anticipated capacity of the new arena is expected to be around 12,000 per another article in the AAS.
Any word on if it will be a dedicated Basketball facility, or multi-purpose like the Erwin Center? My wish would be a primary basketball arena.
There's three parking garages within reasonable walking distance and it would not surprise if another one is build primarily for BB games.
I have a hard time believing it will be that small of a capacity for the following reasons: - would be smaller than Texas A&M and Texas Tech's arenas - would not be selected for men's NCAA basketball sub-regionals - would not be selected for women's NCAA volleyball final four (which we did bid on recently)
Hopefully, they continue to consider all those factors in deciding the size of the arena. I am more worried about it being big enough to meet the criteria for the men's sub regionals and women's VB final four than I am about what A&M and Tech have. Tech's arena is also getting up there in age, and unless they have renovated it, is not that attractive: i.e., bare concrete walls on the concourse. I haven't been to the A&M arena in ages and don't remember anything about it.
There is an inherent belief by so many that UT needs to build an events center/basketball arena. I disagree with that, they need to build a basketball facility for their sports teams. A special events arena for multipurpose events located closer to downtown within walking distance of the convention center, hotels and entertainment/dining is better for hosting NCAA events.
I agree with you Tempest. I prefer to have a basketball facility that is smaller than a special events arena; a smaller setting that creates a true home-court advantage that can be raucous, loud and intimidating to our opponents.
Me too. Moody Coliseum at SMU is wonderful, like Gregory, but holds more people (still not as many as we would need).
Okay, it's just me, but I find this confusing. I can't figure out what you are in favor of. You would prefer a basketball only facility, right? for games and practices? on campus, off campus? Or are you talking about just a practice facility? Should this facility be the arena for UT games or just for NCAA events (playoffs, etc) plus concerts, etc? Tempest, thanks for any clarification.
An arena strictly for UT sporting events won't pay the bills. The University will need to host other non-UT events such as music concerts, etc. in order to bring in revenue, even if only for the upkeep of the arena and staff. Let's face it, the women's hoops ticket sales don't bring in enough in ticket revenue for the program to be in the black. The men's hoops team probably hosts about 15-20 home games a season, and the majority of them are against opponents who don't move the needle and produce attendance figures of 10,000 fans. The FEC has played host to many men's NCAA tourney hoops sub-regionals (and a few regionals). I would think there is a minimum seating capacity of about 14,000, but just guessing the exact number.
Someone better tweet Del Conte and let him know we can't afford an on campus arena that seats 12,000. After the release of the statement last week, I don't think they're aware they can't afford it and need an arena to host bigger things. Babhorn, I support an on campus basketball arena for basketball only that seats less than 12k. In addition, I think having to build a separate practice facility because your basketball arena is constantly being used for other things is stupid and takes away from a team's home court advantage if they aren't practicing in the arena/gym they play in. The city can build something elsewhere that seats more and handles concerts, graduations, NCAA events, etc.
Looks as though the new basketball arena will double as a multi-purpose facility. I hope they can come up with a design that, as mentioned previously, can bring the crowd closer to the court (if that's possible) http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...exas-invites-bids-new-campus-basketball-arena
looks like they backtracked from the original announcement of around 12,000 seats. Of course, they can always that whatever number they end up selecting is "close to 12,000."
There will be a separate practice facility; it is a huge recruiting tool. The current Colley Pavilion practice facility allows 24-7 access for the men's and women's players to come and go as they please; I believe it also houses weight rooms, study areas and lounges. Having one court for the men and one court for the women is a huge plus.
Lots of folks on other Longhorn boards clamoring for a small, intimate arena. If that were to come to pass, mark my word, those who are non-season ticketholders will be first ones to whine that they couldn't obtain tickets to the "big game", and that scalpers are charging an arm and a leg for second-hand tickets.
I'm not sure UT ever officially announced 12,000. I got that from Brian Davis' tweet which was from a Texas source.
Here's a list of college arenas around the country (I sorted it by highest seating capacity). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_Division_I_basketball_arenas Dayton hosts men's hoops NCAA tournament games every year, and their capacity is 13,435. Shocked to see that Wyoming's arena seats 15,000. Regardless of the seating capacity of our new arena, I expect two rows of luxury suites to run all the way around the arena.
Of the conversations i've heard, their goal is to sell out every mens game, and get to about 70%+ for women's game. Looking at the average attendance numbers that should put us right in that 12,000 - 14,000 range. I am ok with that. No need to chase other programs or some arbitrary seating number, more interested in what will create the best home court advantage night in and night out.
I like numbers so I did the following averages: for the rest of the Big 12, average seating capacity is 12,912. Nationally, I just picked a list of schools we likely would be competing with for players and on the court in the NCAS at some point or another: The average capacity was: 13,715. The schools: Duke, Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina, Norte Dame, UConn-Gampel, Baylor, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Ohio State, Cal, Stanford, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee & Texas A&M. Looks like the projected 12,000 for our new arena is pretty reasonable if they are really considering it to be a primary basketball arena.
It will be interesting to see which arenas they use as blueprints for ours. Schools such as Mizzou, Louisville, Oregon, Maryland, South Carolina, Clemson, Auburn, Ohio State, and Ole Miss all built new arenas in the last 10 years, I believe.
From Kirk Bohls: On the new Erwin Center having less seating: There is a strong likelihood that the new Texas basketball arena that replaces the Erwin Center at a to-be-determined site may be cozy enough to create a more intimate setting and better home-court advantage. But it will probably be no bigger than 12,000 seats, which would increase ticket demand with less ease for walk-up sales on game day, and that might preclude the arena hosting some big-time concert acts. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said the size of the new building is still in the discussion stage, but he smartly prefers smaller over bigger. “It would definitely hurt them for some shows — and I suspect would mean some major acts would play the AT&T Center in San Antonio instead of here,” said Peter Blackstock, our American-Statesman music writer. “That’s already happening a little bit as it is.” Blackstock said Katy Perry’s tour last month went to San Antonio instead of here, and Elton John’s upcoming farewell tour will as well. “If the new arena is 4,000 seats smaller, (than the Erwin Center), I would think even more big-name acts might bypass Austin,” Blackstock said. The AT&T Center’s listed capacity of 18,581 is almost 2,000 more than the Erwin Center’s 16,734. Asked if it could mean less revenue, Del Conte said, “I don’t anticipate losing any revenue. It will be a new design that will uniquely fit the needs of our basketball program and the city of Austin.” https://www.hookem.com/2018/02/14/bohls-erwin-center-replacement-4000-less-seats-current-arena/
https://www.hookem.com/2018/08/03/t...ing-longhorn-live-womens-athletics-new-arena/ Love these comments from Del Conte. If a football stadium can have a retractable roof, I don't see why a basketball arena cannot have something similar indoors that takes you from a 10k intimate arena for UT regular season games and then retracts so you can have a larger venue for concerts, graduations, basketball/volleyball playoffs, etc.
Maybe if they do it for big regular season games too. I remember when we beat the Chris Paul-led Wake Forest team and there was scarcely an empty seat in the whole place.