Politi on the RAC Renovations

[BigRnj]

Some of these folks best qualifications to sit there may be their donation history and/or local political connections and ties.

And that will still be the case after renovations focused on bringing in more luxury/high rollers. My point is that approach is an atmosphere killer.

Big donors can and should be accommodated but let’s do this without diluting Rutgers game atmosphere.

There is a lot to this ….the courtside seats are more empty Than you think….

What they need to do is build luxury bkxes where the office are , build a sexond club for higher end season tickets holders…and focus on real ammentiris for the arena and adding seating capacity to the RAC to get it to 5 digits

The rest of this is not a good idea …see the Audi club where I believe the seats are not all sold , and why the luxury boxes are not built for the football stadium

I sat in the Audi club for the VT game and felt detached from the game and from the crowd. I much prefer my seats in 105, and I tailgate so the food/drink draw is not appealing to me. The place was a morgue.

I completely agree with you … put the hoity toity folks above the current concourse where the old RAC offices are. Heck give ‘em masssge chairs, hot tubs and caviar, just don’t screw the pooch and kill what makes the RAC special.

 

[rucoe89]

The North Carolina guy is right. If the focus is mostly on luxury we’re going to be disappointed with the end result. As far as catering to the celebs and big donors… look at what we have today with court side seats. I sit in row A in the 100 section and unless it’s a huge game, the big wig seats one row in front of me are:

A - often empty
B - when occupied the folks wear anything but Rutgers gear
C - rarely participate in any cheers or crowd activities
D - arrive late and leave early
E - talk and don’t pay attention to the game
F - linger well into the second half eating chicken fingers and cheap beer in the hospitality area
E - are often Not RU fans and often not even true hoops fans

OF COURSE there are exceptions (give me Todd Frazier every game), but the bottom line is IF YOU WANT TO STERILIZE AND NEUTRALIZE the great JMA/RAC atmosphere we all crave, then go heavy on the transient “luxury“ seeking fans.

With winning teams, the luxury boxes pay for a lot of things. A lot. And it is more than from ticket sales. You have think about the convoyed sales in terms of donor and sponsorship dollars. Those come from repeated touches and discussions, which often is associated with wining and dining experiences. Regular seating makes that more challenging for the reach out you need.

That said, you are right that such things may make environments more corporate bland. Yankee Stadium is a good example of that where I think they completely ruined the fan experience in favor of high roller seeing and the club seats behind a large window. Bad decisions all around there for the fan perspective. Hopefully it is paying off for them from the dollars perspective.

 

[RCBeta79]

Please, Rutgers, don’t forget what makes Jersey Mike’s Arena great | Politi

Renovations are needed, but the Rutgers basketball arena is not supposed to be a luxury experience.

www.nj.com

Steve is absolutely right in this article!

 

[RUskoolie]

The North Carolina guy is right. If the focus is mostly on luxury we’re going to be disappointed with the end result. As far as catering to the celebs and big donors… look at what we have today with court side seats. I sit in row A in the 100 section and unless it’s a huge game, the big wig seats one row in front of me are:

A - often empty
B - when occupied the folks wear anything but Rutgers gear
C - rarely participate in any cheers or crowd activities
D - arrive late and leave early
E - talk and don’t pay attention to the game
F - linger well into the second half eating chicken fingers and cheap beer in the hospitality area
E - are often Not RU fans and often not even true hoops fans

OF COURSE there are exceptions (give me Todd Frazier every game), but the bottom line is IF YOU WANT TO STERILIZE AND NEUTRALIZE the great JMA/RAC atmosphere we all crave, then go heavy on the transient “luxury“ seeking fans.

I am on the waiting list for court side seats. I want 2 badly. We are an extra 2 points better if I get them. I will do so much shit talking to the other team each game. I'll bring their parents names, notes etc and just mind fvck them to death.

I watched a guy (think I know him) sit with his Dad center court a few games ago. Game is going on and the guy who is probably 30 didn't stop scrolling on his phone. Felt sorry for him that sitting in that seat is THAT boring to him or the allure is gone, idk.

 

[BROTHERSKINNY]

People just love to complain. I’m sure the much needed renovations will be great.

I am in favor of building a new facility between 12-15k people, it can be used for hockey and as a concert venue. I know a lot of people are concerned with the RACs loudness and home court advantage and that is a very legitimate concern. Architects and sound engineers can design in sound elements the same way they can design out sound elements. I think if we keep the current cramped facility Rutgers will be leaving tons of revenue on the table for marquee games.

 

[Saint Puppy]

I feel like the RAC is a small-midsized house that's great for what it is, but Hobbs wants to put an indoor pool, movie theater and Bar downstairs to host parties. We will only have to cut the kitchen and living room in half to do this - but how cool will this all be once it's all done? Not a big fan of Hobbs, and I kind of feel like this is his signature project - I get the vibe he is going to screw this up and this will be an ego build for him. I hope I'm wrong. You disagree with me - see exhibit A - the last 1/4 of the survey talking about seating that maybe 5% of fans would be interested in, while alienating the Every-fan.

 

[sct1111]

I am in favor of building a new facility between 12-15k people, it can be used for hockey and as a concert venue. I know a lot of people are concerned with the RACs loudness and home court advantage and that is a very legitimate concern. Architects and sound engineers can design in sound elements the same way they can design out sound elements. I think if we keep the current cramped facility Rutgers will be leaving tons of revenue on the table for marquee games.

College hockey is an afterthought. Keep the RAC. Best homecort advantage in cbb. Hobbs plan is fine. We need donors, schmooze the rich people in the luxury areas. Add 1000-1500 seats, all with chair backs. Better entrance/concourse, food options and more bathrooms and it's perfect.

 

[knights1212]

Forget about hockey already! It would take years to have a very good team and how many people would attend RU hockey games. We already have a huge athletic debt and we don't need to ruin things for the athletic experience we have for our basketball team. Our basketball team is getting better and better under Steve Pikiell. We are respected in college basketball and our fans are now selling out every game. They must be recognized for making this possible. Yes we need more bathrooms and a wider concourse and probably a few more thousand seats but please let us not lose the wonderful atmosphere that we have which has made the RAC (Jersey Mike's) so very special.

 

[wheezer]

The best 3 things about these renderings:

1) real seats in the 300s (current 300 season ticket holder thanks for this, currently the world’s mist uncomfortable seats)

2) students in the first 3/5 rows behind the benches on the TV side - time we start acting like a Big Ten program. They all do this - this is college sports, it’s about the students, for the students, by the students, sorry if you will be shifted back a couple rows, thats like 50-100 people total because the away section will also get shifted

3) gone are the quiet floor loges in 118 which provide 0 intimidation, replaced with seats all the way around .. more people than even before when 118 was there = louder and more intimidating than ever

You are not just shifting 50-100 fans

,you shift everybody there

Think
The fans in the front are moved back five rows, they now occupy the seats of those already in row six through eleven, let's say

And those already in those rows get pushed back

And, if there are not more seats in that Section , the ripple effect pushes out the fans in the last five rows

There would have to be five rows or so added