Basketball arena

Discussion in 'Men’s Basketball' started by old65horn, Dec 18, 2017.

  1. old65horn

    old65horn 1,000+ Posts

    We need a new basketball arena on campus. We had better student support when I was in school in the dark ages, the early 60's. Gregory Gym was louder than the Erwin Center. Put the students close to floor to give us a home court advantage.

    I hope they are not planning to build one off campus. That is a mistake that Patterson would make.

    While on the subject of Texas basketball needs, how about a coach.
     
  2. Win

    Win 100+ Posts

  3. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    LOL, our admin thought sending a free game shuttle around campus would increase student attendance. They are clearly out of touch.
     
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  4. txlandagent

    txlandagent 500+ Posts

    THIS

    I've been to some really, really raucous games at the Drum over the last 25 years. When the team was winning and in contention, and the fan base was hopeful, they showed up to support...to a degree. Our fan base is knowledgeable and supportive but not fanatical..and we're a little long in the tooth. The student body is not engaged. We're just not there culturally. Having a 17k capacity arena where half the seats are above the floor doesn't help our low voltage atmosphere. The cost of tickets is a barrier for many. I know tons of fans that won't go to games on principal because of the ticket prices. I know the plan was for the new arena to be more intimate - "basketball specific" - but I don't see how the University deviates from a multi-purpose venue that can earn revenue from other types of events. Again, it's all about the revenue...

    Allen Fieldhouse sells out their (16k) capacity every single game - that's KU. Look at the capacity of Cameron (6k), and Pavilion (6.5k), which are maddeningly high energy. If we had an arena this size I think the energy would be a huge anchor for the program. But then look at Dean Dome (22k) and Rupp (23.5k) which are massive. They sellout nearly every game. Why? Because of their steeped traditions of winning. We can't blame North Carolina or Kentucky's failures or successes on the capacity of their arenas, nor can we Duke and Villanova for theirs.

    If we establish a culture of winning here...a tradition of continued success....I think the fan base shows up. Not the inverse.
     
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  5. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    I don't even think it's a culture thing anymore in the sense we aren't a basketball school. The student section was at most 50% full for pretty much every football game. You are right that culturally our students dont care but I don't think it's just basketball. There is nothing on the main part of campus telling students what is going on....signage, digital signage, something somewhere to remind them. The drum is just too far away. Otherwise their face is in books and Instagram or snapchat and trust me Texas basketball and football isn't trending right now.

    Figure out how to put the new arena in the middle of campus and I guarantee attendance will rise just by sheer location.
     
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  6. mars

    mars 100+ Posts

    Students aren't interested (not just students) because we have sucked at everything the last few years. It's not fun to watch, let alone attend.
     
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  7. txlandagent

    txlandagent 500+ Posts

    Hey at least UT Law cracked the T14.
     
  8. Walking Boss

    Walking Boss 2,500+ Posts

    The new arena needs to be only about 10,000 or so maybe even less. If it is on campus and the product is exciting and entertaining the students will come to the games. I was there during the dark years of Kaiser Bob and the emotion in the stands was about what it is now, not surprisingly, the play (marginally speaking) is about as entertaining as those years. I was also there for Penders first years and attendance was much different and so was the energy in the building and that was with the students relegated to the upper levels. For example, Volleyball seems to draw pretty well and those crowds are fanatical. However, until winning becomes more important than revenues nothing will change and throwing money at a problem generally does not solve it.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    As someone who was recently a student, and attended football and basketball games for years before and after being a student, going to football or basketball games in the UT student section is the worst game watching experience in all of sports. For 10 years at least, the staff has been trained to treat the students like garbage. There are also a lot of dumb ticket policies with students. For basketball, I could get cheaper tickets and avoid event staff mistreatment by just buying general public tickets. For football, my last year, I just got tickets on the west side to avoid the asinine event staff in the student section. I noticed this year there were quite a few students on the west side.

    UT’s problem is they treat students like garbage or prisoners for football and basketball games. I have been to quite a few football, basketball and baseball venues and I have never seen it anywhere else in America, not even in high school student sections. The cotton bowl does not try to micro-manage or dump on the students and amazingly, the TX-OU game happens without issue every year. Baseball does not micro manage students and there is not an issue.

    I honestly think the point of UT’s policies are to discourage student attendance. If that is the plan, it is working.
     
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  10. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    I’ll also add UT students are low energy so the hostile treatment makes no sense.
     
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  11. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    I was there when Brandy Perryman stole the in-bounds pass against North Carolina in the last second to win the game for Texas. That was a sold-out raucous crowd. Dean Smith. Vince Carter. Antawn Jamison. Caroline blue. It was an amazing moment and the atmosphere was absolutely electric the entire game.

    I think the fans will show for an elite opponent, especially if we have a chance to win. Otherwise, I think the new generation IN AUSTIN is more engaged with all the other things Austin has to offer. There is no emotional attachment to the football program and last years disaster in basketball has probably put everyone no a wait and see mode. Why spend the money if the team isn't going to play well?
     
  12. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    That was my first or second game ever to attend as a kid. I remember 6'6" Sonny Alvarado outplaying UNC's 7-foot center. :)
     
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  13. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    I still remember the place just blowing up with euphoria when Brandy picked off the in-bounds pass.

    We've had other big games at home like that. People will show for a "See and be seen" kind of event. I think UT fans can be a bit like Cowboys fans; they're front runners and a bit more high-brow than other fan bases. Hell, maybe that t-sip stuff is true! Ha...
     
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    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
  14. txlandagent

    txlandagent 500+ Posts

    The new arena is specked at 12,800 capacity and will be located adjacent to Myers Soccer stadium.
     
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  15. mars

    mars 100+ Posts

    I remember reading about the proposed location, but hadn't seen any specs on size, etc.. do you have a link?
     
  16. txlandagent

    txlandagent 500+ Posts

  17. mars

    mars 100+ Posts

    Thanks
     
  18. Statalyzer

    Statalyzer 10,000+ Posts

    I also don't like the idea of capping maximum attendance at a low number just to make our "% of seats filled" average higher.
     
  19. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

    Lower number of seats can also help artificially drive demand. When everyone knows there are plenty of seats there's no sense of urgency to buy a ticket. Knowing they may sell out will motivate some to pull the trigger earlier.

    It also would give a better and more intimidating atmosphere when full or nearly full.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  20. Joe Fan

    Joe Fan 10,000+ Posts

  21. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    I don't know how they calculate the sweet spot for the number of seats other than dividing the cost by the seats. But I think the real problem is the dead atmosphere. I don't know that a smaller number of seats would turn that place into a raucous college environment like we see at other schools. Texas fans seem to only want to "see and be seen" and not support the program like they support the football program. It would be really interesting to see what would happen if Bill Self was the coach.
     
  22. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    The seats they are getting rid of are the people that actually show up. They are still going to sell corporate seats which will remain empty every game. We will actually have fewer people in attendance.

    Less available tickets means higher prices and less accessibility. Overall, bad move.

    Like with the emphasis on suites in the south endzone, UT’s focus on the future of college sports seems to be the very wealthy alone. Shame.

    I also wonder what the parking situation will be.

    Our games actually were loud when the stadium was full against teams like Kansas. Not sure how an emptier stadium will help the non-kansas games.
     
  23. bystander

    bystander 10,000+ Posts

    I was there long ago when the Horns defeated the Vince Carter/Antawn Jamison /Dean Smith North Carolina team. When Brandy Perryman intercepted the in-bounds pass to win the game the place absolutely blew up. The crowd was in full lung capacity the entire game. But that was that one game. There have been others. The fans care when it's a huge game as you say. But there are to many other times when you can hear the sneakers squeak.
     
  24. VulcanHorn

    VulcanHorn 100+ Posts

    Parking has become a major issue now. Back in the 80s and 90s, we would park in the student C lot which is now where the track stadium is located. After that, all student parking became off-limits and buildings sprang up where parking lots used to be. We now park in the parking garage off Trinity ($$$) but the traffic getting in around rush hour leaves much to be desired. I'm sure that adds to the many reasons people don't show.
     
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  25. Htown77

    Htown77 5,000+ Posts

    Jamming a medical school into downtown Austin was asinine. It absolutely could have been built in a different Austin location or even Cedar Park.
     
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  26. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Or Elgin or Manor or even Sabre's farm in Fayette County.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  27. VulcanHorn

    VulcanHorn 100+ Posts

  28. Vol Horn 4 Life

    Vol Horn 4 Life Good Bye To All The Rest!

  29. 2003TexasGrad

    2003TexasGrad Son of a Motherless Goat

    Its expandable to 17000 but we wont need that many seats for 90% of games.
     
  30. ViperHorn

    ViperHorn 10,000+ Posts

    The FEC will soon be the site of a medical building.
     

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