fifth third renovation

[UCalum08]

I think the writing is on the wall that US Bank Arena is going to get renovated soon, and I think there is a good chance UC could become a tenant without having to put any money down.

Now the issue becomes, will the renovations make it a "basketball first" arena to cater to UC or will it remain as a hockey style arena...

Bingo. That has to be it or else it would be worthless for UC. I for one am torn about having it at an awesome renovated arena downtown or renovate on campus. I see both sides. As a an alumni of UC and still living in the area I love going to games on Clifton because I like Clifton and there are nice things happening there. (new bars, places to eat) I also think it would hurt Clifton businesses if we took games off campus.

On the other hand, if having a state of the art arena downtown is more financial feasible I would be supportive of that. I love going to places downtown as well. I would like to think the students would still have ways of getting down there. I would hate to lose any kind of student crowd noise because of the new big arena style seating. That loses some serious home court advantage. I just know how the City of Cincinnati is on large projects and how slow/long they take. If they aren't 110% committed to going all out on this new arena, its not worth it. I could see them half assing it big time.

Ultimately I am a supporter of keeping it on campus. But if it comes down to going downtown obviously I would still support but it has to be done right.

 

[JasonS]

Bingo. That has to be it or else it would be worthless for UC. I for one am torn about having it at an awesome renovated arena downtown or renovate on campus. I see both sides. As a an alumni of UC and still living in the area I love going to games on Clifton because I like Clifton and there are nice things happening there. (new bars, places to eat) I also think it would hurt Clifton businesses if we took games off campus.

On the other hand, if having a state of the art arena downtown is more financial feasible I would be supportive of that. I love going to places downtown as well. I would like to think the students would still have ways of getting down there. I would hate to lose any kind of student crowd noise because of the new big arena style seating. That loses some serious home court advantage. I just know how the City of Cincinnati is on large projects and how slow/long they take. If they aren't 110% committed to going all out on this new arena, its not worth it. I could see them half assing it big time.

Ultimately I am a supporter of keeping it on campus. But if it comes down to going downtown obviously I would still support but it has to be done right.

If the city is really trying to get the RNC, then this thing will have to get done quickly. I didn't realize that US Bank arena was a privately owned arena. That's going to potentially pose some issues.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Bingo. That has to be it or else it would be worthless for UC. I for one am torn about having it at an awesome renovated arena downtown or renovate on campus. I see both sides. As a an alumni of UC and still living in the area I love going to games on Clifton because I like Clifton and there are nice things happening there. (new bars, places to eat) I also think it would hurt Clifton businesses if we took games off campus.

On the other hand, if having a state of the art arena downtown is more financial feasible I would be supportive of that. I love going to places downtown as well. I would like to think the students would still have ways of getting down there. I would hate to lose any kind of student crowd noise because of the new big arena style seating. That loses some serious home court advantage. I just know how the City of Cincinnati is on large projects and how slow/long they take. If they aren't 110% committed to going all out on this new arena, its not worth it. I could see them half assing it big time.

Ultimately I am a supporter of keeping it on campus. But if it comes down to going downtown obviously I would still support but it has to be done right.

Totally agree. I think college sports belong on campus (or right next door). While the idea of having it downtown and it becoming the city's team is enticing, I still think it should be on campus. And like you said, UC needs those businesses around campus and the basketball games really help support them. To me there is nothing better than walking to a game and walking through the heart of campus to get there.

 

[BCM]

Bingo. That has to be it or else it would be worthless for UC. I for one am torn about having it at an awesome renovated arena downtown or renovate on campus. I see both sides. As a an alumni of UC and still living in the area I love going to games on Clifton because I like Clifton and there are nice things happening there. (new bars, places to eat) I also think it would hurt Clifton businesses if we took games off campus.

On the other hand, if having a state of the art arena downtown is more financial feasible I would be supportive of that. I love going to places downtown as well. I would like to think the students would still have ways of getting down there. I would hate to lose any kind of student crowd noise because of the new big arena style seating. That loses some serious home court advantage. I just know how the City of Cincinnati is on large projects and how slow/long they take. If they aren't 110% committed to going all out on this new arena, its not worth it. I could see them half assing it big time.

Ultimately I am a supporter of keeping it on campus. But if it comes down to going downtown obviously I would still support but it has to be done right.

I can see tying the campus in to streetcar eventually helping with that. Take them down there and take them back up. Can it handle the volume? Unknown. Would a subway be preferable? Definitely but I'm just getting wishful and political and that's no good. I think I could see myself going downtown to games - bright lights tight crowd, all that.
Please don't steamroller me!

 

[david aka the TYZ]

The Nederlander group keeps talking about $100 million dollars in renovations. I'm curious what would be the cost of a new arena altogether. It seems to me that starting fresh would be easier as you're not limited to the small space that already exists there. I knew that USBank was privately owned I didn't know that same group also owned the Cyclones. Any talk of UC being the number one tenant kind of takes a hit when the same people who own the building own the Cyclones. Now with that said they are not a naive enough group to not know how to make money and the Cyclones aren't going to bring in as much money as the Bearcats would. The question is how much would UC make from moving games down there and the Nederlander make as well. Splitting money doesn't seem ideal in my opinion. I honestly wish there were a way UC could just build a fantastic arena either on campus or adjacent to it and them start landing these big concerts/events. I know the money isn't there, just wishing. But it seems to me the Nederlander group isn't going through with anything unless they have the Bearcats on board (and they would be stupid to, honestly) and I don't think it would be wise for UC to invest anything in an arena downtown that they don't have any control over and the city isn't going to do anything as it has no vested interest in it and would only make money off of increased tourism. I just don't see an easy solution to this. I don't know what all the Nederlander group owns but it isn't solely US Bank Arena. I know they own some theatres on Broadway as I went to one last year and keep getting emails from them. If they own this arena I would venture to guess it isn't the only one. My point is they probably have the means to pour the money into it if it could return their investment. UC seems to be the only thing that could do that. They're not going to make serious money off getting 2-3 more big name concerts a year.

 

[Robert]

I really don't like the idea of moving to US Bank, simply because playing basketball in a hockey arena sucks. Terrible seats in the corners, unless you enjoy sitting sideways or having your neck turned the entire game.

 

[UCalum08]

A fan asked Mick about the article in the Enquirer today. He basically said UC is looking into all options and will exhaust every option we have. Mick also said he believes our attendance is low because of the poor fan experience 5/3 has and scheduling is not the reason. Said we have been consistently winning for years and it hasn't matter. He is a firm believer on the lack of positive fan experience that results to lower attendance as a whole.

 

[#BearcatNation]

A fan asked Mick about the article in the Enquirer today. He basically said UC is looking into all options and will exhaust every option we have. Mick also said he believes our attendance is low because of the poor fan experience 5/3 has and scheduling is not the reason. Said we have been consistently winning for years and it hasn't matter. He is a firm believer on the lack of positive fan experience that results to lower attendance as a whole.

I wish Mick would realize it's a little of both. Granted, I think if he could schedule a tougher OOC, he would, but still. That clearly has something to do with it.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I wish Mick would realize it's a little of both. Granted, I think if he could schedule a tougher OOC, he would, but still. That clearly has something to do with it.

Yep, it isn't fan experience. There is a reason the shoe was rocking on saturday and it wasn't because they magically upgrade the fan experience over night. Then again, Mick isn't dumb, of course he is going to say this.

 

[UCalum08]

Yep, it isn't fan experience. There is a reason the shoe was rocking on saturday and it wasn't because they magically upgrade the fan experience over night. Then again, Mick isn't dumb, of course he is going to say this.

I think its both. But it was interesting hearing peoples comments on Saturday. While I was shoulder to shoulder and not moving in a huge cluster fu*k in the concourse I heard a lot of complaining and lines like "this is why we need a new arena". You can't even get around comfortably with a sold out crowd. The fan experience is poor. Thats what keep large crowds for other non marquee matchups.imo People will sacrifice their enjoyment to see a big time matchup.

 

[JumpinJack5]

I think its both. But it was interesting hearing peoples comments on Saturday. While I was shoulder to shoulder and not moving in a huge cluster fu*k in the concourse I heard a lot of complaining and lines like "this is why we need a new arena". You can't even get around comfortably with a sold out crowd. The fan experience is poor. Thats what keep large crowds for other non marquee matchups.imo People will sacrifice their enjoyment to see a big time matchup.

How about a St. John's type of deal with US Bank? Most games at 5/3, big games at US Bank. You don't wanna get stuck playing South Carolina Downriver at US Bank in November, but you also don't want to play a team like Louisville at 5/3. This would be a nice compromise, IMO.

 

[TheLongHaul]

Why not play UL at 5/3rd? Were you at the game? It was fu**** awesome. Boo hoo the bathroom lines were too long. Yea, I got stuck in them too, who cares, the game was awesome. The lines sucked, it was crowded in the concourse, and they still sold out. You know why? Because UC is a top 25 team playing against a top 25 team. Memphis will be sold out as well. In a brand new arena, the South Caroline Upstate game will still draw less than 10,000.

 

[JumpinJack5]

Why not play UL at 5/3rd? Were you at the game? It was fu**** awesome. Boo hoo the bathroom lines were too long. Yea, I got stuck in them too, who cares, the game was awesome. The lines sucked, it was crowded in the concourse, and they still sold out. You know why? Because UC is a top 25 team playing against a top 25 team. Memphis will be sold out as well. In a brand new arena, the South Caroline Upstate game will still draw less than 10,000.

Even though US Bank isn't much of an upgrade, there really aren't any bad seats in that arena. In 5/3, the whole upper deck sucks. Plus, there are more options downtown, especially with the Banks now. Even though we got our a$$es handed to us by XU this year, I really enjoyed having it downtown. Nothing like a nice meal at the Yardhouse before heading over to the game.

 

[Bearcat Rob]

Why not play UL at 5/3rd? Were you at the game? It was fu**** awesome. Boo hoo the bathroom lines were too long. Yea, I got stuck in them too, who cares, the game was awesome. The lines sucked, it was crowded in the concourse, and they still sold out. You know why? Because UC is a top 25 team playing against a top 25 team. Memphis will be sold out as well. In a brand new arena, the South Caroline Upstate game will still draw less than 10,000.

Yes I agree 100% fifth third was awesome Saturday, we will finish with three straight sellouts, Memphis game coming up is going to be awesome to. If we go deep in March, which it think we will, the momentum will carry into next year and bring solid crowds for games like sC upstate.