ASU to Shrink Wells Fargo Arena?

by mlev811 on Feb 1, 2010 7:06 PM MST Comment 5 comments

Wells Fargo Arena

Doug Haller of the AZ Republic wrote that ASU is talking about shrinking down WFA to a capacity close to 10k. This would create a better atmosphere for the fans and provide a bigger home court advantage. In what is the 2nd largest arena in the Pac-10, ASU draws an average of approx. 7,500 fans a game. Last years team averaged the biggest crowd since 1995-96 (approx 9,500) and in such a saturated market, will probably rarely eclipse that number.

What I hope to see with this change is a complete overhaul of the seating. For years people have been complaining of the discomfort from the person behind you jamming their knees into the back of their head. The arena is in need of a continued facelift, perhaps matching the seats with the athletic department's dream of a gold out. Why not help out with gold seats, or at least Sun Devil maroon. What do you think about changes to WFA?

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terrible idea

This is one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard for ASU though it is probably inevitable. I consider it to be a major dummy-down of the program. The university has about 1,000,000 students (it probably feels that way in some of the classrooms) and it can’t even fill a 14K seat arena. THis speaks volumes about the demographics of the typical ASU student and alum.

by sundevils on Feb 1, 2010 8:28 PM MST reply actions

Actually...

It speaks more to the poor performance of the basketball program over the last 25 years. Herb Sendek is building something great, but the reality is that we have not had the kind of sustained success that would lead to the building filling up for every game, and we are probably several years away from approaching that level. When you add in the huge level of competition for the Phoenix sports dollar, this is more of a pragmatic decision than anything else. All of the pro teams in town have had trouble selling out their buildings even when they are relatively successful, simply because there are so many options.

by Beatuofa on Feb 1, 2010 11:06 PM MST reply actions

I'm fine with it

Actually, I don’t really care either way. Meh

"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan

by Dirk Diggler on Feb 2, 2010 8:36 AM MST reply actions

I don't by the "competition for the sports dollar" argument

When UAC opened the following were true:
- ASU had a very good baskeltball program
- The Dbacks didn’t exist
- The Cardinals were in St. Louis
- The Coyotes didn’t exist even as the Winnipeg Jets

And yet they still couldn’t come close to filling the arena on a consistent basis. To me it speaks volumes about the demographics of the ASU student body and, frankly, the metro Phoenix area. Let me put it this way, if I were going to test market an item that is considered a discretionary expense the Phoenix metro area is one of the last places I would look.

by sundevils on Feb 2, 2010 7:39 PM MST reply actions

I agree...

I think the real thing is that people don’t grow up as ASU fans…or even Phoenix fans. Its a city/state filled with non natives. I have no allegiance to any AZ teams besides ASU. Grew up on the East Coast and I see the D-Backs when they play the Mets, Coyotes when they rarely play the Penguins, and Cards if they play the Steelers (yes the super bowl last year was OH SO SWEET!)

by mlev811 on Feb 2, 2010 8:19 PM MST up reply actions