Attendance

[Northside Hawk]

ESPN's box score said attendance was 9,467 last night but no way in hell.

Ideally I'd like an arena built on the site of the mall, about 10,000 seats, packed tight to the sidelines like Kinnick is. It'd be loud as hell and with 2 decks viewing would be a lot better. Once you get past halfway up Carver it gets kinda far out. The rich guys can have suites in that configuration too which would allow for a courtside student section. Give the students free pizza.

Name it Chris Street Court at The Fieldhouse.

Walking distance for thousands of students in dorms, apartments and Greek houses and too many bars and restaurants within a four block radius to list here. And I like the Kinnick style rectangular configuration, which would be possible because there would be no wrestling at this arena.

What the F is the University waiting for?

 

[Northside Hawk]

A 10,000 seat arena in the Big Ten? Come on.

Absolutely! It would rock. If Duke can make it work we sure as hell can.

 

[HawkGold]

Attendance has been unevenly declining in BB. There has to be a big attention getter to draw. Bad opponent. Monday night. This wasn't a draw.

We are diehard fans. Not sure the average to low fan feels very connected. They won't care 6 year player son of the coach who historically shoots like a female really thinks. Those some loss of interest. Who the hell is he to chastise.

FM may be a players coach but he doesn't connect well with fans. Iowa football though a bad dysfunctional O still connects emotionally with fans.

Not saying fans are gone but nreally aren't as interested depending on convenience and distractions.

 

[Fryowa]

A 10,000 seat arena in the Big Ten? Come on.

Well, since our average (paid) attendance is usually around 9,000-9,500....yeah. And that's paid attendance. There's usually a couple thousand no-shows unless it's a really big game.

 

[Fryowa]

It's crazy how different the Carver atmosphere is for wrestling. Season tickets sold out again this year, and the place just has a certain buzz about it right from the time they open the doors. It's pretty wild to hear 15,000 people yell TWOOOOOOO!!!!! when Tony Cassioppi body slams someone.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Absolutely! It would rock. If Duke can make it work we sure as hell can.

I'd much rather have 10k full then less then 9 in a 15k arena.

 

[gillnh2o]

Where in the hell are you able to place a 10,000 seat stadium in downtown Iowa City. I live in the area and I can't see it. The former Old Cap mall is two to three Iowa City blocks long by one block wide.

 

[ssckelley]

Where in the hell are you able to place a 10,000 seat stadium in downtown Iowa City. I live in the area and I can't see it. The former Old Cap mall is two to three Iowa City blocks long by one block wide.

I don't think it would be big enough either unless they really are going for an arena the size of the McLeod Center and that's too small.

 

[racerhawk]

ESPN's box score said attendance was 9,467 last night but no way in hell.

Ideally I'd like an arena built on the site of the mall, about 10,000 seats, packed tight to the sidelines like Kinnick is. It'd be loud as hell and with 2 decks viewing would be a lot better. Once you get past halfway up Carver it gets kinda far out. The rich guys can have suites in that configuration too which would allow for a courtside student section. Give the students free pizza.

Name it Chris Street Court at The Fieldhouse.

When I was a little kid, my dad took me to games at the fieldhouse. Except for the occasional seat that was behind a giant beam, that place rocked. You're describing a modern Fieldhouse and I love it.

Having said that, I used to do "chores" in Carver when I was a student there. I have a special place in my heart for Carver. I've seen the place rockin' but that's not the norm. I think the location, the bluehairs sitting in the front, and the fact that Iowa City is a small town make things challenging. On a weeknight I imagine it would be hard to drive from Des Moines or from the hinterlands, no?

 

[racerhawk]

It's crazy how different the Carver atmosphere is for wrestling. Season tickets sold out again this year, and the place just has a certain buzz about it right from the time they open the doors. It's pretty wild to hear 15,000 people yell TWOOOOOOO!!!!! when Tony Cassioppi body slams someone.

So it's the crowd and not the building, to an extent. I've been to rasslin and NIT games with different crowds and they rocked.

 

[Fryowa]

So it's the crowd and not the building, to an extent. I've been to rasslin and NIT games with different crowds and they rocked.

Kinda. When I walk into Carver for a basketball game I go, “Meh…” and when I walk in for a wrestling dual I go, “Hell yeah, here we go buddy.”

I love Hawks basketball and I’m an enthusiastic fan (I yell, stand, etc.) but the venue doesn’t do it for me.

 

[dahlhawk]

Old and disinterested fans don‘t help. Who wants to watch a game from behind the basket if your a student? Any seats past half court you might as well watch on TV. Just my thoughts. Don’t hate the stadium just don’t love it. Didn’t see the field house so can’t compare but have watched games at Hilton and that’s a bad ass stadium. But, NIT, bad weather, and woman’s NCAA crowds rock. So, my original finger pointing to older crowds and ”social fans” stand.

 

[HawkGold]

When I was a little kid, my dad took me to games at the fieldhouse. Except for the occasional seat that was behind a giant beam, that place rocked. You're describing a modern Fieldhouse and I love it.

Having said that, I used to do "chores" in Carver when I was a student there. I have a special place in my heart for Carver. I've seen the place rockin' but that's not the norm. I think the location, the bluehairs sitting in the front, and the fact that Iowa City is a small town make things challenging. On a weeknight I imagine it would be hard to drive from Des Moines or from the hinterlands, no?

Bring back the field house!

 

[Northside Hawk]

Where in the hell are you able to place a 10,000 seat stadium in downtown Iowa City. I live in the area and I can't see it. The former Old Cap mall is two to three Iowa City blocks long by one block wide.

The old Field House seated 13k plus. How large was the actual arena area. I'm talking minus the auxiliary parts, the old ROTC area, just the arena itself?

It's tucked between the Hospital, the old Pharmacy building, and several dorms. You're telling me they couldn't build a 10k arena where the Old Capital Mall is?

Williams Fieldhouse at UW Platteville seats about 5-6K and nestles comfortably in the middle of campus, next to the indoor track, the athletic training facilities, and the coaches offices. Heck, some high school gyms hold around 5K these days.

 

[rschneider]

Many good thoughts in here. But I really think if the city of Iowa City would let itself grow would help out in all sports attendance.
Nebraska and Creighton get fans because Lincoln is almost 300,000 people and Omaha metro is almost 1,000,000.

I’ve been to the Lincoln game the last few years, many Hawkeye fans from Omaha. Why? Because a lot of people live in Omaha.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

How much of this is due to it being Thanksgiving week and many students left for home last weekend?

A lot. Games during this week every year aren't attended that well.

 

[InGoodCo]

Wresting matches are on the weekend in most cases, that does give them a date advantage regardless.

 

[HuckFinn]

Wresting matches are on the weekend in most cases, that does give them a date advantage regardless.

And, there are far fewer, right?

 

[trj]

This isn't the 1980's anymore, I am not expecting 15,500 for Nebraska-Omaha or SEMO . Just give me a kick ass atmosphere against the name opponents. Attendance at sporting events is becoming less relevant by the year.

 

[jardinero]

I think Iowa relies on a lot of folks in Polk county. For all the reasons previously listed it's just tough to allocate 4 hours of commuting round trip (more for some less for others) on a week night with Turkey day coming up when you can watch it from home. They've struggled with this for awhile I don't think this is all that new either. If only they could get more fans closer to IC to actually go. But I get it. Not all fans can or want to allocate the time to go. I don't think it's a financial thing at all really. Maybe I'm wrong

It is simple, if you have a good large screen TV with all the latest, and you live more than an hour from Carver, it is really easy to watch the game at home. I loved going to Carver when I had access to some tickets, but in the end what I really care about is that THEY WIN!!!!!