UA to Renovate the JAR

[lance99]

On 5/26/2016 at 8:35 AM, kreed5120 said:

I feel the only way Akron gets corporate sponsors to build a new arena is if Akron actually experiences some March Madness success. Right now it would just be a poor use of marketing dollars for any company. Progressive Insurance paid $58 million dollars for 16 years of naming rights to Progressive Field. The Indians play 162 games with each game being watched on TV by hundreds of thousands of people and well over 1 million people attend a Tribe game each year. Not to mention the field is in the heart of downtown so I can't even guess how many cars drive past it each day.

 

There are people in Seattle, Chicago, New York, Tampa that know Progressive Field. You would be hard pressed to find out of market people who know what the JAR is and know what team plays in it.

 

Edit: An $80 million arena sounds overly ambitious for a team that doesn't even average 4k fans per game. The 1st step towards getting a new arena is setting realistic expectations. If you make 40k per year, going out and buying a 100k porsche makes little sense.

 

Gonzaga paid ~$30 million (in today's dollars) for their arena. If that's good enough for them, why is a similar priced arena beneath us?

 

The first part is a poor comparison. MLB vs. Mid Major Basketball is Apples to Grapes.

 

The Second part is is simple: Inflation and the Conference that you are in. The WCC is way, way smaller than the MAC(in terms of the Schools), so that size makes sense. Keep in mind that at the price you are referring to, you get what Bowling Green has and I do not think that anyone has any interest in that.

 

 

[wadszip]

22 hours ago, ROCK1 said:

Cleveland State, Wright State and Ohio all got gobs of "boondoggle" money from the state, pushed by their area representatives, to overbuild arenas because they thought they were going to be Ohio State.

That was nearly Akron's "boondoggle." the Convo concept was originally slated for UA, but redirected toward CSU due to Cleveland, at that time, not having a big downtown arena, where as Summit County had the Richfield Coliseum.

 

Then, less than 5 years after the Convo opened, so did Gund Arena/Q less than a mile down the road, and the Richfield Coliseum is a nature preserve.

 

In a logical world, Akron should have a facility like Wolstein Center/Convo and Cleveland the Q. That was nearly what ended up happening, but fiefdom like greed and lack of regional foresight got in the way.

 

It really is a tale of why NEO is struggling. Two perfectly good facilities are going to be torn down after 25 years of life because both were built in the wrong location. 

 

Yeah, Cleveland will still end up OK because the Gund/Q was rightfully built in downtown Cleveland. But Akron/Summit County was left with its proverbial dick in its hands with nothing.

 

Its maddening if you reallly think about it.

[K92]

1 hour ago, wadszip said:

That was nearly Akron's "boondoggle." the Convo concept was originally slated for UA, but redirected toward CSU due to Cleveland, at that time, not having a big downtown arena, where as Summit County had the Richfield Coliseum.

 

Then, less than 5 years after the Convo opened, so did Gund Arena/Q less than a mile down the road, and the Richfield Coliseum is a nature preserve.

 

In a logical world, Akron should have a facility like Wolstein Center/Convo and Cleveland the Q. That was nearly what ended up happening, but fiefdom like greed and lack of regional foresight got in the way.

 

It really is a tale of why NEO is struggling. Two perfectly good facilities are going to be torn down after 25 years of life because both were built in the wrong location. 

 

Yeah, Cleveland will still end up OK because the Gund/Q was rightfully built in downtown Cleveland. But Akron/Summit County was left with its proverbial dick in its hands with nothing.

 

Its maddening if you reallly think about it.

What will happen to the Q when LBJ buys the Cavs and moves them to Akron?  Monster Jam?

[kreed5120]

On May 27, 2016 at 2:26 PM, lance99 said:

 

The first part is a poor comparison. MLB vs. Mid Major Basketball is Apples to Grapes.

 

The Second part is is simple: Inflation and the Conference that you are in. The WCC is way, way smaller than the MAC(in terms of the Schools), so that size makes sense. Keep in mind that at the price you are referring to, you get what Bowling Green has and I do not think that anyone has any interest in that.

 

 

 

Marketing dollars are marketing dollars. There are countless ways that businesses could spend $20-$30 million (or more) in advertising that would provide them much more value in getting their brand out there. I just provided Progressive Field as a single example.

 

The numbers that I provided on Gonzaga are already adjusted for inflation. Gonzaga might be in a smaller conference, but they are a much bigger brand and are the #1 basketball team at any level in their state. They are also able to attract quality teams to play there. Bowling Green arena is extremely poor. I've seen many other arenas that were much nicer and that were at or around that price range. Along with Gonzaga, the Jack Stephens Center comes to mind. 

 

Akron can't afford payments on its football stadium. What makes you think that they could afford $60-80+ million basketball arena? The athletic department is already heavily subsidized thru student fees so asking the students to continue to assume more of the athletic departments budget shortfall would be extremely unjust. 

[Sergeant Zip]

Renovations are on display today.

 

[ZachTheZip]

Looks like they finished the work on the steam pipes outside?

[Sergeant Zip]

Panorama of the JAR

 

[Captain Kangaroo]

I'm thinking if we advertise "Zips vs. Georgia Southern Trump Rally" this season we can increase attendance at the JAR by roughly 4,000 fans.

[ZippyRulz]

At least it's hard to beat us there...

 

Akron Sets James A. Rhodes Arena Record

 

http://gozips.com/sports/mbkb/2016-17/releases/20170120tqb5jf

Edited January 24, 2017 by ZippyRulz

[infofan]

"Portage county state U"  sold out their game with toledo saturday and showed a video of the MAC center renovation plan.  I havent seen it yet but its similar in scope to what we are probably going to look at ( renovated entrance , new chairback bowl seating in lower level, upstairs suite broken into multiple suites, new restrooms, fire alarms, etc). Cost proposed at 10-12 million on low end and 23 million on high end.

Edited January 22, 2017 by infofan

[lance99]

What do we do? I ask now because Azusa Pacific basically built a Carbon Copy of the JAR(Minus the Track). http://www.atiae.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/APUbasketball.jpg Expand, or build new?

[Blue & Gold]

I was listening to ZipsLive last week and KD once again mentioned the JAR renovation.

 

He also mentioned "the arena."  He sees these as two different projects.  Obviously looking at the JAR renovation as a stop gap.

 

 

[Blue & Gold]

3 hours ago, infofan said:

"Portage county state U"  sold out their game with toledo saturday and showed a video of the MAC center renovation plan.  I havent seen it yet but its similar in scope to what we are probably going to look at ( renovated entrance , new chairback bowl seating in lower level, upstairs suite broken into multiple suites, new restrooms, fire alarms, etc). Cost proposed at 10-12 million on low end and 23 million on high end.

I'm impressed they sold out against UT.  I do have to wonder if those numbers were inflated.  Typically the only game Kant sells out is the game against us.

 

I din't even know they were thinking of renovating the MAC Center.  That'll be 2 renovations for the MAC center before we pull off one for the JAR.  As they stand now, I'd rather watch a game in the JAR as opposed to the MAC Center.  That's how gawd awful the MAC Center is presently.

[NWAkron]

Watched a bit of Ravenna/Toledo game.  Didn't look sold out.  Whatever.  That is a horrible place to watch a game.   Just getting in there and finding a place to sit is a pain and even many of the seats courtside are benches.  When you walk in the JAR, and you are looking for a bleacher seat you can at least assess the situation.

Edited January 22, 2017 by NWAkron

[infofan]

I would agree the Mac center is probably the only arena worse than ours at this point.  They did replace the courtside seats this year ( at least one side of them).  Their attendance is at least half students though, so it probably seems inflated. Same goes for Ohio U.  When they draw 10000, less than half are paid tickets.  Not a knock on them - I wish our students showed up in half those numbers.  

[Z.I.P.]

6 hours ago, lance99 said:

What do we do? I ask now because Azusa Pacific basically built a Carbon Copy of the JAR(Minus the Track). http://www.atiae.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/APUbasketball.jpg Expand, or build new?

Very interesting Lance.  APU plays in the Pac West Conference with four Hawai'i colleges I follow, and I would be surprised if they ever get the gym half-filled -- assuming it seats > 5000.  Strange.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Z.I.P.

[Blue & Gold]

I was listening to ZipsLive last week & KD was interviewed.  He again mentioned the renovation of the JAR & said he'd, naturally, like to get that done asap.

 

He also mentioned the "new arena."  In his mind the renovation of the JAR & a brand new arena are two distinct projects.  He's obviously viewing the renovation of the JAR as a stop gap.

[Kangaroo Craig]

What would be the price tag to enclose the north end of the Info, put a wall on the other end, and then put a lid over the whole thing. Make the roof a pressurized bubble similar to the old HHH Metrodome in MSP. We could then have a multi-purpose facility. I'm guessing at least a few hundred million for that sort of project. Sort of similar to what Syracuse did. It could host NCAA first round and/ or regional games. Maybe a bowl game, MAC FB championship game, MAC BB tourney, NFL preseason games, NBA preseason and regular season games, concerts, etc. I doubt that the bush league, small minded leaders at UA would go for it.

[wadszip]

6 hours ago, Kangaroo Craig said:

What would be the price tag to enclose the north end of the Info, put a wall on the other end, and then put a lid over the whole thing. Make the roof a pressurized bubble similar to the old HHH Metrodome in MSP. We could then have a multi-purpose facility. I'm guessing at least a few hundred million for that sort of project. Sort of similar to what Syracuse did. It could host NCAA first round and/ or regional games. Maybe a bowl game, MAC FB championship game, MAC BB tourney, NFL preseason games, NBA preseason and regular season games, concerts, etc. I doubt that the bush league, small minded leaders at UA would go for it.

I like outside the box thinking, but, IMO, a proposal like that is way too unrealistic. For one, like you said, you're probably talking hundreds of millions ... Why spend that to redo a perfectly fine football facility to make it into multi-purpose one, when you could build a perfectly fine state-of-the-art basketball arena for a fraction of the price?

 

As to your ideas:

 

1. Akron won't host NCAA games, not when the NBA Quicken Loans Arena is right up the road ... and it's an arena that is about to get a $140 million renovation. P.S. I know the CSU Convocation Center has hosted first-round tourney games in the past, but that's the past. If the tourney is coming to NEO, it's coming to the Q.

 

2. The MAC football championship isn't moving from Detroit (already a domed NFL stadium) to Akron. 

 

3. The MAC basketball tournament isn't moving from Quicken Loans Arena (especially once the renovation is done). 

 

4. If a bowl game comes to NEO, it's going to Canton (and backed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame) in the new 20,000 seat stadium they are building on the old Fawcett Stadium site.

 

5. NFL preseason games are always played at a team's NFL stadium. They force season ticket holders to pay regular season prices for those, meaning they aren't moving.

 

6. NBA preseason games have been held at the JAR (and at the Canton Civic Center, a much more shitty facility than the JAR). No need for a domed InfoCision to attract "a game" when new basketball arena could land one of those a year.

 

7. Concerts are a possibility, but very few acts can justify a stadium; and those who can will, again, likely will go to Cleveland (either Progressive Field or FirstEnergy Stadium). Plus, in the summer months, Blossom can hold 20,000.

[ZippyRulz]

"We will immediately launch a national search for our new basketball coach, and we reaffirm our commitment to building our basketball program and all of Akron Athletics into a nationally recognized program across the board. In addition to finding a new coach, we are working to be in a position to upgrade the James A. Rhodes Arena and we will need to rely on support from the community to achieve that goal."

 

Any guesses what LW meant by the underlined?

 

[K92]

5 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

"We will immediately launch a national search for our new basketball coach, and we reaffirm our commitment to building our basketball program and all of Akron Athletics into a nationally recognized program across the board. In addition to finding a new coach, we are working to be in a position to upgrade the James A. Rhodes Arena and we will need to rely on support from the community to achieve that goal."

 

Any guesses what LW meant by the underlined?

 

Taxes.

[morris buttermaker]

6 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

Any guesses what LW meant by the underlined?

 

That they don't have any money

[ZippyRulz]

30 minutes ago, K92 said:

Taxes.

 

To upgrade JAR Arena?

 

[LZIp]

5 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

To upgrade JAR Arena?

 

Could mean some mass upgrades that were mentioned a few years ago and not the little presentational stuff they've been doing. I don't really know what else "support from the community" could mean. To me that means they are looking for public money, but maybe I am reading into it too much.

[zippy5]

I read it as "plz send donations"