Time for a New Arena?

[Fryowa]

For about the 100th time, there is no specific area where your “blue hairs” sit. In fact, much of the premium seating is occupied by the 30 to 45 crowd. They are actually the ones who move to the concourse toward the end of the game. And some head for home early to travel back to Des Moines, Quad Cities, especially on week night games. I have been sitting mid court 25 rows up for 15 years, so I get to see what I have described continually.

Stop yelling at people to sit down.

 

[Fryowa]

In all seriousness I've been to both men's and women's games. The men's crowd puts on an air of stuffiness and snobby. That's not the case at the women's games. I don't know what the answer is but a new arena won't solve that. Let's just say what if Duke had a record like the Hawks would they still be so hyped? Not trying to be a smart ass just curious on peoples views.

That's not the problem anyone is trying to solve.

A new arena could put people physically closer to the game via a double deck and steeper seating, and there would be much less proportion of space occupied by the ridiculous full height aisles. It's like they tried to make a miniature Rose Bowl indoors, one of the other dumbest venues in history.

It would also make bathrooms, entrance/exit, and concessions much easier.

 

[enniyc]

Nebraska is top 10 in attendance every year since moving to PBA and the product is no better than at the Devaney Center. Me thinks fans just wanted some suds to help them deal with the bad basketball. Creighton doesn't need to sell beer to get fans to their games. They have had a good product for a while now.

PBA does not have beer sales for Husker games. Never have and it’s hard telling if they ever will.

 

[Healzya]

Nebraska is top 10 in attendance every year since moving to PBA and the product is no better than at the Devaney Center. Me thinks fans just wanted some suds to help them deal with the bad basketball. Creighton doesn't need to sell beer to get fans to their games. They have had a good product for a while now.

Rutgers have a really good home environment as well.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I use imgbb.com

No account or registration needed. You can upload from a computer or phone, then I just right click on the pic once it's uploaded and click "Copy Image Address" (from Chrome).

You can also click "Upload a File" below the text field when you post. That basically attaches the pic as a file vs. embedding it in your post.

for f***s sake, never noticed the "upload a file" option. Hiding in plain sight.

 

[tksirius]

I know I've said this before but I'll do it again.

1.There's plenty of space to add parking near Carver if they're willing to cut down some trees. They can always offer free shuttle services for parking lots further away.

2. They could tear down Carver and rebuild on the same land. (Don't know if they could save the practice facility in the process, bonus if they can).

3. During construction, they can play in the new Coralville arena. I realize this might push back the future hockey programs you all desperately seek.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Why can’t they build a combo football and basketball venue. Give it good acoustics for concerts also. They could have motorized seats and flooring to convert easily. Could be used year long.

CHA could be used for concerts. bring a semi-pro hoops team to I.C. for additional rev for the building. would college hockey fly in I.C.?
i mean, it's the 21st century. we brought cheese back from the moon 50 years ago.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Very strange ... the women just held two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and everyone is raving about the atmosphere (even on TV) and there were records set for attendance. Yet, the same facility is stale for men's games (including on TV). How is that possible?

i would only say that the big men's games do attract attendance and do receive credit for the atmosphere. it's the rest of the time...when half the arena is empty and the other half need to go to bed at 8pm. same with womens hoops, empty arena. i would just say that a smaller "fieldhouse" would be much better for a more consistent game day atmosphere. say, 10k to 12k tops. put the students down on the floor. design it so that students are right behind benches and under the baskets and have the other side of the floor can be for the high dollar folks.

 

[sioux34]

A new arena would do nearly nothing to change apathy in the fan base.

 

[hawkation]

Rutgers have a really good home environment as well.

Not sure if you're serious or not but i'll bite. I went to 3 away games this year. Rutgers was one of them. I am sure the home court / crowd looked nice on television but the fan base was pathetic until the very end of the game. Only RU fans yelling during the game were the students & maybe first 10 (?) rows of home fans. I am not sure if the home crowd even knew there was a basketball game until final 5 minutes. No one around me were even clapping for the fight song at any point for the first 30 minutes.

R-U T-G E-R You Suck RUTGERS!!

The RU arena is the biggest piece of sh*t I've seen. Valley HS in W Des Moines would be an upgrade for RU. seriously. It's that horrible

Big plus = Carver doesn't have bench seating. My opinion - Iowa's problem isn't the arena, it's the crowd & the in-game entertainment. One of the final games this year, Iowa had a DJ and started playing music 8 minutes before tip to get the crowd into the game. Lights were off and everyone was on their feet. I've never seen this in the last 4 years. Hope this wasn't a 1-time event.

Huge screens on each side of the court aren't being used to their full potential. More stats or other scores could be shown throughout the game. There's plenty the U could do. UofI admin needs to look at itself first. New arena would hold the same boring game day experience.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Bring back the Fieldhouse.

 

[racerhawk]

This is a fun conversation, but does anyone think there's any chance of a new arena being built soon?

I have mixed feelings about Carver. It's certainly not the best environment, but it's far from the worst. The Rutgers comments in this thread were hilarious.

I've been to many games at Carver. The place can get loud if the fans want it to be. I've been asked to sit down many, many times at Carver. A new arena would be awesome, but those same fans would be there.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Tear down the Old Capital Mall and put the new arena right across the street from the ped mall.

I've mentioned this before. A 10,000 seat deaf dome within walking distance for thousands of students and dozens of bars and restaurants within a three block radius. Get the parking figured out and you would have the hottest ticket in town.

 

[InGoodCo]

But that's the point. Fans show up when they have something to be excited about (Women's game in NCAA Tourney, Men's Friday night games vs Michigan, MSU). They don't care about the concessions, hikes to the bathrooms, etc if they want to be there cheering for their team. Do the Nebraska/Creighton fans just show up for the arena (since the product is not as good as a program like Iowa)? How long do you think that lasts? I am curious with your experience there.

I am not sure what makes the fans less than enthusiastic about a men's program that had a good year this year, but it is what it is. I have a feeling the other factors like 8:00 PM starting times during the week affect folks as much as a long hike to the bathroom. If the crowds seemed more enthusiastic during the Tom Davis years (which were mostly similar to this year's Iowa team), then what do you think the difference is now?

yes, they show up regardless of the product. CU not great this year, NU not great this year. Place is still packed. Now these fans may not be die hards because it's just become a thing to do on a night. Their stadiums tumble out to bars and restaurants and things going on all around it. The game for some folks I imagine is secondary to hitting up food or a bar, but the point is, is there is parking and TONS to do around it and they are always full. People make a night of it, even on week nights, even in bad weather. I go to 4 or 5 Creighton games a year, not because I am a fan, but because it's a "thing to do". I'm there for wings and beer at the joint right outside. Their stadiums are set up for easy access. I personally don't care about the hike at carver, I am in good shape for 40 years old. I can run up and down them. I would say that I am the minority for that. It matters. Convenience matters. They have tons of vendors, short lines and pop up stands on every level. Bathroom? Just right outside of your seat. You can make to and from during a time out. Kind of like home. They have DJ's, they have little jazz bands playing in the concourse. They have escalators instead of steps. You think that doesn't matter, but I am telling you, it matters. Maybe not to you and me and maybe it doesn't keep people away from important games, but it probably does against Roast Beef state. Carver lacks a ton of amenities that new stadiums have including location, ease of access, parking etc and that's not even mentioning the layout. A new stadium in Iowa City would be full every night and that would last because a. Iowa is dedicated to spending money to put out a good product and b. it would have everything they need from a convenience factor, attracting fans instead of making it "I don't want to go into that traffic cluster f of a sweaty stadium" where I have to park, then I have to immediately get back to my car and then wait for another hour to get out. It's very poorly set up, very poorly.

 

[Xerxes]

This is a fun conversation, but does anyone think there's any chance of a new arena being built soon?

I have mixed feelings about Carver. It's certainly not the best environment, but it's far from the worst. The Rutgers comments in this thread were hilarious.

I've been to many games at Carver. The place can get loud if the fans want it to be. I've been asked to sit down many, many times at Carver. A new arena would be awesome, but those same fans would be there.

I would think that intelligent people know we're stuck with Carver for at least another couple decades. Probably longer.

 

[oldhawk12]

Bring back Raveling’s recruits and fans would watch them play in a cornfield in January. It’s all about the product you put on the floor

 

[hawkdrummer1]

anybody know how to downsize an image. I've got a bunch of pics from the initial construction project brochure that might be interesting. When I try to upload I get a "file too large" error. They're just cell phone pics

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Ok, Fry...TK... grab a cold one and some pretzels. The following images are from the Hawkeye Arena/Recreation Campaign piece sent out to boosters in 1980. My Dad was a football season ticket holder then, which is how I came by this.

You'll see that CHA (initially just "Hawkeye Arena") was simplified from the initial designs to a monolithic bowl. Why...I don't know. Fund raising came in at an incredible pace...it wasn't money. Maybe when Roy Carver ponied up a bunch of cash they got excited and moved ahead with a simpler design rather than risk losing his support. I dunno.

What I do know...is in the following drawings I think you'll see a better version of what we ended up with.

 

[mrolympia]

CHA sucks as a home court. It would be better if the students were right on the floor but that wouldn't change the volume level. People have given up caring about basketball, this is the issue.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Note the mezzanine level.