🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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10 years 7 months
# | Cassell Coliseum Catch-All Thread - Likes, Dislikes, Wants, etc. 
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Not sure where you're getting this from but if true that certainly sounds a lot better than the first guy
I know Fuente will not be calling the plays - but the players I talk to regularly have said it won't be like Frank in that he basically trusted his coaches to make many of the decisions based on their groups of players. Of course, these are all offensive players, so it may be different for the D. Plus, they have only met him a handful of times, so this may just be what they are thinking it will be like from talking to him. They are 18/19/20 year old kids, so who knows.
They do seem to like Fuente and respect him.
I think the implementations that fernley is suggesting could be installed during an offseason and the areas marked in green & orange in his diagram wouldn't be a huge expense. Yeah, there's some retrofitting needed, but the endline renovations for the media & ADA access were completed between basketball seasons. The suites near the top would be a more significant addition though.
Adding these also wouldn't require a complete overhaul of the existing seating arrangement and wouldn't drastically change the arena capacity in the short term. Yes, if & when the old wooden seats are removed, capacity will be reduced just by conforming to modern standards.
If I had decision making power, I would leave the wooden seats in the first few rows on each sideline and between entry points 4 & 5 (see the seating chart below). Put the students in these areas, since they will hopefully be standing the entire time anyway and won't care whether the seats are comfortable or not.
Hey French! I know your familiar with Bogue and off shore charters, but I got a question for ya. I just got engaged and I am planning on a beach wedding in sept/oct of next year at EI. My plan is to take the groomsmen and father in law out on a near shore charter, do you have any suggestions? I've been out in the Capt Stacy before and that's always an option, but I'm wanting to chase some Cobia, Kings, blues, mahi, and maybe lil tunny.
I'm not thinking of it from a pure revenue standpoint. I'm thinking of it from a "big game atmosphere" standpoint.
We don't have any revenue data in this discussion at all.
I realize you have to consider revenues, and luxury seating should be a part of that, but this discussion started because people noticed empty seats during a weeknight game at Cassell. How do we fill those seats? I guess we can reduce them, but are there other ways to get them filled instead?
(CORRECTION) Position is filled. It'll be Turner. . Cutchlow
🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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10 years 7 months
# | Cassell Coliseum Catch-All Thread - Likes, Dislikes, Wants, etc. replies to your edits:
As far as noise, 1,500 to 2,000 fans make a lot of it. So if you're looking at eliminating that many seats in order to add boxes, it certainly will have an effect.
Not sure where you are getting these numbers. A bit premature to say how many seats may be lost without doing a design for it.
I believe this discussion actually started because people noticed that the venue looked empty on TV. If that's the problem, it seems like higher attendance should be the focus of the discussion, and you may not need luxury boxes for that.
luxury boxes are not going to solve attendance. It helps revenue and opportunity. What premium seating does though is helps the venue appear packed when it is not. That is why the metrics of how much premium seating is extremely important. You want only what you can sell out. And if the Administration is smart you offer a seat upgrade at the door if have empty premium seats or they move students into the Color Seats and Loge Boxes through a lottery if they go unsold, so that they appear full. In this way, premium seating helps the appearance of a attendance A LOT.
well then, I think this should be seen as a two-fold approach. On the one hand, improve the product on the court and get more people interested in coming. On the other, improve the product off the court (in this case, luxury seating) and get more people interested in coming (and donating) for that aspect of things.
Cassell has seating for, what, 10K? We're seeing maybe half that right now. So even if luxury seats eliminate 1500 current seats, we're looking at being 60% capacity instead of 50% capacity. Current attendees are not driven off. I'd argue that empty premium boxes look better than empty seats now by virtue of the fact that they break up the large swaths of empty seating. BUT, I think if we had luxury boxes, we could draw more people to them for the experience rather than the on the court product so we're less likely to have them be empty. I mean, the browns have luxury boxes, right?
From a college football strength coach with ties to VT.
This would be a replacement for Mike Goforth - not Gentry...
As far as I know, Goforth isn't going anywhere...
I believe this discussion actually started because people noticed that the venue looked empty on TV. If that's the problem, it seems like higher attendance should be the focus of the discussion.
Luxury boxes were then mentioned, and revenues became the focus. I think it's a great topic for planning, but we're all just shooting from the hip with no data and no specifics.
That guy looks to be a trainer, not a S&C coach.....
Thanks for the entertainment value. All the thrill of gambling without the depressing financial losses.
#sauces??
I like your approach.
short of pre-ordering space in the premium seats, I think everyone understands that "paying for themselves" means the ROI is reasonable. I'm gonna go ahead and say that Yow was using luxury boxes as a scapegoat to cover other missteps.
Like it or not, the time to make these sort of improvements is before you have a packed stadium. It's tricky, if you do it in a down year that's the beginning of a slump, you risk not having the revenue to cover the debt. On the other side of things, if you do it when you're selling out the stadium, you lose out on ticket sales and the experience (yay watching basketball in a construction zone!!). Right now seems ideal. We are likely on the upswing so demand will soon be what it needs to sell these types of seats to people besides the hardest core donors, but we aren't packing the stadium so much that we are going to immediately feel the loss of the ticket sales. I say we have a plan in place to start construction at the end of this season and finish, if possible, before we get too far into the '16/'17 season. If this season goes well, we can drum up interest in pre-selling the premium seating to help offset the cost.
I can't unsee this.
this is backwards. premium seats do bring revenue. Not having premium seats is loss of revenue and opportunity.
Well if they'll pay for themselves, we shouldn't need millions in donor money to make the changes, right?
I remember Maryland making the same arguments when they added luxury boxes for football. A few years later, they used the fact that they were losing money in football to justify the elimination of several varsity sports. Part of the reason they were losing money is because they were in debt for the luxury boxes. Thanks, Debbie Yow.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/10/AR2009091003834.html
We need to be a bit careful when we use the "everybody is doing it worldwide" argument. We need to look at actual numbers, in Blacksburg, and what we actually think is happening with our basketball program.
I think the program is on an upswing, and I'd be willing to bet money on that. I'd also be more focused on getting more people to the games. If that means increasing the comfort, I'm all for that. But let's be honest about it whether we're also increasing the price.
Let's figure out the actual problem we're trying to solve. I'm all for optimizing revenue, but the athletic department has actual numbers, and that's what they need to use to make these kinds of decisions. There are lots of good options being thrown out here, and they all have different price points and effects.
As far as noise, 1,500 to 2,000 fans make a lot of it. So if you're looking at eliminating that many seats in order to add boxes, it certainly will have an effect.
I don't think adding luxury seating is a bad idea. I think it may in fact be a good one, but let's take into account what we're actually trying to achieve.
EDIT: I believe this discussion actually started because people noticed that the venue looked empty on TV. If that's the problem, it seems like higher attendance should be the focus of the discussion, and you may not need luxury boxes for that.
🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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10 years 7 months
# | Cassell Coliseum Catch-All Thread - Likes, Dislikes, Wants, etc. We need to be a bit careful when we use the "everybody is doing it worldwide" argument.
read what I said. I am not saying VT Basketball equates to worldwide. I said the manner in which you plan for sports venue economics is standard worldwide. You may not be familiar with that, but that is how it is done. It's an industry standard.
Luxury Boxes: Maryland made a bad move, but VT updated their football stadium with new boxes and did just fine. Well planned, well designed product will work.
Let's figure out the actual problem we're trying to solve.
what problem are you trying to solve?
Premium seats are used to solve issues with economics, donor opportunity and seating plans. That's about it. It's one part marketing ploy, one part donor ploy, one part money take and if you're lucky you get to move students to better seats.
So that's how you use that machine! No wonder I can't seem to get ripped.
My take, as someone who has NEVER been to any sporting event but football in Blacksburg, is this. People are concerned about losing seats for a finite number of games a year 2-4, why? Better product on the court will NEVER result in consecutive sellouts of Cassell becaus of location, weeknight basketball schedules and sheer number of games. Better to get money in hand for fewer seats with upgrades than hope 2-4 times a year to get sellouts.
The "retirement" is interesting considering some of the tweets in the days following Fuente hiring. Will be interested to see who gets hired.
🌏MAN OF MYSTERY🕵
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10 years 7 months
# | Cassell Coliseum Catch-All Thread - Likes, Dislikes, Wants, etc. Correct. Sports venues and entertainment venues do not go hand in hand. However, most modern indoor sports venues are designed and built for secondary income streams and will accommodate entertainment just fine.
This is a great argument for having dedicated facilities.
You're right, those are opposite goals.
you are correct sir, and I like your plan about the wooden seats in the lower rows.