Did anyone notice?

[reno tony]

what is the capacity for the arena? and whats the split between lower and upper bowls?

The capacity is how many people the arena can hold and the split between upper and lower bowls is elevation.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Not sure how many USF fans would have been really thrilled about traveling from nice warm Tampa this time of year to see the tournament games to help boost the numbers, but USF is 2nd in the AAC in average home attendance and is also 2nd among Florida teams only to FSU in attendance, and ahead of Florida, which is in 4th behind FGCU in 3rd. USF's attendance is also double what it was 5 years ago, and is 18% up this year over last year. So nice things could be happening down there for the Bulls at least.

On a weird attendance trivia fact, Villanova's "Percentage Capacity" score on their 794 home average is listed as "infinity" since Nova is listed with a seating capacity of 0 for the Pavilion, which actually seats 6500. Harry's women may only be playing to a 12% full arena, but they can still fill feel that they have an infinite crowd cheering for them, which I guess is kind of fitting for a Nova team.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Was it turnstile or ticket sales?

The casino "comped" seats early in the tournament. Not so for the final game. I wonder how that figures into the count. I don't know if the number is from sold seats or tickets scanned but if I had to guess it would be sold seats.

 

[Huskies Rule]

HAHA ! The idea of anything being "comped" at a casino is the biggest hoax since Bernie Madoff and the Piltdown Man. I was "comped" four great floor seats for the tournament, but believe me, those tickets were not provided 'free of charge, for nothing.' Far from it, you gotta be a dummy, piss away money to the Tribe, and voila- nice tickets. No such thing as a casino comp- in the end, you pay for it, every bit, in spades. I still haven't learned that lesson.

 

[ocoandasoc]

HAHA ! The idea of anything being "comped" at a casino is the biggest hoax since Bernie Madoff and the Piltdown Man. I was "comped" four great floor seats for the tournament, but believe me, those tickets were not provided 'free of charge, for nothing.' Far from it, you gotta be a dummy, piss away money to the Tribe, and voila- nice tickets. No such thing as a casino comp- in the end, you pay for it, every bit, in spades. I still haven't learned that lesson.

Years ago I had an associate that ran an ad agency. Each January he would get a couple of huge checks as payment for the holiday TV advertising he produced and scheduled for clients. 90% of what he received he would have to pay out shortly (two weeks) thereafter to the media and production vendors. But…. During that two weeks he’d call up a top casino in Vegas and wire $300,000 ahead for chips. When he arrived everything was “comped” and he got free room and meals and great tickets to all the top shows and events. He would carefully withdraw chips, gamble in safe ways, and cash in chips each day of his stay – being careful to vary the amounts, but he would always have a particularly good day on the last day of his stay and would always come out just losing a grand or less. Not a good plan for someone with less discipline or a gambling addiction, but it worked for him and his wife for a number of years. (I suspect that he rotated casinos! And this was back some years ago when $300,000 was real money!)

 

[Huskies Rule]

Years ago I had an associate that ran an ad agency. Each January he would get a couple of huge checks as payment for the holiday TV advertising he produced and scheduled for clients. 90% of what he received he would have to pay out shortly (two weeks) thereafter to the media and production vendors. But…. During that two weeks he’d call up a top casino in Vegas and wire $300,000 ahead for chips. When he arrived everything was “comped” and he got free room and meals and great tickets to all the top shows and events. He would carefully withdraw chips, gamble in safe ways, and cash in chips each day of his stay – being careful to vary the amounts, but he would always have a particularly good day on the last day of his stay and would always come out just losing a grand or less. Not a good plan for someone with less discipline or a gambling addiction, but it worked for him and his wife for a number of years. (I suspect that he rotated casinos! And this was back some years ago when $300,000 was real money!)

You cannot "wire ahead for chips" or "withdraw chips." That does not happen. If you have a pre-approved credit line or you pre-deposit cash into their cage (and the IRS will flag you!!), then you may take out markers which you must sign for (each and every marker you take out) at the tables. There, the pit/table bosses and others very precisely monitor your action because every casino has a precise formula to determine "comps" given. That's their bread and butter and it's essential to their profitability. They have it down to a very sound accounting science. You cannot wire hundreds of thousands of dollars without the casino absolutely scrutinizing your play because they don't comp $1000 a day rooms and gourmet restaurant meals (which a $300,000 bankrolled player would qualify for) to phonies and fakers. Players with really big lines are a priority and are tracked oh so carefully. They are way too smart (I can speak from experience at Wynn and Bellagio specifically). Vegas did not build their billion dollar hotels/casinos by getting so easily fooled. "Gamble in safe ways" ?? That's a good one, haha! There is no "safe way" no matter the level of play. The casino has the edge in every single game, ranging from 2.3%- over 5%. "He would always have a particularly good day on the last day of his stay" That's an even bigger laugh! Simply not possible. Occasionally, yes. Always, no way. He's telling you a story. A good story, but a story nonetheless.

 

[triaddukefan]

WCBB is an outstanding and underappreciated game, and I wish every venue and every contest would be a sellout. I'd have liked to have seen a sellout at Mohegan Sun, but 6,500 is pretty darn good (semis and championship) considering the ridiculously treacherous snow, ice and travel conditions we've endured this past month and the fact that the championship outcome was really never in doubt. Be that as it may, the Big Bad SEC tourney in Little Rock never drew more than 5,500 for ANY game other than the SC/Tenn final, and that only drew 5,800. Bottom line- attendance all over is a troubling issue for a game that deserves much better support.
(In the end, I applaud SC and Tenn for their great attendance numbers, but getting beyond all the puffery and rivalry angst, championships are won on the court, not at the turnstiles. Go UConn.)

The Big Bad SEC had their tourney in a neutral location....... 550 miles from Knoxville and further from Columbia. Do you think the AAC would draw 5,500 for the final if they had their tourney 500 miles from Hartford/Storrs/Bridgeport ?

 

[DobbsRover2]

The Big Bad SEC had their tourney in a neutral location.. 550 miles from Knoxville and further from Columbia. Do you think the AAC would draw 5,500 for the final if they had their tourney 500 miles from Hartford/Storrs/Bridgeport ?

Triple the distance and put it in the Virgin Islands with discount tickets and the AAC could probably pack 10,000 at this time of year.

The AAC should not be penalized because it has more sense than to put its tourney game in the heart of hog-calling country.

 

[uconnfan68]

Face it, the AAC is terrible!

Yup, only produces the NCAA champion every year of it's existence.

 

[triaddukefan]

Triple the distance and put it in the Virgin Islands with discount tickets and the AAC could probably pack 10,000 at this time of year.

The AAC should not be penalized because it has more sense than to put its tourney game in the heart of hog-calling country.

1) There arent any arenas in the Virgin Islands that can fit that many people.

2 )The AAC doesnt have much of a choice in where to put its tourney.

 

[DobbsRover2]

1) There arent any arenas in the Virgin Islands that can fit that many people.

2 )The AAC doesnt have much of a choice in where to put its tourney.

1) Build them and we will come. Until then, hey it's the Virgin Islands, so just set up some benches in the parking lot at Trunk Bay and party down. Take a swim during intermission. Experience would be on par with Mohegan and much better than XL.

2) All conferences have many choices, but at this point for the AAC there's just one good one. Maybe if ECU becomes better the AAC will be holding their tourney down in Tobacco Road country near Greensboro some year. More centrally located for the AAC, and it would probably attract thousands of ACC fans who need to some good basketball being played.