(12-20-2018 07:56 PM)Hart Foundation Wrote:  

(12-20-2018 05:52 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  I didn’t think this news was worthy of its own thread, but Texas announced plans today to build a new arena. A $338 million project that the university will (in essence) be getting for free without putting up any of the money to build it.

The most surprising part of the news (besides the free part) is that the arena will only seat 10k for basketball games (although it is expandable to seat 15k for concerts, etc.).

The “Drum” aka the Frank Erwin Center, sat somewhere between 14-16k for basketball, and I thought it was an excellent venue for the sport. Then again, I was comparing the “Drum” to the previous field house known as Gregory Gym where I watched games as an undergrad, which was intimate but really old-school basic. In Gregory you literally sat on court-side wooden risers behind the team benches.

Anyway, if JMU’s new arena seats 8.5k and Texas thinks a 10k arena will do for a student body of 50k and a city of about 1 million, I think Texas is either seriously underestimating the demand for seats (or is looking to really jack up prices), or JMU is overbuilding.


https://247sports.com/college/texas/Arti...126689922/

We had a discussion about this in a thread Last year. I stated then and I am stating now that 8500 is way too large for JMU basketball. Some have stated that my thinking is wrong...

The money would be better spent building a smaller arena bowl and add top notch amenities to include suites and multiple club seat locations that generate far more money than the average Joe seats.

Smaller and more intimate would also enhance the home court advantage.
Nobody wants an empty cavern

Been my feeling/concern all along as well but I always get knocked back by the "It's not just for basketball" explanation. I get it, but basketball is going to look abandoned in there.