SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Oct 1, 2012 9:44:02 GMT -5
Agree with hoyatables. Stay at Verizon Center downtown. 20 mintues from SS Metro to this location during rush hour is quite optimistic, I grew up about a mile from here, and traffic has gotten worse and worse especially with the FDA campus nearby. Other sports out here might be okay, but not basketball.
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hoyatables
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Post by hoyatables on Oct 1, 2012 10:08:55 GMT -5
Why would you want to trek out to Silver Spring for basketball? Horrible idea. Verizon Center is an amazing venue. The ability to play Saturday night games. Not paying exorbitant rent. An actual home-court advantage. Closer to Towson when we join their conference. Wouldn't attendance plummet significantly with a change in venue? That would adversely impact any perceived gain from revenue or supposed "home-court" atmosphere I know I would likely give up my season tickets, as would many others. I could be quite content going to only one or two games a year at home and watching the rest at home. Now, if the calculus is that the flexibility / ability to schedule evening games brings in more TV revenue, that's another story. I have no idea how those numbers work, but I could see that as a consideration.
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Oct 1, 2012 10:21:21 GMT -5
Wouldn't attendance plummet significantly with a change in venue? That depends on which constituency of fans you look at. Local DC fans who are not directly affiliated with gtown? Probably would drop (though this may be made up with people from MoCo going). Alumni and season ticket holders who pay an upfront fee for tickets and root for the program as a program not just as a fun thing to do? Probably would stay the same as most live in the MD or VA suburbs and are driving/metroing to the games anyway. Students? Big games- probably doesnt matter as they are used to travelling 30-45 minutes to verizon anyway. But for bad match ups (like william and mary or jacksonville state) fewer students would choose to make the trip. But the stadium would be smaller so it might not be as noticeable and cavernous when it is empty. And of course gtown makes more money on each tick sold, so few need to be sold to make it worth it. Also this would open up Verizon as an NCAA site for gtown (not just as a host). Now, the real issues is that the guy who owns the Verizon center happens to sit on gtown's board. So he has some say in the conversation. The only way this would affect the Verizon deal is as a bargaining chip. Its an alternative to get Ted to lower the rent or restructure the deal. Does anyone now if the university actually doesnt like the Verizon deal? They dont seem to try to change anything about it, so maybe it works out better than we think. As for this site: I like the two sites in SE that were brought up earlier this year better, but this is a good option to have.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Oct 1, 2012 10:34:44 GMT -5
Yeah I think getting to silver spring would be a lot easier for lots of fans. I'd much prefer to drive to games rather than metro to the middle of DC of course I lived in Bethesda so it makes sense for me. Having a home court we don't have to rent is a big plus. We get all the money from ticket sales, concessions, parking. Instead of just some of the ticket sales. We can still play big games at Verizon we just get to play most of our games on our own campus. A nice 10-15 thousand arena would be great for us. We can still play big OOC and Conference games at Verizon center. Obviously there are increased costs for maintenance of the facility but I see there being more pluses than minuses. We actually get to practice on our home court more than a handful of times a season. We only practice at verizon like 5-6 times a year.
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Post by LizziebethHoya on Oct 1, 2012 12:15:58 GMT -5
I think this board severely underestimates the amount of casual Georgetown fans there are.
Silver Spring is not close to anything. It won't be easy to get between the campuses (20 min ride to the Dupont metro via the new GUTS BUS route, then 24 min ride - plus any waiting time - to get to silver spring, THEN an addition 10-20 minutes to get to the new campus. An hour each way!) That sounds miserable.
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DFW HOYA
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Post by DFW HOYA on Oct 1, 2012 12:27:21 GMT -5
Well, this thread took a sharp turn, didn't it?
The National Labor College bid has nothing to do with basketball. It is about available land around the Beltway for a school which has no redundant space of its own outside 20007.
An already constructed site of 47 acres, with atheltic fields, dorms, and academic buildings would be a significant addition to the GU portfolio whether Georgetown used all of it or merely let the NLC continue to hold classes/meetings there.
With only five athletic teams still playing outdoor sports on the main campus, the opportunity for track, baseball, field hockey, softball, and (soon to be) tennis to potentially have a place of its own would be a positive step forward for all Georgetown athletics.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 1, 2012 12:54:25 GMT -5
I think this board severely underestimates the amount of casual Georgetown fans there are. Silver Spring is not close to anything. It won't be easy to get between the campuses (20 min ride to the Dupont metro via the new GUTS BUS route, then 24 min ride - plus any waiting time - to get to silver spring, THEN an addition 10-20 minutes to get to the new campus. An hour each way!) That sounds miserable. That sounds like USAir Arena.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Oct 1, 2012 13:34:52 GMT -5
I think this board severely underestimates the amount of casual Georgetown fans there are. Silver Spring is not close to anything. It won't be easy to get between the campuses (20 min ride to the Dupont metro via the new GUTS BUS route, then 24 min ride - plus any waiting time - to get to silver spring, THEN an addition 10-20 minutes to get to the new campus. An hour each way!) That sounds miserable. That sounds like USAir Arena. Exactly we did that for what over a decade. I don't think there were major issues then. And silver spring is a destination on to it's self it has tons of restaurants, bars, shopping, a movie theater, a normal theater. There's plenty to do there pre and post game. I don't know how you can say it's not close to anything it's basically at an intersection of NE DC, NW DC, Montgomery County and PG county.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 1, 2012 13:44:18 GMT -5
If Georgetown buys the National Labor College, will the Georgetown ANC insist that all GU undergrads be housed on that campus?
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Post by hilltopper2000 on Oct 1, 2012 13:52:22 GMT -5
USAir was horrible basketball experience. This sounds like it would be a repeat of that mistake, but nobody is thinking about moving GU basketball out of Verizon, except for folks on this board. The (very long-term) goal should be an oncampus facility to play non-marquee games. Verizon is a great home court for big events. Many, many season ticket holders, including myself, would cancel their packages if we moved out to Silver Spring.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 1, 2012 14:39:55 GMT -5
Many, many season ticket holders, including myself, would cancel their packages if we moved out to Silver Spring. According to some on this board, that means you're not a true fan.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Oct 1, 2012 15:39:15 GMT -5
I now live in downtown SS but would still prefer to have games at Verizon Center. While there is no risk I'd cancel my season tickets, I have no desire to get into a car and drive to the games even if it would be a very short trip for me. While SS is an up-and-coming entertainment destination as HSB notes, and not the depressed inner suburban neighborhood it had become through the 1970s-early 2000s, I don't think most Hoya fans would enjoy getting in/out of cars to do something before/after games. The ability to walk to/from the Verizon Center and head straight to/from a restaurant/bar in the Penn Quarter is much more alluring. Plus, Hoya fans who live in NoVa would have a heckuva of time trying to get to games, especially on weeknights. (N.B. I have lived in SS since 1965 off and on).
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RBHoya
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Post by RBHoya on Oct 1, 2012 16:42:48 GMT -5
Let's just buy this land and then throw a lot of money at Visitation and that other Independent school to have them move out there, and then take their current land (contiguous to campus) Before I catch a DFW lecture on the topic, I know that's probably about a million to 1 shot, but it would be nice, wouldn't it? After all Prep is already in MoCo, and I'm sure for the right price anything is possible... That price is just probably well north of what Georgetown could muster. As far as basketball goes, don't think Silver Spring is the answer. If we're going to spend all those millions for our own arena, we'd wanna do it right and Silver Spring is too far to really be worth it. The plan for basketball still should be 1. Get everything that's currently in McD out and into the new practice facility and then 2. use the land currently occupied by McDonough to build a new on-campus arena to be used as a full-time home for women's basketball and a part-time home for men's basketball in addition to convocation, concerts and whatnot. Something with bigger capacity than current McDonough (which is smaller than most high schools) but not huge. Gives us the option to play games that will be poorly attended on campus instead, and gives us a place to play all our mens games if the nightmare scenario plays out with the Big East dying and us playing a schedule filled almost exclusively with small private schools. Along the lines of Villanova's Pavillion/Wells Fargo setup, only with a nicer gym. I'd agree with DFW though that it might be nice to have a satellite campus where our "off-campus" sports could play. Have to imagine not having our own facilities hurts us in recruiting for those sports, even a sport like track or XC where we have decent teams. Imagine having a nice baseball stadium, softball field, tennis courts, and field hockey field with a track around the perimeter. Then some sort of field house/locker room/weight room building in the middle of it all. Has to be better than the current setup, right? I'm just not sure how much of a daily grind the commute would be for those athletes (or how it compares to what they currently do) and if that would be a big enough negative to negate the positive of having our own facilities. But regardless, if we can get a good deal on the land, take it. We'll figure out a good use for it in the years to come.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Oct 1, 2012 16:44:40 GMT -5
I don't think anyone is advocating for all the games to be in Silver Spring. Using this years schedule as an example: Tennessee, Pitt, Louisville, Marquette, Rutgers and St. Johns (based on their start times), and Syracuse would all be at the Verizon Center.
It'd also be good to have something like this should we ever get relegated to a basketball only league that is less competitive.
I understand for tons of reasons why this may not work and why it may not get done. I'd be more than fine with the other DC options, but unless we get a substantially better deal you have to think we're leaving a lot of money on the table by playing all games at Verizon when we only get part of the sales of tickets and none of the concessions or parking. Now I don't know about the math for Cost of new basketball stadium- rent paid to verizon - amount gained off of new stadium, but I have to think long term we'd come out ahead.
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Post by LizziebethHoya on Oct 1, 2012 17:57:24 GMT -5
I think this board severely underestimates the amount of casual Georgetown fans there are. Silver Spring is not close to anything. It won't be easy to get between the campuses (20 min ride to the Dupont metro via the new GUTS BUS route, then 24 min ride - plus any waiting time - to get to silver spring, THEN an addition 10-20 minutes to get to the new campus. An hour each way!) That sounds miserable. That sounds like USAir Arena. Yes, and now most games are on TV and most people have HD TVs. Additionally (from what I've told, and it seems logical), there is a LOT more traffic in DC than their used to be. And do I even mention escalating season ticket costs? Times have changed. People won't go to Silver Spring for basketball half as much as they go to Verizon.
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hoyatables
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Post by hoyatables on Oct 1, 2012 18:21:06 GMT -5
I still don't understand why GU is spending all this money to construct this hypothetical arena 10 miles (and 30 minutes) from campus that will be used a dozen times a year. Renting Verizon Center is a better deal.
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Post by HoyasAreHungry on Oct 1, 2012 22:10:31 GMT -5
building a stadium in DC is not a good idea for multitude of reasons. I am sure the statement was about other sports like baseball/track/etc. I would still feel bad for those sports though. That commute would be brutal every day for practice on top of their studies
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Post by Problem of Dog on Oct 1, 2012 22:14:08 GMT -5
Well, this thread took a sharp turn, didn't it? The National Labor College bid has nothing to do with basketball. It is about available land around the Beltway for a school which has no redundant space of its own outside 20007. Everything relating even tangentially to Georgetown athletics has to do with basketball.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Oct 1, 2012 22:40:40 GMT -5
The plan for basketball still should be 1. Get everything that's currently in McD out and into the new practice facility and then 2. use the land currently occupied by McDonough to build a new on-campus arena to be used as a full-time home for women's basketball and a part-time home for men's basketball in addition to convocation, concerts and whatnot. Something with bigger capacity than current McDonough (which is smaller than most high schools) but not huge. Gives us the option to play games that will be poorly attended on campus instead, and gives us a place to play all our mens games if the nightmare scenario plays out with the Big East dying and us playing a schedule filled almost exclusively with small private schools. Along the lines of Villanova's Pavillion/Wells Fargo setup, only with a nicer gym. The Georgetown neighborhood groups would sooner chain themselves to McDonough than allow something like that to happen. The chances of any new facility getting built on campus that would host men's basketball at anything greater than the current frequency (once per year during a very off-peak time) is effectively zero. I'm with hoyatables, though. The opportunity cost of blowing 8 or 9 figures on building a new "nicer McDonough" somewhere is prohibitive, especially while Verizon is available and gives us a world-class home for our flagship program. The gate and concessions aren't where the big money is being made anyway.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Oct 2, 2012 8:28:46 GMT -5
I still don't understand why GU is spending all this money to construct this hypothetical arena 10 miles (and 30 minutes) from campus that will be used a dozen times a year. Renting Verizon Center is a better deal. Because a lot of people don't like the current arena situation. Verizon is a pro arena that's only full 1-2 games a year, is oftne overrun by fans of the opposing team, and doesn't provide any material home-court advantage. McDonough is useless for anything other than to lose to ODU every two years. And there is no hope of getting a viable on-campus arena due to the ANC, lack of money, lack of space and based on GU's past performance. So people are grasping at any other possibilities, no matter how remote. They're so thirsty for a new arena they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
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