Butts the seat 2016 Edition

[UA_MA_2000]

My wish would be for a brand new arena that can seat 6k to 8k and that is especially fan friendly. I would hope for a new arena suitable for our program 20 to 30 years from now (how old is SEFCU?) and, perhaps, suitable for a larger local fan base and whatever else we hope will come with our growing program. I would think it would be cheaper to build an arena now than 10 years or 15 years from now. Again, just a wish. I know there is no money for this.

[Eli]

My wish would be for a brand new arena that can seat 6k to 8k and that is especially fan friendly. I would hope for a new arena suitable for our program 20 to 30 years from now (how old is SEFCU?) and, perhaps, suitable for a larger local fan base and whatever else we hope will come with our growing program. I would think it would be cheaper to build an arena now than 10 years or 15 years from now. Again, just a wish. I know there is no money for this.

 

Any new arena should be 6k max...however, possibly setup in such a way that would allow for future expansion to 7 or 8k. I don't want a new arena where 50% of it is tarped off or something because we build a 8-9k house.

 

That being said, SEFCU was opened in 1992.

 

Some will say we don't deserve a new arena because people couldn't even show up for a tourney game...but part of the reason why people might not have showed up (not the season ticket holders who didn't show up but others) is because of antiquated fan experience.

 

Whatever we do/build, I just hope the bleachers are somewhat loud still because our foot stomp, when everyone does it, is a thing to be reckoned with.

[dslyank]

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

Edited March 7, 2016 by dslyank

[godanesgo99]

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Thoughts!

It was Lasagna night at the nursing home and they started blending the meat before putting it in the sauce so the blue haired fans didn't have to chew as hard on their dentures. Tasty easy to eat meal or losing basketball was a hard choice so they still got 6k fans, but a lot of those were Iona fans.

Edited March 7, 2016 by godanesgo99

[bob87]

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

 

 

What casual (or knowledgeable) fan is going to pay the vastly overpriced ticket process that the lowly maac thinks its product is worth

[Eli]

 

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

 

 

What casual (or knowledgeable) fan is going to pay the vastly overpriced ticket process that the lowly maac thinks its product is worth

 

 

Evidently they didn't want to pay for ours either.

[Dane Pound]

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

My thought is you spelled Downtown Abbey wrong to disguise the fact that you're a big Downtown Abbey fan.

 

I'm not sure we can really look down on 5700 or whatever they had. For a one-bid league that's really good. It's probably higher during the regular season because they run a lot of promotions and there are so many cheap or free tickets. Something they can't really do during the tourney.

[ZLK]

 

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

My thought is you spelled Downtown Abbey wrong to disguise the fact that you're a big Downtown Abbey fan.

 

I'm not sure we can really look down on 5700 or whatever they had. For a one-bid league that's really good. It's probably higher during the regular season because they run a lot of promotions and there are so many cheap or free tickets. Something they can't really do during the tourney.

 

Yeah but that's 5700 when you're supposed to have more than just two teams fanbases in town. It's a really bad number.

[bob87]

 

 

Less than 6K for $iena's semi final. Perfect weather; weekend game; reasonable starting time; no sporting conflicts. Excuses?????

May be everyone stayed home to watch Dowton Abbey (spelling--I've never watched it).

May be the casual fan in the capital district is sports--OUT??????? Bring on the Yanks, Mets & Sox {& Braves for GDG}. Thoughts!

 

 

What casual (or knowledgeable) fan is going to pay the vastly overpriced ticket process that the lowly maac thinks its product is worth

 

 

Evidently they didn't want to pay for ours either.

 

 

Some had said they didn't want to pay for the quarterfinal and semi final and were waiting for the Semifinal.

It is what it is .

BTW, just looked at the maac. Plenty of tickets available but some are $75 and lower middle sections are $50. just insane for that level of basketball

[justdrastik1]

What's the population for Albany? Quick google search showed 98,000 in 2013. I'm assuming that Albany, city proper, and not the surrounding area. Much smaller than I thought.

[Eli]

What's the population for Albany? Quick google search showed 98,000 in 2013. I'm assuming that Albany, city proper, and not the surrounding area. Much smaller than I thought.

 

That's about right. Our met though is like 900,000 or something like that.

 

EDIT: Per Wiki, our metro is actually 1.17M and the population as of 2015 is 100,104 for Albany Proper.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Eli

[S-money]

 

 

My wish would be for a brand new arena that can seat 6k to 8k and that is especially fan friendly. I would hope for a new arena suitable for our program 20 to 30 years from now (how old is SEFCU?) and, perhaps, suitable for a larger local fan base and whatever else we hope will come with our growing program. I would think it would be cheaper to build an arena now than 10 years or 15 years from now. Again, just a wish. I know there is no money for this.

Any new arena should be 6k max...however, possibly setup in such a way that would allow for future expansion to 7 or 8k. I don't want a new arena where 50% of it is tarped off or something because we build a 8-9k house.

Agreed - I now live in George Mason country, where they have a nice 10,000 seater that is never full (I'm not sure they even sold out during or after their Final Four run).

 

I am starting to come around to the idea that we need a nicer place to attract the casual attendee. At the same time, 5000-6000 is a realistic attendance for us, even in a nice arena in good times as a mid-major (no, I don't see us becoming the Gonzaga of the East, to borrow a phrase). Even 7-8k would be too big, I'm afraid.

[DanesRGood]

 

 

My wish would be for a brand new arena that can seat 6k to 8k and that is especially fan friendly. I would hope for a new arena suitable for our program 20 to 30 years from now (how old is SEFCU?) and, perhaps, suitable for a larger local fan base and whatever else we hope will come with our growing program. I would think it would be cheaper to build an arena now than 10 years or 15 years from now. Again, just a wish. I know there is no money for this.

Any new arena should be 6k max...however, possibly setup in such a way that would allow for future expansion to 7 or 8k. I don't want a new arena where 50% of it is tarped off or something because we build a 8-9k house.

Agreed - I now live in George Mason country, where they have a nice 10,000 seater that is never full (I'm not sure they even sold out during or after their Final Four run).

 

I am starting to come around to the idea that we need a nicer place to attract the casual attendee. At the same time, 5000-6000 is a realistic attendance for us, even in a nice arena in good times as a mid-major (no, I don't see us becoming the Gonzaga of the East, to borrow a phrase). Even 7-8k would be too big, I'm afraid.

 

 

5500 is plenty and even then it won't sell out other than some of the biggest events. I think we can average 4000 though with a good arena. SBU just opened a new arena though and couldn't get more than 3200 (I think that was the number). Although they are in the middle of nowhere.

[Clickclack]

5500 is more than enough...absolutely insane in my opinion to build anything bigger.

[UAalum72]

There are 22 Division I MBB teams in New York. Exactly three average over 6K (listed with NCAA rank). Going by this list it's hard to see how you'd expect to draw much better without joining the A-10 or better. Except for comparing to the games downtown, how much more can you realistically want?

 

Syracuse 21,592 2

St. John's (NY) 6,612 77

Siena 6,532 80

St. Bonaventure 3,990 123

Stony Brook 3,328 141

Buffalo 3,243 145

Albany 3,161 150

Binghamton 2,540 173

Fordham 2,189 193

Iona 1,826 221

Hofstra 1,685 237

Cornell 1,655 242

Columbia 1,535 250

Wagner 1,512 259

Canisius 1,312 279

Marist 1,301 281

Manhattan 1,265 285

Army West Point 1,227 289

Niagara 1,198 294

LIU Brooklyn 1,163 296

Colgate 791 330

St. Francis Brooklyn 487 347