(12-20-2018 07:26 PM)BleedingPurple 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/

I want to know which you think is the correct answer? Don't mind going on record saying 6500 is about right for JMU basketball and would love to see it be too few. I haven't a clue about expanded capacity for other events but find it difficult to see people living in Richmond or NOVA going two hours for a concert in a mostly rural area. People will come out of the agronomic areas throughout the Valley but the bread and butter will reside within Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. I believe the success will be events and shows which are designed for the people who live within a 50 mile radius of the UB&T Center.

I really have a mixed response to the announced seating capacity. My first thought was Texas is building it too small, but for a weekday game against a so-so opponent, maybe 10k is the right size, especially if the fat-cats are in VIP boxes, and the seating around the court are primarily students. Sadly, JMU’s design doesn’t appear to have enough VIP boxes, and students are not going to be provided seating that surrounds the court.

This is a question for anyone who is familiar with UVA’s JPJ arena (which seats around 16k)...does that venue seem full for most MBB games? And where do the UVA students sit?