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Alumni Arena


weareub46

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This is totally hypothetical because 1) alumni doesn’t get filled anywhere near consistently 2) there’s no way we are anywhere near having the money 3) there are way more important renovations needed (especially the football stadium) BUT do you think alumni arena could somehow be expanded at some point? I’d love for them to expand the south side and put some permanent stands. There’s definitely room outside of the building. I actually think the arena is pretty nice already and the newish video board was a massive improvement but it’s just fun to think about 

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I think one of the issues with football and Basketball is that they don't look like major college sport venues.

My theory is if you build a 10k bowl for basketball that looked like the venues the top schools have, you'd get more butts in seats.

To the OP, I don't see expansion possible at Alumni. I think you'd have to (and honestly I think you'd want to) build a new building.

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18 hours ago, bull_trojan said:

I think one of the issues with football and Basketball is that they don't look like major college sport venues.

My theory is if you build a 10k bowl for basketball that looked like the venues the top schools have, you'd get more butts in seats.

No. That is nonsense. The arena isn’t the problem. 

 

10k seats?  Seriously?  Do you know anything about college basketball arenas?

That would give UB more seats than Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, Gonzaga, VCU, Notre Dame, Butler, Stanford, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Northern Iowa and many other good programs.  

Packing in fans and selling out games  make a better venue than empty seats. 

When Gonzaga built their new arena they only put in 6k seats to ensure it would be a good atmosphere and not have empty seats. 

Buffalo is no where being as hot a ticket as Gonzaga. 

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10,000 seats would be tied for 101st in the nation with Clemson, George Mason, NIU, Evansville, and Washington. 10,167 is the median capacity of the American Conference arenas.

If you're going to maximize revenue you'll either have to max out attendance at a lower price, or have high demand at a high price.

In my opinion, a sport that starts during Bills season and plays during Sabres season, in a lower income city to start with, won't really be able to throw the price that high, so they gotta have seats. 

Quote

Buffalo is no where being as hot a ticket as Gonzaga. 

 

I attempted to explain this. My feeling is our fans our used to MSG, Keybank, the ACC, TD Garden, the Q etc. Major Arenas. Alumni feels more HS. If UB played in an arena that felt more big league, I think it would draw more fans. 

I personally love Alumni, and see no reason why it isn't operation 6k every game right now.

The team is top 25, there is not much else they can do on the court to attract fans. So what do you think the issue is?

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On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 3:02 AM, bull_trojan said:

10,000 seats would be tied for 101st in the nation with Clemson, George Mason, NIU, Evansville, and Washington. 10,167 is the median capacity of the American Conference arenas.

If you're going to maximize revenue you'll either have to max out attendance at a lower price, or have high demand at a high price. 

In my opinion, a sport that starts during Bills season and plays during Sabres season, in a lower income city to start with, won't really be able to throw the price that high, so they gotta have seats. 

I can tell you don't run a business.  Revenue is less important than the bottom line.  You don't build an expensive facility with a ton of seats for them to sit empty.  You want every seat to not only be utilized but also to have the revenue cover the cost of the outlay.

You'd have to show me that fans are being turned away because they can't get a ticket to the game.  Or that fans would be beating down the door to get into Alumni Arena if they could get tickets for $5 rather than $10. 

 

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 3:02 AM, bull_trojan said:

I attempted to explain this. My feeling is our fans our used to MSG, Keybank, the ACC, TD Garden, the Q etc. Major Arenas. Alumni feels more HS. If UB played in an arena that felt more big league, I think it would draw more fans. 

I personally love Alumni, and see no reason why it isn't operation 6k every game right now.

The team is top 25, there is not much else they can do on the court to attract fans. So what do you think the issue is?

No.  The arena is not the problem.  The Pavilion is more popular with Villanova fans despite the Wells Fargo Center being 'big time' as you say.  The cavernous venues are hard to make a good atmosphere and the seats are far from the court since the court is much smaller than the hockey arena the seats are setup for. 

You don't understand why Alumni is not sold out every game.  And that's the thing.  You're a rare fan for a program that doesn't have many fans.  Buffalo has a lot of casual observers--a lot of people who would like to see the program be successful.  But they have very few actual fans that are going to attend the game.  That is changing but it is still a ways off. 

The Bulls have played at the Sabres Arena before and the fans don't turn out. 

What do I think the issue is?  Well, for one, the program doesn't have sustained success.  It is just starting to get into that category where people can expect the team to be good every year.  Having four year players and not transfers helps fans to get to know the players.  But the biggest issue is the lack of home games and the lack of home games against quality opponents.

The St. Bona game has been significant for the program and this year's Southern Illinois game will be big.  But playing all the good games away from campus and then playing no-name games at home is a killer.

The last four years have been the pinnacle of the Bulls basketball history.  Who have they scheduled at home in that time? Le Moyne, Central Penn, Nazareth, Pitt-Bradford...

No one is going to get pumped about non-D1 games.  Right now, the only thing you can sell fans on is the MAC schedule and who gets excited about teams in the MAC? 

The fact that the Bulls aren't scheduling Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook is crazy.  Teams like Vermont, Bucknell, Hofstra, or Harvard should be scheduled.  You need teams that people have heard of and that they know can have a good team from time to time.  The problem is that you have to give up a game where a P5 pays you to get these games because they would be home/home.  And the Bulls just can't afford to turn down the money.

 

 

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I'm just going to go ahead and repeat myself on what I said on another forum. 

"If they keep winning, more and more people will show up. You have to keep in mind, there is no college sports culture here, at all. This is Bills and Sabres country. UB has to keep winning and winning for people to show up and to build culture. UB didn't start being remotely competitive at basketball until, what, 15 years ago? That's nothing. This is such a young program. It's just going to take time."

Some of you folks just are not understanding. Western New York has no college sports culture. None. It never has. For UB to get butts in the seats, they have to win, and they have to win often and every year for more and more people to show up. It doesn't have anything to do with what the arena looks like. In fact, the arena looks pretty darn good for the most part. A school with 20,000+ undergrads can't even fill that tiny little student section. Why? No college sports culture. 

You can build the nicest arena possible on campus with 12,000+ seats, and people aren't going to show up. Why? Because, again, this is Bills and Sabres country. WNY has never had a consistent major college sport like football and basketball.

Some people may refute with what I am saying, but, it's the truth. This UB men's team the last 4-5 years or so is the most consistent success of any major college sport in WNY history.


 

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2 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

UB didn't start being remotely competitive at basketball until, what, 15 years ago? 

Sure, they have been competitive (top-150 team) on a pretty regular basis in the last 15 years but that doesn't really move the needle for the casual observer.  It isn't until they see some national recognition or competition against programs they respect that they take notice.  Beating WVU is big.  Beating Syracuse will be bigger. 

 

3 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

 This UB men's team the last 4-5 years or so is the most consistent success of any major college sport in WNY history.

Niagara, Canisius, and St. Bona have had more success.  That is part of the reason they have fans.

The UB students who are at the school now and are going to games will be the fans that return to campus to buy tickets in five years.  Your graduating students who enjoy going to games are going to become your biggest fans and the most loyal to the program.

The program is so young. 

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I do not think that Alumni Arena renovation should be a priority right now. We should see an uptick in attendance long as the team keeps winning. Once we see a consistent increase, then we can look at that. 

The main negatives I see are:

-It does feel a little like a high school gym 

-When watching on TV you see the south side of the arena. This leads to a lot of the shots of the red areas in the picture below (if it attached to the post properly). This does not look good IMO.

image.png.a49cdb942b3f19834ee7d58535cbed57.png

-Concessions are not great

After having said this, I still believe it is a good game day experience and compares favorably to many other D1 arenas.

I think the football stadium should be a bigger priority because it does not compare favorably to other D1 stadiums. The biggest issue is the track which leads to horrible sight-lines and a quiet atmosphere. 

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The red areas in the picture above are a lot of dead space and has been the one things that has been on my list of things I would change, but with that said, the facility isn't a problem. 

 

And I agree 1000% that the football stadium is the real issue with facilities. 

Edited by dutchcountry7
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6 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

I can think of a few but my favorite is the Katy Independent School District.   Link

Don't mean to be a jerk.

You are comparing Katy, TX School District as a regular high school? 

They just completed a 70 million dollar football stadium for 12,000 people. (UB Stadium is the equivalent of around $40 million today)

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1 minute ago, BullsFan14 said:

Don't mean to be a jerk.

You are comparing Katy, TX School District as a regular high school? 

They just completed a 70 million dollar football stadium for 12,000 people. (UB Stadium is the equivalent of around $40 million today)

Not being a jerk.

I think it is crazy that they, and other schools like them, are building those facilities.  St. Mary's has great success with a high school gym.  LINK

The reality is that there are high schools that are building lavish facilities.  But that doesn't mean that Alumni Arena is a problem for UB or that a renovation is a wise use of the limited money the program has. 

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Alumni was designed to a multi purpose facility to accommodate multiple sports. Like the football stadium if that were not the case the stands would have been much closer to the court/field which would have enhanced the atmosphere. Until they build an IM type building nothing much will change. The key is sustained success and filling the seats already there.

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20 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

I just called the ticket office and sections 111-116 are all still being reserved for season ticket holders. That is absolutely unacceptable. Same rows I sat in game 1 last year against Canisius and now they're holding out for them? Yikes...

That would explain why the rows next to me were empty for the past two home games. Daeman there was no one. St. Francis, two guys sat next to us with the whole row wide open.

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5 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

Yep,  sections 117-121 and the 300 levels are the only single seat tickets being sold. What a mess. 

They should release the seats before at least 24-48 hours any game assuming they haven't been sold as part of a season ticket package. I totally understand the desire to sell season tickets. For one, they include women's games. Secondly it locks in seat sales for the entire season rather than a game here or there. And lastly the additional revenue only enhances the bottom line and what resources they have available to support the program, which among other things will help retain Nate.

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2 hours ago, UB85 said:

Alumni was designed to a multi purpose facility to accommodate multiple sports. Like the football stadium if that were not the case the stands would have been much closer to the court/field which would have enhanced the atmosphere. Until they build an IM type building nothing much will change. The key is sustained success and filling the seats already there.

Agree with UB85. Alumni is good as far as sight lines and when it is has the 4,000 to 6,000 range it is a great atmosphere especially with the student sections filled. The concession experience and the prices are what could use fixing. Also not sure what can be done but the parking situation has become very bad now that more fans are coming to games. If UB is really interested in some changes perhaps a survey questionnaire to fans could be a possibility. The one venue that is good is at St. Bona and again the atmosphere there is great as we have been there many times over the years. Agree that if we continue with sustained success and with more fans KitKat could be the ticket for changes to be made by UB. Go Bulls!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, John said:

Agree with UB85. Alumni is good as far as sight lines and when it is has the 4,000 to 6,000 range it is a great atmosphere especially with the student sections filled. The concession experience and the prices are what could use fixing. Also not sure what can be done but the parking situation has become very bad now that more fans are coming to games. If UB is really interested in some changes perhaps a survey questionnaire to fans could be a possibility. The one venue that is good is at St. Bona and again the atmosphere there is great as we have been there many times over the years. Agree that if we continue with sustained success and with more fans KitKat could be the ticket for changes to be made by UB. Go Bulls!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bona's atmosphere is great. It is also a bit contrived. They pack the place. The students are on top of the court especially at either basket. The ceiling is as low as you'll ever find one in major college hoops. On top of that they close the doors leading to the gym during the game, which means the sound is literally bouncing off the walls and ceiling with little place to go.

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