Increasing JAR Attendance/Engaging the Fans

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, mrelegazna said:

 

 

Honestly, if they replaced the bleachers with actual seats, that alone would be a huge upgrade.

[Blue & Gold]

Another in a sea of tales as to how bad the JAR sucks, I had my iPhone and reading glasses sitting on the bleacher beside me during the OU game. A guy trying to get out during the game walked behind me, and apparently to avoid the legs of ppl sitting behind me, stepped on the bleacher right beside me & stepped right on my iPhone and reading glasses. 😑

 

Meanwhile, WMU is building a privately funded (no tax dollars) $300 million, 6,500-seat basketball/hockey arena in downtown K-Zoo.

 

Apparently it will seat 6,500 for basketball and hockey, while seating 8,000 for concerts.

Edited January 27 by Blue & Gold

[a-zip]

The JAR sucks, worst in the MAC.  No bleachers behind the baskets makes it look like a HS gym.  It’s amazing we’ve been as successful as we’ve been.  KD left because of it and Groce will likely leave for the same reason.  

[Hilltopper]

19 minutes ago, a-zip said:

The JAR sucks, worst in the MAC.  No bleachers behind the baskets makes it look like a HS gym.  It’s amazing we’ve been as successful as we’ve been.  KD left because of it and Groce will likely leave for the same reason.  

KD left for $1,000,000/yr guaranteed for 7 years at his Fathers Alma Mater. 

[LZIp]

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

Another in a sea of tales as to how bad the JAR sucks, I had my iPhone and reading glasses sitting on the bleacher beside me during the OU game. A guy trying to get out during the game walked behind me, and apparently to avoid the legs of ppl sitting behind me, stepped on the bleacher right beside me & stepped right on my iPhone and reading glasses. 😑

 

Meanwhile, WMU is building a privately funded (no tax dollars) $300 million, 6,500-seat basketball/hockey arena in downtown K-Zoo.

 

Apparently it will seat 6,500 for basketball and hockey, while seating 8,000 for concerts.

Impressive for WMU. Wonder if that half a billion total/ $50m to athletics donation they had a few years ago played a part 😉.

 

And people still want to complain about the cost of the Info.  That’s pocket change compared to anything you’d want to build today.

[LoyalZIP]

Yes the JAR is bad. But that horse is still twitching, so we should continue to work on finishing that job a few times a year just to be sure. 
 

I made my second trip in as many Fridays to the MAC Center to see Kent lose again tonight. That place is far worse than the JAR, and totally lacks atmosphere. If you think a game at the JAR is boring, make the drive over there. In a rivalry game with a half decent crowd, the Flashes got a dunk to take the lead early in the 2nd half after previously trailing by 8 and not a single fan stood up to express excitement. It made me kind of sad, in a way. 
 

They’ve lost 5 home games this season including 3 straight MAC losses. The most home losses Groce has ever had at Akron was 4, during his first season with Lucas Smith in the starting lineup. 

[clarkwgriswold]

9 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

Yes the JAR is bad. But that horse is still twitching, so we should continue to work on finishing that job a few times a year just to be sure. 
 

I made my second trip in as many Fridays to the MAC Center to see Kent lose again tonight. That place is far worse than the JAR, and totally lacks atmosphere. If you think a game at the JAR is boring, make the drive over there. In a rivalry game with a half decent crowd, the Flashes got a dunk to take the lead early in the 2nd half after previously trailing by 8 and not a single fan stood up to express excitement. It made me kind of sad, in a way. 
 

They’ve lost 5 home games this season including 3 straight MAC losses. The most home losses Groce has ever had at Akron was 4, during his first season with Lucas Smith in the starting lineup. 

So, you don't like the sense of mystery created when you can only see 75% of the floor from general admission seats?  😄

[Blue & Gold]

10 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

Yes the JAR is bad. But that horse is still twitching, so we should continue to work on finishing that job a few times a year just to be sure. 
 

I made my second trip in as many Fridays to the MAC Center to see Kent lose again tonight. That place is far worse than the JAR, and totally lacks atmosphere. If you think a game at the JAR is boring, make the drive over there. In a rivalry game with a half decent crowd, the Flashes got a dunk to take the lead early in the 2nd half after previously trailing by 8 and not a single fan stood up to express excitement. It made me kind of sad, in a way. 
 

They’ve lost 5 home games this season including 3 straight MAC losses. The most home losses Groce has ever had at Akron was 4, during his first season with Lucas Smith in the starting lineup. 

I was watching on tv last night & it looked like they had a great very good crowd?

 

But yes, I'd consider the MAC Center to be even worse than the JAR.  Though the MAC Center has got a more... structurally sound... feel about it. The GA bleachers in the JAR feel like they're on the verge of collapsing.  When walking up & down the stairs it feels like your foot is going to go right through the flooring.

Edited January 27 by Blue & Gold

[NWAkron]

21 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

I was watching on tv last night & it looked like they had a great very good crowd?

 

But yes, I'd consider the MAC Center to be even worse than the JAR.  Though it's got a more... structurally sound feel to it. The GA bleachers in the JAR feel like they're on the verge of collapsing.  When walking up & down the stairs it feels like your foot is going to go right through the flooring.

I went to the game last evening.  There was a good, but not overly enthusiastic crowd.  The concessions had more options and were less expensive than Akron.   I think the JAR has a better set up for game day.

[Zippy87]

On 1/26/2024 at 8:14 PM, Hilltopper said:

KD left for $1,000,000/yr guaranteed for 7 years at his Fathers Alma Mater. 

 

This was the primary reason but the lack of support from the Athletic Department at the time and ancient arena didn't help. I do worry that some of the same frustrations that built up over time for KD and his staff will happen with Groce as well. He's been more vocal about the crowds this year than any other time I can remember since he was hired.

 

If we're being 100% honest, there's always going to be a ceiling for this program (below what we want) without changes somewhere. 

 

I also think we've been lucky to have two really good coaches stick around for much longer than is the norm for successful mid-majors.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, Zippy87 said:

 

This was the primary reason but the lack of support from the Athletic Department at the time and ancient arena didn't help. I do worry that some of the same frustrations that built up over time for KD and his staff will happen with Groce as well. He's been more vocal about the crowds this year than any other time I can remember since he was hired.

 

If we're being 100% honest, there's always going to be a ceiling for this program (below what we want) without changes somewhere. 

 

I also think we've been lucky to have two really good coaches stick around for much longer than is the norm for successful mid-majors.

 

KD's incident at CMU and Groce's record at Illinois have very much benefited the Zips.

 

At the end of the day, nothing is happening with an arena until the Summit County community gets behind the idea and polling numbers from 8 or 9 years ago tell us that's not happening.  Also, this isn't the Proenza era where the school can just throw money at new facilities.

[GP1]

2 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I also think we've been lucky to have two really good coaches stick around for much longer than is the norm for successful mid-majors.

Tells me the success of the program is more important than the arena. Both knew what they were getting in to when they took the job. If the arena was as big of a problem as some seem to think, both would have failed at their jobs in lieu of being very successful. 

[GP1]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

At the end of the day, nothing is happening with an arena until the Summit County community gets behind the idea and polling numbers from 8 or 9 years ago tell us that's not happening. 

Downtown businesses can't endure another two years of construction like they did with the Main Street renovation. The truth is, not many did. 

[Zippy87]

41 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Tells me the success of the program is more important than the arena. Both knew what they were getting in to when they took the job. If the arena was as big of a problem as some seem to think, both would have failed at their jobs in lieu of being very successful. 

 

I think Akron was close to home for KD and Akron was already an established program for Groce, and those factors helped as well.

 

I do think there's a ceiling for this program as is though. If we're stuck with the JAR - and we probably are - the focus should be continuing to improve the facility as much as possible. To their credit they have made some nice improvements, but I'd also love to see:

 

1) Replacing the bleachers with seats. I have no idea how much this would cost, but even doing it on on the side behind the player benches would be a huge upgrade. 

 

2) Improving the gameday experience. I'm not expecting anything huge, but I'd love to see more creativity in this department.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, GP1 said:

Downtown businesses can't endure another two years of construction like they did with the Main Street renovation. The truth is, not many did. 

Agreed, but the counter to that is what Canal Park brought to downtown.

 

In any event, it had very little support from anyone even before the Main Street construction mess.

[LZIp]

2 hours ago, GP1 said:

Downtown businesses can't endure another two years of construction like they did with the Main Street renovation. The truth is, not many did. 

I don’t know the details as to why that was done, but that feels like an all time bad city leadership decision. Assuming there was a way to avoid it of course.

[Hilltopper]

3 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I think Akron was close to home for KD and Akron was already an established program for Groce, and those factors helped as well.

 

I do think there's a ceiling for this program as is though. If we're stuck with the JAR - and we probably are - the focus should be continuing to improve the facility as much as possible. To their credit they have made some nice improvements, but I'd also love to see:

 

1) Replacing the bleachers with seats. I have no idea how much this would cost, but even doing it on on the side behind the player benches would be a huge upgrade. 

 

2) Improving the gameday experience. I'm not expecting anything huge, but I'd love to see more creativity in this department.

There is a plan to make major improvements to the JAR. New seating, new bathrooms, new ticket area and concessions. Hopefully some club seating in the upper level endzone behind the Tommy Evans lounge. 

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, Hilltopper said:

There is a plan to make major improvements to the JAR. New seating, new bathrooms, new ticket area and concessions. Hopefully some club seating in the upper level endzone behind the Tommy Evans lounge. 

 

Music to my ears! Any idea on timeline if it were to happen?

[Zipmeister]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:52 PM, LoyalZIP said:

Yes the JAR is bad. But that horse is still twitching, so we should continue to work on finishing that job a few times a year just to be sure. 
 

I made my second trip in as many Fridays to the MAC Center to see Kent lose again tonight. That place is far worse than the JAR, and totally lacks atmosphere. If you think a game at the JAR is boring, make the drive over there. In a rivalry game with a half decent crowd, the Flashes got a dunk to take the lead early in the 2nd half after previously trailing by 8 and not a single fan stood up to express excitement. It made me kind of sad, in a way. 
 

They’ve lost 5 home games this season including 3 straight MAC losses. The most home losses Groce has ever had at Akron was 4, during his first season with Lucas Smith in the starting lineup. 

 

Take a look at the crowd shots at the KSU/Akron game and see if you notice what I did. I thought it was possible that the joint was filled with extras from Deliverance. The only thing that seemed to be missing was a kid playing a banjo.

[Zipmeister]

7 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

There is a plan to make major improvements to the JAR. New seating, new bathrooms, new ticket area and concessions. Hopefully some club seating in the upper level endzone behind the Tommy Evans lounge. 

 

I heard that it's possible that to show the world our international panache, the improvements may include Chinese toilets. 

 

[Hilltopper]

3 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

 

I heard that it's possible that to show the world our international panache, the improvements may include Chinese toilets. 

 

The "Squatty Potty".

[Hilltopper]

10 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Music to my ears! Any idea on timeline if it were to happen?

Not soon enough.

[Captain Kangaroo]

3 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

 

I heard that it's possible that to show the world our international panache, the improvements may include Chinese toilets. 

 

I always wondered where the Rubber Bowl's interior decorators drew inspiration from.

[GP1]

I went to the Wake Forest vs NC State game yesterday. For the record, I paid $20 for parking to watch two teams that will not make March Madness.   The arena was only 80 percent full for an afternoon start. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

18 minutes ago, GP1 said:

I went to the Wake Forest vs NC State game yesterday. For the record, I paid $20 for parking to watch two teams that will not make March Madness.   The arena was only 80 percent full for an afternoon start. 

 

There is so much wrong with this comparison.