Keg Improvement Wishlist

[rosstr]

A.) We arent those schools
b.) You'd moving 2500 students to seats that now cost an average of about $600

play it conservatively that would cost us $1,000,000 in ticket revenue - we cant remotely come close to affording that.

Four rows of students along the court, everyone else behind the basket. Hard concept for you to grasp, I know.

 

[Buffnik]

Sound system for sure.

I also think lighting system: paint the ceiling black and dim the lights that are on the crowd (with the student section a bit more lit) to focus all the attention on the court.

From a structural standpoint, I'd like to see them build out to make the concourse a ring around the outside of the building with bathrooms there along with concessions. If we did that, it should allow for a club level in the corners and extra seating (some premium) where the concourse is currently open to the arena. Would probably make it much louder in there, too.

 

[OUBuff]

Sound system for sure.

I also think lighting system: paint the ceiling black and dim the lights that are on the crowd (with the student section a bit more lit) to focus all the attention on the court.

From a structural standpoint, I'd like to see them build out to make the concourse a ring around the outside of the building with bathrooms there along with concessions. If we did that, it should allow for a club level in the corners and extra seating (some premium) where the concourse is currently open to the arena. Would probably make it much louder in there, too.

As long as it also comes with a better music selection... the pre-game music during the Jackson State game was down right abusive.

 

[jgisland]

Four rows of students along the court, everyone else behind the basket. Hard concept for you to grasp, I know.

Have you ever been to the CEC? This won't work the way you want it too, if you want the students to be in the first 4 rows there is still a 4 ft aisle behind the floor seats before the stands. So if you want the students to be on the court you're going to have to re-engineer the stands in order to lose $ on the best and most expensive seats.

Seems like a good return on CU's $

 

[sackman]

The student section is fine the way it is.

Stuff I'd like to see has largely been addressed so far, but I'll reiterate:

Widen the concourse to allow for better concessions and more room to maneuver around back there. It gets pretty crowded at times.
Move restrooms to outside of the concourse and fill in the corners with seating.
Chairbacks for everybody!
Open up the other practice gym for additional capacity in the beer garden. If there's a way to do it, have a doorway between the two.

 

[FChairbanks]

three words...better climate control

it gets way too ****in' hot in there!

 

[FightCu1414]

Sound system for sure.

I also think lighting system: paint the ceiling black and dim the lights that are on the crowd (with the student section a bit more lit) to focus all the attention on the court.

From a structural standpoint, I'd like to see them build out to make the concourse a ring around the outside of the building with bathrooms there along with concessions. If we did that, it should allow for a club level in the corners and extra seating (some premium) where the concourse is currently open to the arena. Would probably make it much louder in there, too.

I would dislike that. I always felt the Lakers games that I have been at have been really lame. I think a lot of that had to do with lights being dimmed. I like seeing the crowd stand up and get into it.

 

[tante]

three words...better climate control

it gets way too ****in' hot in there!

I actually thought it was okay yesterday, a bit hot at the end of the game, but I didn't feel like stripping down to my gold sequence thong yesterday

 

[cubuffs85]

Moving students is pretty cheap.View attachment 13178

I like what the Terps do besides courtside, having the students wrap around the court. I think you could keep the endzone seats right off the floor for non-students, but I'd love to see it wrap-around besides that. Students used to have better seats, but then they moved it to the one endzone area. Guessing this would be no-go since they want $$$.

 

[cubuffs85]

Definitely, but you'd lose higher priced seats.

You'd have to have a trained group like at the schools that do that. Mandatory meetings, etc. Do we want that? Are we ready for that? Do the students want that? No more **** You type chants then...

Consider students whine about having to go to ONE women's game to get prime tickets... I can't see them attending mandatory meetings.

 

[cubuffs85]

I mentioned that I didn't want the capacity to change much, so I'm completely fine with it dropping a bit in order to put chairs in. I said it would be nice for it to be about 12k. Bleachers for basketball games suck.

Regarding the engineering challenges, video boards have the potential to be much lighter than they used to be. Also, moving the sound system would alleviate some of the weight issue. I allude to the potential issue, which is why I mentioned the sound moving being a help

Not being worth what you get in return for the video boards is your opinion. With the sound system and drop down baskets in the way, there are places in the keg where you can't see the score or don't have unobstructed views of the video boards. I think this would be worth it and along the lines of what you'd expect at almost any major college basketball program.

I think the food setup is fine (might even be overkill for the size of the arena), however, the quality of items and the selection could definitely be improved.

I think we're mostly in agreement and pretty much on the same page.

I believe Kentucky's whole second deck is bleachers.

 

[L Buff]

A few things I'd really like to see done at the CEC that wouldn't be too much work, but would seem to add a lot are:


- Removing the drop down baskets and using portable stand-alone hoops. We had those about a dozen years ago when I was in school, and then we go to drop downs that you see in high school gyms.

Haven't read the whole thread, so maybe someone has addressed this ... and I agree those drop down baskets are annoying. I was at the AZ game two years ago in the top row of the GA section towards one of the corners, and our view of the only scoreboard within our sightline was partially blocked by the struts.

But I'm pretty sure the portable stand-alone hoops were replaced due to player injury concerns. Even though they were well padded, players running at full tilt who get fouled or just lose their balance could run into them at high speed and suffer serious injuries. The drop-downs allow there to be a lot of open area past the baskets that wasn't there with the portable ones.

 

[cubuffs85]

A.) We arent those schools
b.) You'd moving 2500 students to seats that now cost an average of about $600

play it conservatively that would cost us $1,000,000 in ticket revenue - we cant remotely come close to affording that.

Counter-point, they get the suites, wouldn't you make up that revenue?

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

The student section would not be as large as it is now. Not only do you have to remove the 4 or 5 rows around the perimeter, but you lose about 3 more rows due to altering the seat layout to account for the students standing the whole game. Leave them where they are, they are loud as ****, close to the court, and in the perfect spot to disrupt the shooting of free throws when they matter most.

 

[Buffnik]

Any way that the opposite end from the student section could be turned into a "young alum" season ticket area?

That would have a bunch of advantages over GA.

 

[GoonieBuff]

I believe Kentucky's whole second deck is bleachers.

How does that change the fact that bleachers for basketball games suck?

 

[GoonieBuff]

Haven't read the whole thread, so maybe someone has addressed this ... and I agree those drop down baskets are annoying. I was at the AZ game two years ago in the top row of the GA section towards one of the corners, and our view of the only scoreboard within our sightline was partially blocked by the struts.

But I'm pretty sure the portable stand-alone hoops were replaced due to player injury concerns. Even though they were well padded, players running at full tilt who get fouled or just lose their balance could run into them at high speed and suffer serious injuries. The drop-downs allow there to be a lot of open area past the baskets that wasn't there with the portable ones.

Really? Hmm. I guess we're more concerned with player safety than >95% of other schools then since hardly any don't use the standalone hoops.

 

[Darth Snow]

I can't believe no one has suggested hanging the mascot heads from the black rafters over the visitor's bench.

 

[cubuffs85]

Any way that the opposite end from the student section could be turned into a "young alum" season ticket area?

That would have a bunch of advantages over GA.

That's really one of the best ideas I've heard, I'd extend to other alums if you couldn't fill it up with only that.

 

[cubuffs85]

How does that change the fact that bleachers for basketball games suck?

It doesn't just pointing out the gold standard of cbb has it.

 

[absinthe]

Counter-point, they get the suites, wouldn't you make up that revenue?

Using my exaggerated numbers you'd need about 30 suites just to offset it. Being more realistic you'd do just 1 half of 1 side of the court that would mean losing roughly 200k of seat revenue a year. So about 6 suites to get to break even. The question then becomes is a major construction project as well as displacing 20 or so donor seats who are in for near 25k annually really worth it for a net revenue gain of 70k and getting 50 or so students on the floor.

 

[FLounda]

GaTech's new arena has the ring and donor area. It's actually surprisingly nice. Donor area had great catered food.

 

[slider]

Bohn added the drop.down baskets a couple years ago to "improve sightlines." So they are here to stay

 

[Shldr2Shldr]

GaTech's new arena has the ring and donor area. It's actually surprisingly nice. Donor area had great catered food.

Pretty nice new/old facility, a lot we could take from that idea.

[video=vimeo;55046873]http://vimeo.com/55046873[/video]

 

[SuperiorBuff]

Moving students is pretty cheap.View attachment 13178

I have always said that the student section should be behind the visitor's bench.