(02-18-2016 12:46 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  In my opinion, the two are almost identical. Both arenas are old and lacking amenities. Both have restaurants within walking distance, but I wouldn't ask my wife to venture far from either arena, and I personally wouldn't do too much walking around either arena after dark. There really isn't much to do outside the arena, and there are plenty of hotel rooms within a few blocks.

We will agree on that. I think there are closer eateries in Baltimore than in Richmond around each stadium but totally agree on the arenas. I think most would honestly. Heck most people (talking fans here, not people making the decisions in the CAA office) who wanted Baltimore had one major issue. They didnt have a good choice of the arena since Royal Farms was no much different than the RC in age and quality. That still stands today that both are well outdated arenas. Its been discussed ad nauseum but there really are not many good choices of arenas for our league in the footprint that makes sense. Most are either too old and deteriorating or too large or both. Without ODU/GMU/VCU, it would be interesting to see how Richmond would do, my guess is it wouldnt be anywhere near as strong as it was and would be nearly as empty as we are in Baltimore.

Even if it seems small time, my honest opinion is the best location is probably Richmond to draw from the most fan bases and the place to play would be VCU's Siegel Center. Newer (ish) arena that is about the right size for our conference.