Koch: Move UC basketball to the Banks

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All we do is Guyn said:
"Time to move the Bearcats back downtown. It’s good for everyone"

It's not good for the students...
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I think that is the biggest drawback to moving downtown. Right now the students make the atmosphere during the game very electric. That has to remain. However if the goal is to make UC "Cincinnati's Team" then them playing on the banks, which is becoming the crowned jewel of the city, could be a huge draw for the casual fan. That casual fan that was coming in the 90s hasn't been showing up in the last decade. If the numbers work it's definitely worth exploring.
 
All we do is Guyn said:
"Time to move the Bearcats back downtown. It’s good for everyone"

It's not good for the students...
Click to expand...

Students and fans will show up if we win. UC is still semi-known as a commuter school, plenty of students have cars. We need marquee out-of-conference games, nobody wants to see us play North Carolina A&T. Put money into the arena, win, get fans to show up, and it becomes a huge recruiting pitch. It's a risk, especially if we struggle as a young team, but it would be a calculated risk. If you build it, they will come. :)
 
If the University is that concerned about students showing up, they could offer a shuttle service for students. Something tells me that isn't going to be a problem.
 
JackBauer151 said:
I think that is the biggest drawback to moving downtown. Right now the students make the atmosphere during the game very electric. That has to remain. However if the goal is to make UC "Cincinnati's Team" then them playing on the banks, which is becoming the crowned jewel of the city, could be a huge draw for the casual fan. That casual fan that was coming in the 90s hasn't been showing up in the last decade. If the numbers work it's definitely worth exploring.
Click to expand...

Why hasn't that casual fan been showing up in the last decade? It's hard for me to believe that it's just because the arena isn't that nice, but that might be the case. Something needs to be done about the lack of fans though, and I don't know what. Our fan support is not good relative to our recent success in my opinion. That goes for football too
 
Best case scenario, we end up like U of L with the Yum! Center. Worst case scenario, it is like when they played downtown before the 'Shoe. We are a much better program than we were in the '80s, but it is still something to be semi-worried about.
 
JasonS said:
If the University is that concerned about students showing up, they could offer a shuttle service for students. Something tells me that isn't going to be a problem.
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You're probably right, but I've gone to a few of those Thursday night games in the middle of studying for an exam because it was THAT convenient to just walk there from the library, which i wouldn't have done if I had to catch a shuttle and go downtown. You can't beat having an arena on campus for the students, but I can also understand why an arena downtown would be more attractive to to the fans that actually pay for tickets.

Also, somewhat unrelated, but I think they need to change how they distribute tickets to the students. For basketball, they just give you all the tickets for the entire month at once. I know a lot of people that end up wasting tickets because they can't make it to one of the games that month.
 
All we do is Guyn said:
You're probably right, but I've gone to a few of those Thursday night games in the middle of studying for an exam because it was THAT convenient to just walk there from the library, which i wouldn't have done if I had to catch a shuttle and go downtown. You can't beat having an arena on campus for the students, but I can also understand why an arena downtown would be more attractive to to the fans that actually pay for tickets.

Also, somewhat unrelated, but I think they need to change how they distribute tickets to the students. For basketball, they just give you all the tickets for the entire month at once. I know a lot of people that end up wasting tickets because they can't make it to one of the games that month.
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They've always handed out tickets in groups. When I was a student and we had to wait in line, we always got 3 or 4 home games at a time. Maybe not a months worth but at least 2 or 3 weeks.
 
All we do is Guyn said:
Why hasn't that casual fan been showing up in the last decade? It's hard for me to believe that it's just because the arena isn't that nice, but that might be the case. Something needs to be done about the lack of fans though, and I don't know what. Our fan support is not good relative to our recent success in my opinion. That goes for football too
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I think the arena is part of it. Definitely not the only thing. The decision between sitting in the uncomfortable bleachers and their couch while watching in HD is probably an easy one for a lot of people. It's also been the rebuilding of the program, lack of quality non conference opponents, atmosphere surrounding clifton, parking, and im sure there are other specific problems to particular fans. My only point was that if you could put "We are going to the banks before\after the game for drinks, food, entertainment" before deciding whether or not going to a new renovated arena for a UC game, I think the casual fan would be more inclined to go. Might remember what a great time a UC basketball game is and now has entertainment options before and after the game as well. Personally I would like to see a nice new YUM center on campus I just dont see anyway that is possible in the foreseeable future. If they can make US bank really nice I say explore it. If they are just gonna put lipstick on a pig forget it.
 
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JasonS said:
If the University is that concerned about students showing up, they could offer a shuttle service for students. Something tells me that isn't going to be a problem.
Click to expand...

All we do is Guyn said:
You're probably right, but I've gone to a few of those Thursday night games in the middle of studying for an exam because it was THAT convenient to just walk there from the library, which i wouldn't have done if I had to catch a shuttle and go downtown. You can't beat having an arena on campus for the students, but I can also understand why an arena downtown would be more attractive to to the fans that actually pay for tickets.

Also, somewhat unrelated, but I think they need to change how they distribute tickets to the students. For basketball, they just give you all the tickets for the entire month at once. I know a lot of people that end up wasting tickets because they can't make it to one of the games that month.
Click to expand...


I made this point months ago when this topic was first brought up. I'm sure UC would offer a shuttle, but realistically for a student to take the shuttle for a 7:00 game the shuttle would probably leave campus at the latest at 6:15, probably 6. The game will last anywhere until 9 to 9:20 excluding OT games. I would say the earliest a student gets back would be close to 10:00. It's fair to roughly estimate the time requirements for a student to take a shuttle at close to four hours. I just don't see students wanting to do that on a consistent basis. As it sits now the students can show up right at gametime and leave whenever they want if the game becomes uninteresting. And while it's true alot of students commute, they might not want to pay for parking downtown as much. When I was a student, I commuted and any gameday I just stayed on campus all day for the weeknight games. When the student section is full it is rocking. When it hasn't been full there is a definite difference in the energy they bring. Moving it downtown will not add to students wanting to go to games, the question is how many students do we lose?

After reading Doc's article I'm getting the impression that the Nederlander group is the one stirring things up in the media to try and coax fan interest into getting UC to move games down there. While it's an understandable ploy, I'm happy to think that this is not something being mulled around at UC. I can agree that games at the Banks could be better for the casual fan and might help generate a sort of buzz that couldn't hurt, but I seriously doubt that revenue would be higher for UC, in fact I'd venture to guess it would lower revenue. I just don't see how splitting money helps us when right now we get 100% of the gate and make money off parking. I also like how Doc compares UD Arena to the Shoe and saying it's much better. It is not only older, but just about the same design. While the upper deck is not bench seating, the seats are much farther back from the court. UD Arena packs the house because it's the only show in town. Also he mentions that on-campus arenas are outdated. Well, Cintas is an on-campus arena and it does all right for itself and UD's arena is essientially on campus. While it does sit off the edge of campus a bit, it isn't located anywhere near downtown or an entertainment district. And parking at UD is hurrendous if you don't have a pass. You have to shuttle to the arena by bus, the process takes quite a bit of time. They sell out despite all these things.
 
david aka the TYZ said:
I made this point months ago when this topic was first brought up. I'm sure UC would offer a shuttle, but realistically for a student to take the shuttle for a 7:00 game the shuttle would probably leave campus at the latest at 6:15, probably 6. The game will last anywhere until 9 to 9:20 excluding OT games. I would say the earliest a student gets back would be close to 10:00. It's fair to roughly estimate the time requirements for a student to take a shuttle at close to four hours. I just don't see students wanting to do that on a consistent basis. As it sits now the students can show up right at gametime and leave whenever they want if the game becomes uninteresting. And while it's true alot of students commute, they might not want to pay for parking downtown as much. When I was a student, I commuted and any gameday I just stayed on campus all day for the weeknight games. When the student section is full it is rocking. When it hasn't been full there is a definite difference in the energy they bring. Moving it downtown will not add to students wanting to go to games, the question is how many students do we lose?

After reading Doc's article I'm getting the impression that the Nederlander group is the one stirring things up in the media to try and coax fan interest into getting UC to move games down there. While it's an understandable ploy, I'm happy to think that this is not something being mulled around at UC. I can agree that games at the Banks could be better for the casual fan and might help generate a sort of buzz that couldn't hurt, but I seriously doubt that revenue would be higher for UC, in fact I'd venture to guess it would lower revenue. I just don't see how splitting money helps us when right now we get 100% of the gate and make money off parking. I also like how Doc compares UD Arena to the Shoe and saying it's much better. It is not only older, but just about the same design. While the upper deck is not bench seating, the seats are much farther back from the court. UD Arena packs the house because it's the only show in town. Also he mentions that on-campus arenas are outdated. Well, Cintas is an on-campus arena and it does all right for itself and UD's arena is essientially on campus. While it does sit off the edge of campus a bit, it isn't located anywhere near downtown or an entertainment district. And parking at UD is hurrendous if you don't have a pass. You have to shuttle to the arena by bus, the process takes quite a bit of time. They sell out despite all these things.
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I get your point but it works for schools like Pitt and UL. It would work for UC.
 
JasonS said:
I get your point but it works for schools like Pitt and UL. It would work for UC.
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I suppose. I'm a man, I fear change. I see the negative's before the positives with change. I don't know Pitt's situation. I know I've heard the arena isn't on campus, but I don't know how far away it is. I know they get great student turnout. U of L is a whole different animal. We all can agree I'm sure that what happens in place A or place B for whatever reason seems to be like pulling teeth for Cincinnati to get to work (ironically the same argument Doc uses for moving the games downtown). I don't know, I'm partial to keeping the games on campus. I'm sure it could work downtown. I still don't see enough upturn in attendance to make up for sharing revenue. I think once Clifton gets more and more revitalized and we could find money to build a new arena that will be a better scenario for UC in the long run. And lets be honest the Banks is hot right now, will it be in 5 years? Clifton offers plenty of dining and bars for before and after games. They're already adding parking and more restaraunts, etc. Ideally, if UC could get the funds quicker, we could blow up the Shoe, play downtown for a couple years while the Banks is hot and hope any new fan interest generated flows to a new on-campus arena. Reality is no matter where you're at people go to games because you're winning and it's the popular thing to do. We need to create a buzz and more people will come to the Shoe. Our media heads are spinning their heads right now talking about how the place is a dump and outdated. However much that is true, it doesn't help matters when the media blasts it. When Kelly came here he blasted the media and got them to work in his favor. We all know Mick doesn't have that kind of charisma, but things need to change. We need the media on our side.
 
BearcatMick said:
I decimate your argument and you respond with this
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You said,keep UC on campus and Doc is sensationalizing the argument for the paper. You provide no evidence or rationale for anything. You dont support a damn thing you say. On every single friggin topic you bring absolutely nothing of value to any discussion. At least the other people on here that I argue with have a point of view that is backed with some sort of reason. You either are a troll or an idiot. Either way you are just plain boring.
 
bearcat jeff said:
I think Doc is dead on. The added entertainment value and better parking alone would be huge.
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I just don't know. We can't sell out 5/3 Arena yet we expect to be able to do that at a bigger place downtown? Just because there might be more entertainment options? There are a TON of awesome restaurants around UC. And now they are putting up U-Square right on Calhoun that will add a bunch of restaurants, Keystone Bar and Grill, and The Brass Tap ("An upscale Beer Emporium with over 80 craft beers on tap and more than 300 varieties of local craft beers, imports, and a selection of beers. The Brass Tap will also offer live music and high definition TVs for all of your game day needs!") Here is the website if you haven't heard about this (http://www.usquareattheloop.com/dine).

The one real benefit I see by moving downtown is making UC basketball the city's team. I can definitely see how being downtown can attract the casual fan. I just don't know if that is enough to justify the move
 
bearcat jeff said:
I think Doc is dead on. The added entertainment value and better parking alone would be huge.
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I agree Jeff. As long as the city pays to renovate the arena and UC gets first dibs on all game days and times, I am totally for it. If they are going to move it down without anything being done to update the arena, then forget it.
 
Love the idea of moving downtown. Young people are flocking to the Banks. If the administration can get the arena owners to foot most of the bill. It is a no brainier. Anyone who has had to endure the bench seats at the shoe have to love this idea. If we can come away with a facility on par with the Yum, the admin should run to make to a deal. As another poster pointed out they could run a shuttle from campus for the students.
 

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