Student Section

[Lionhawk]

OK, let's get off the "State of the Program", "It's the System" and "Fair weather fan" discussions and have a discussion about creating a real "home court" advantage for the Hawks in the future.

First off I know you need to get more students to attend the games before this would make sense. I am being hypothetical here for when that occurs, hopefully soon. Or maybe a change would result in more students attending the games if they had better seats.

There was a discussion here this past week or so regarding the old Fieldhouse and the home court advantage the Hawks had in the building. I personally believe most home court advantages in college basketball are created by the student sections rather than the big money boosters, i.e - Cameron crazies and as much as it pains me to admit the orange crush at Illannoy. Both of those student bodies create a great college atmosphere.

Does anyone know if there has been any additional thoughts/discussion given to changing where the student section is? I know it has been bantered about for years. I think Alford even wanted it to occur when he was here, so would the following work??

Could you put some of the students in the first 8 to 10 rows behind the benches similar to what I believe I saw when Iowa played at (?)Michigan? I realize the students will probably stand during the entire game so you may need to remove a couple rows of seats and make a walkway between the students and the knitting ladies behind them so the ladies can look up from time to time and see the floor. Then maybe put the balance of the students in the lower 15 rows behind the visitors basket for the second half where they can make free throws a bit more challenging late in the game.

This would result in maybe a 100 to 200 seat reduction in the seating capacity at CHA but we aren't selling out the building anyway. Once the arena got back to being sold out for every game you could raise ticket prices a dollar and easily make up for the ticket revenue that was lost due to the fewer seats. The challenge would be the revenue lost from boosters that are making donations to be able to buy the premium seats.


Just a thought. Look forward to others ideas on how to turn CHA into a real home court advantage. And while I realize some will say more wins is the answer, and it is without a doubt that is true, CHA has never been known as a great home court advantage. Even during Mr. Davis's era and the year Alford's team went undefeated at home there have always been complaints about how quiet CHA can be.

 

[Lionhawk]

No ideas out there???

 

[ShadasRevenge]

I think it would be neat if they moved all the students to the side that gets shown on television, and move all those that were sitting there to the other side. Another thing I was thinking of the other day was that when the interior of CHA gets renovated, maybe they take out a few rows of seats about 1/2 way up and put a walkway in there so all the old folks don't have to walk all the way to the top when the game is over.

Maybe it could look something like this when it's done.

 

[tm3308]

No ideas out there???

Well personally, I like your idea of ringing the students all the way around. If nothing happens this year, I think next year that the team will be good enough to start drawing students back to CHA, making ideas such as this more plausible.

Players hanging with fans for awhile after the game is always a good idea as far as increasing fan interest.

It may or may not help game attendance, and maybe the team already does this. But what about holding like 4-5 open practices over the course of the season? Let fans get a little more of an inside look at the program that they care so much about, and I know I would likely gain an even greater appreciation for the efforts of guys like Lickliter, May, Gatens, etc. Seeing the work ethic in action in a practice may have the same effect for other fans.

And any kind of promo involving football players signing autographs is a guaranteed attendance booster. I'd love if if the wrestling team and women's basketball team also were involved with that sort of thing. I have a pretty impressive collection of football autographs considering I'm just 19, and I certainly wouldn't pass up a chance to add Brent Metcalf or Jamie Printy's "X".

 

[Icarus]

While I certainly agree with the idea that moving the students would be a positive, I just don't see it happening. Unless I am misunderstanding the Carver renovation plans, the courtside atmosphere is about to get even lamer:

Premium Seating Opportunities - The University of Iowa Foundation

Seriously, someone please tell me I am misinterpreting the seating plans.

Regardless, Iowa almost never considers the students in their gameday plans. I still think the atmosphere at Kinnick has gotten worse since the students were moved. It has always seemed to me that the athletic department looks at the student presence as merely something they need to accommodate instead of the heart of the gameday atmosphere.

 

[parquet]

The seats on the side at Carver are much farther away from the court than the ones at Michigan. The effect would suffer.

 

[Row55]

While I certainly agree with the idea that moving the students would be a positive, I just don't see it happening. Unless I am misunderstanding the Carver renovation plans, the courtside atmosphere is about to get even lamer:

Premium Seating Opportunities - The University of Iowa Foundation

Seriously, someone please tell me I am misinterpreting the seating plans.

Regardless, Iowa almost never considers the students in their gameday plans. I still think the atmosphere at Kinnick has gotten worse since the students were moved. It has always seemed to me that the athletic department looks at the student presence as merely something they need to accommodate instead of the heart of the gameday atmosphere.

Carver needed huge amounts of donor money to get built. IOW, older, wealthy people who aren't going to stand and cheer the whole game. And even in the good old days of season ticket sellouts, as soon as one bad thing happened, the place would get quiet as a tomb.

The new practice facility will be really nice, but it's also REALLY expensive. About 5 times what ISU paid. So more truckloads of donor money, and more older, wealthy people who aren't going to stand and cheer the whole game. And Carver's design doesn't allow for luxury suites, where some of the donors could be parked otherwise.

The other side of it, though, is how connected does the average UI student feel to any of the sports teams? How many students would actually come to BB even with courtside seats? A few, sure, but enough for a Michigan-type crowd? I don't know, but I have my doubts.

And parquet is right, the seats are too far away to generate the same TV effect as Michigan. An unfortunate side effect of Carver's original multipurpose design, where the main floor had to be big enough to accommodate practices and non-sports events.

I hate to be negative, but I don't see us ever having that rabid college BB atmosphere in Carver.

 

[Lionhawk]

Carver needed huge amounts of donor money to get built. IOW, older, wealthy people who aren't going to stand and cheer the whole game. And even in the good old days of season ticket sellouts, as soon as one bad thing happened, the place would get quiet as a tomb.

The new practice facility will be really nice, but it's also REALLY expensive. About 5 times what ISU paid. So more truckloads of donor money, and more older, wealthy people who aren't going to stand and cheer the whole game. And Carver's design doesn't allow for luxury suites, where some of the donors could be parked otherwise.

The other side of it, though, is how connected does the average UI student feel to any of the sports teams? How many students would actually come to BB even with courtside seats? A few, sure, but enough for a Michigan-type crowd? I don't know, but I have my doubts.

And parquet is right, the seats are too far away to generate the same TV effect as Michigan. An unfortunate side effect of Carver's original multipurpose design, where the main floor had to be big enough to accommodate practices and non-sports events.

I hate to be negative, but I don't see us ever having that rabid college BB atmosphere in Carver.

Hate to admit but I do agree with your thoughts. I just wish a way could be found to get a better atmosphere at CHA. Whether it is this staff or some staff in the future, Iowa basketball WILL be back and a better atmosphere would be a tremendous advantage.

Winning Big Ten titles is/has/always will be about protecting your home court, beating the teams you should beat on the road and getting away with a win ro two at the contenders on the road. The atmosphere at other Big Ten arenas gives those teams an advantage over the Hawks.