(04-12-2013 02:38 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  Nothing has ever succeeded long-term at the Coliseum, neither UC basketball nor anything else. It's almost as if the building is cursed (Who concert, anyone?) But I suppose that moving games there for a season might be a necessary exercise to disabuse the delusional of any idea that UC would benefit from this particular change of scenery.

Watch the attendance figures plummet.

The Cyclones have been playing at the arena since 1997, except for the two seasons they suspended operations due to the construction around the area.

Dear ACC-

Our all-time historically ranked UC Basketball program will now be playing our games in a $100mil renovated 17,000 seat building in the heart of the downtown Cincinnati entertainment district. We no longer will be playing our games in a place that Buffalo U. would be embarrassed to call home. Please take notice.

Love Always,
The University of Cincinnati

(04-12-2013 01:59 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 01:22 PM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  rumor or not ... count me on board with this.

The re-vitalization of downtown Cincy just adds to the appeal. Youd get a boatload of casual fans who will say hey lets grab dinner at the banks , go watch a nationally ranked college basketball program then go to the casino . How many of those people are doing that now in Clifton?

Also, I never got the notion of "US Bank is a dump for basketball". Yeah a bit outdated , but the comfort, sight lines and accessibility beats 5/3rd Arena hands down.

We can bus the students 3 miles downtown.

Completely agree. Hell I thought I was the only one on this board that felt this way. For UC to not take advantage of the huge growth in downtown Cincy would be dumb. As I've said before, I'm all for staying with Nippert because tailgating is the party portion of football games, but as far as basketball games go there has to be a place to go before and after. Those options are very limited in Clifton.

Add in the fact that Cincinnati has no pro basketball team so UC could fill that void if they are playing downtown. Xavier can't do it because they have a brand new arena to use, but we can.

x3.

I think the value of adding the fringe Cincinnati/N. KY sports fan, outweighs the "the games need to be on campus" crowd.

(04-12-2013 02:54 PM)Cat-Man Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 01:59 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 01:22 PM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  rumor or not ... count me on board with this.

The re-vitalization of downtown Cincy just adds to the appeal. Youd get a boatload of casual fans who will say hey lets grab dinner at the banks , go watch a nationally ranked college basketball program then go to the casino . How many of those people are doing that now in Clifton?

Also, I never got the notion of "US Bank is a dump for basketball". Yeah a bit outdated , but the comfort, sight lines and accessibility beats 5/3rd Arena hands down.

We can bus the students 3 miles downtown.

Completely agree. Hell I thought I was the only one on this board that felt this way. For UC to not take advantage of the huge growth in downtown Cincy would be dumb. As I've said before, I'm all for staying with Nippert because tailgating is the party portion of football games, but as far as basketball games go there has to be a place to go before and after. Those options are very limited in Clifton.

Add in the fact that Cincinnati has no pro basketball team so UC could fill that void if they are playing downtown. Xavier can't do it because they have a brand new arena to use, but we can.

x3.

I think the value of adding the fringe Cincinnati/N. KY sports fan, outweighs the "the games need to be on campus" crowd.

I'm one of those NKY fans. I've been to 3 games each of the last 3 years. I would definitely go to at least double that if the games were downtown.

I have really mixed feelings about this. We played at Armory Fieldhouse my Freshman year and that was an AWESOME place to watch a game. We would have to line up hours before because of the allotment of student admissions. The next year we were moved to Riverfront Colliseum. I missed the Fieldhouse but we still had a good team and again would have to get down there early in order to get in. There was nothing much else to do downtown then either. It sucked on a weeknight with classes the next day though because of the time to get there early and then wait for the bus afterwards. As the teams got worse through the late 70s student attendance fell off.

As long as the team is good, and also with a lot more to do downtown, attendance might increase. I would just want to make sure it is as loud there as at 5/3 when it's rocking. I wouldn't want to give up that kind of home court advantage.

A $100M being put into US Bank arena? Yeah, not buying it.

Interesting concept. All agree that Nippert has to be done NOW given the conference issue. Most agree that a $70-$90 million Nippert project can't be done in parallel with a basketball arena.
I too remember the old days--the Coliseum was a white elephant in the middle of deserted parking lots. The world has changed. The Banks is a great destination. A renovated 17,000 seat arena could attract a new generation of fans who just won't venture into Clifton for real or imagined problems with traffic, parking and safety. If the Coliseum owners foot the bill and UC becomes primary tenant for a few years it certainly buys time to finish Nippert, settle conference alignment and develop a strategy for returning to a new or renovated campus basketball facility. Worth a look...

(04-12-2013 02:35 PM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  I think the student body is more into the basketball program than they were in the 80s thanks to the efforts of the Administration and the level of the program itself. A bus ride to Bond Hill or a dead riverfront to watch a bad basketball team isnt what we are talking about 30 years later. But I could be wrong.

This will sound like a "in my day..." post.

I was a commuter student in the 80's. I lived in the Mt. Washington area at the time. Being a student allowed me to get in free and take a guest for $5.

I hardly missed a game then, even though UC had some pretty bad years. Not to mention before 5/3 was built we had to watch UC play at Cincinnati Gardens on XU's floor - that was bad.

Interesting.

No matter what anyone says, this move will greatly hurt student attendance. Bussing to games sucks, and driving down and paying for parking stinks as bad for students.

If somehow a crowd of Cincinnati people who have never come out to UC games anywhere on campus or off shows up, it would be good, but count me as someone who will not believe it until it happens.

(04-12-2013 02:38 PM)Former Lurker Wrote:  Haven't we been through this before?

Nothing has ever succeeded long-term at the Coliseum, neither UC basketball nor anything else. It's almost as if the building is cursed (Who concert, anyone?) But I suppose that moving games there for a season might be a necessary exercise to disabuse the delusional of any idea that UC would benefit from this particular change of scenery.

Watch the attendance figures plummet.

I too blame the Coliseum for the fact that the Jungle Kats didn't make it.

Isn't this old news? A couple of years ago US Bank tried luring UC with promises of upgrading facilities. UC passed. Since then, Whit has consistently taken the position that games bball/fball should and will be played on campus. He stated the opportunity to get individuals on campus to sell the University as a whole.

I'm sorry but there's no way to renovate US Bank. The concourses are way too small and the restrooms are even worse. Now if you're talking about tearing US Bank down and playing in a state of the art arena downtown I can live with it.

(04-12-2013 02:50 PM)Bearcat2012 Wrote:  Dear ACC-

Our all-time historically ranked UC Basketball program will now be playing our games in a $100mil renovated 17,000 seat building in the heart of the downtown Cincinnati entertainment district. We no longer will be playing our games in a place that Buffalo U. would be embarrassed to call home. Please take notice.

Love Always,
The University of Cincinnati

Well, US Bank Arena isn't really in the "heart" of the entertainment district; it actually sits off to the side. To get to the 12 or so establishments currently at The Banks, one must walk around the stadium to get to them.

This certainly is not an insurmountable task, but it's not like it sits right across the street from a number of bars and restaurants. It's more like a third of a mile during the colder months.

I'm an 80's UC grad, so I don't exactly have fond memories of the Coliseum. I do remember the immediate difference in crowd energy when UC opened with Huggins at 5/3, which had a direct impact on my purchase of season tickets. The talk of moving downtown makes me squeamish.

(04-12-2013 03:10 PM)Bruce Monnin Wrote:  Interesting.

No matter what anyone says, this move will greatly hurt student attendance. Bussing to games sucks, and driving down and paying for parking stinks as bad for students.

If somehow a crowd of Cincinnati people who have never come out to UC games anywhere on campus or off shows up, it would be good, but count me as someone who will not believe it until it happens.

I do share some concern about student attendance and that needs careful consideration. Still, it just seems that for better or worse "the thrill is gone" with 5th/3rd. UC can't really get enough people in the building on a consistent basis and this board often fills up with complaints about seats, views, parking, no upper concourses, etc. The teams have been improving. Attendance hasn't ramped up sufficiently which suggests it's something other than the team holding the program back.

I would hope that Whit would at least poll all the season ticket holders before making an ill-fated move like this to at least gauge the level of interest. Anecdotally I cannot think of a single season ticket holder I know who wants to move back downtown.
I truly doubt 5th/3rd is a deal breaker for the ACC or B12 anyway. Rutgers got the holy grail of the B10 invite and the RAC is an unmitigated dump.

(04-12-2013 03:43 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Anecdotally I cannot think of a single season ticket holder I know who wants to move back downtown.

I know a few. I know people who dumped tickets in the last couple of years that would return to being season ticket holders if the move was made. I also know a few people who either have not attended a game ever, or who only go to a couple a year who would probably attend several games a year if they were downtown.

(04-12-2013 03:48 PM)subflea Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 03:43 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  Anecdotally I cannot think of a single season ticket holder I know who wants to move back downtown.

I know a few. I know people who dumped tickets in the last couple of years that would return to being season ticket holders if the move was made. I also know a few people who either have not attended a game ever, or who only go to a couple a year who would probably attend several games a year if they were downtown.

That's why it should be studied, including asking the students, before any type of decision is made. If it's found there's not going be a significant move in the needle with regards to attendance, then it's probably a bad idea.
The way it stands now, it's not enough of an upgrade as far as the physical structure to warrant a move. IMO, actually a step down.

(04-12-2013 03:43 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  I would hope that Whit would at least poll all the season ticket holders before making an ill-fated move like this to at least gauge the level of interest. Anecdotally I cannot think of a single season ticket holder I know who wants to move back downtown.
I truly doubt 5th/3rd is a deal breaker for the ACC or B12 anyway. Rutgers got the holy grail of the B10 invite and the RAC is an unmitigated dump.

If the object is to grow the fanbase what good would that survey do? A survey of current season ticket holders would obviously be skewed towards staying on campus.

Also I know several people that have said specifically that they don't go to basketball games because there is nothing to do before or after.

When considering this option it is very important to realize what kind of fans post on internet message boards concerning their team. This is where fairly hardcore Bearcat fans gather, this is not the crowd that is more worried about entertainment or comfort when deciding whether or not to attend UC games.

Most importantly I think this move would go a long way toward once and for all making UC "Cincinnati's team".

(04-12-2013 04:26 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  

(04-12-2013 03:43 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  I would hope that Whit would at least poll all the season ticket holders before making an ill-fated move like this to at least gauge the level of interest. Anecdotally I cannot think of a single season ticket holder I know who wants to move back downtown.
I truly doubt 5th/3rd is a deal breaker for the ACC or B12 anyway. Rutgers got the holy grail of the B10 invite and the RAC is an unmitigated dump.

If the object is to grow the fanbase what good would that survey do? A survey of current season ticket holders would obviously be skewed towards staying on campus.

Also I know several people that have said specifically that they don't go to basketball games because there is nothing to do before or after.

When considering this option it is very important to realize what kind of fans post on internet message boards concerning their team. This is where fairly hardcore Bearcat fans gather, this is not the crowd that is more worried about entertainment or comfort when deciding whether or not to attend UC games.

Most importantly I think this move would go a long way toward once and for all making UC "Cincinnati's team".

Well, it's the hardcore fans that largely pay the freight, so it might not be a bad idea to study a plan and come up with some data supporting it instead of jumping into it based on a hunch and a prayer that it might improve attendance for casual fans.

As far as something like this making UC "Cincinnati's team", it worked so well the last time we moved downtown I guess we should try it again...oh wait.

(04-12-2013 05:14 PM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  As far as something like this making UC "Cincinnati's team", it worked so well the last time we moved downtown I guess we should try it again...oh wait.

Comparing a move down there now and the move then is apples and oranges.