of a long term plan. Obviously they aren't that smart based on what they have done in the past, otherwise we never would have gotten to the point we did.

[gman2]

Next order of business after the renovation, getting the Circus scheduled for a weekend other than the HL Tournament weekend.

www.milwaukeecircus.com/schedule.php