Facilities and Arena discussion

[MasonFanatic]

Agree 100%. And I'm willing to bet that there will be empty seats on many/most nights.

This is my fear. It will be nice if it's full and loud. But if it's not, it will really hurt our home court advantage.

 

[DRK331]

There is still time before the season starts for the Athletics department to make changes and adjustments. I'm sure they will also make adjustments during the season based on feedback

 

[Where's the party?]

Don't know how analytical they are, but they are not doing their due diligence if they don't create lots of metrics to track the effectiveness of all the changes. This means not only tracking the folks that sign up for these changes, but those that don't as well. Of course, the overall attendance figures will be the true measure, but as others have said, they may be willing to sacrifice the larger number of middle tier customers (like me) for a fewer number of high rollers. But if they really want to understand the impact they should track all the season tix holders that:
1) Don't renew
2) Drop the number of seats they buy
3) Drop the level to cheaper seats than they had previously

And they should track what happens to the former Gold Room Cadre. My guess is that number was at least 2-300 loyal folks. Track if they:
1) Don't renew their seats
2) Buy seats, but don't buy hospitality at all
2) Buy hospitality but drop the number of passes they had previously

I doubt the changes will impact the Green Room folks much. They apparently aren't being asked for more.

It is much harder to get new customers than it is to retain current ones.

 

[Verdad]

I'm still digesting the changes, most of which I knew were coming, but will likely still do the "new" gold room this year to try it out. I am fortunate though that it is just me and my youngest most games, so I will get by with just 2 passes. If the whole family came regularly, it would definitely be a deal breaker until I'm willing to go green coat society.

 

[Stoolguy]

Will @KyleontheMic still be at the games? He was really good

Yes! Him and a dj

 

[jkh1978]

If i read/understand this correctly
student section will be 104 to 108
Green Machine in Section 109
students will lose access to some lower bowl seats - loss of lower bowl seats in 123 and 124?

for most of the last 10 years I have tried to sit in Section 104 as the seats are cheap and usually less crowded so there is a high probability of no one sitting next to me - unless they came with me

I guess I will be moving to 113 or 119

the lower bowl portion of 123 and 124 will become the new hospitality areas?
the upper bowl section of 123 and 124 becomes the cheap GA seats?

shhh... I like the corners too. Don't hype it too much. Used to enjoy 119 near the cheerleaders but away from the band.

 

[jkh1978]

Here is what is happening to the former Gold Room:

"This area will now serve in a multi-functional asset including a family zone, activity area for a Pop-A-Shots & other games, a beer garden, and merchandise!"

Maybe the beer garden will be a pay as you go "gold room" replacement where people can drink and socialize. But worried about it being near the family zone. Most adults will not get so hyped when families around. I encourage reaching out to families but we don't all need to be on top of each other.

 

[DRK331]

Link from yesterday's announcement:

Northern Virginia’s Home Court. Designed For Every Fan. - George Mason University Athletics

As George Mason Basketball continues to establish itself as NOVA's Team, the athletics department is evolving the EagleBank Arena gameday experience to match the

gomason.com

There is still time before the season starts for the Athletics department to make changes and adjustments. I'm sure they will also make adjustments during the season based on feedback.

 

[Verdad]

Link from yesterday's announcement:

Northern Virginia’s Home Court. Designed For Every Fan. - George Mason University Athletics

As George Mason Basketball continues to establish itself as NOVA's Team, the athletics department is evolving the EagleBank Arena gameday experience to match the

gomason.com

There is still time before the season starts for the Athletics department to make changes and adjustments. I'm sure they will also make adjustments during the season based on feedback.

I don't want to discourage constructive feedback, but it should be done with reasonable expectations - there are not going to be any adjustments made to what was announced for the current season.

I know for a fact the AD went through 3rd parties to conduct extensive market analysis to arrive at these pricing models while also taking our 10+ years of complaints about hospitality into account. This has been a multi-year process.

This announcement is their best effort at improving the hospitality spaces while maximizing revenue. I applaud the effort, but whether all of the decisions are the right ones remains to be seen.

What is known is that there are pricing models for everyone: a la carte beer garden, $2500 hospitality, $5000 hospitality, or none at all. Still dirt-cheap options for seats, or variety of higher price options for better locations.

Remains to be seen what additional concession changes they due once they are out from the current EBA vendor contracts - which are extremely limiting and need to be terminated as soon as possible.

I would not have hated some sort of grandfathering in to acknowledge the loyalty of a lot of people on the boards, but that could also turn off others. Reality is that this is what the model should have been for a long time - the fact that it took this long for them to get it right can be criticized, but I think it is the appropriate change at this point.

 

[jessej]

shhh... I like the corners too. Don't hype it too much. Used to enjoy 119 near the cheerleaders but away from the band.

depending upon the ticket price this season i may be joining you

 

[ProfessorCFK]

I'm still digesting the changes, most of which I knew were coming, but will likely still do the "new" gold room this year to try it out. I am fortunate though that it is just me and my youngest most games, so I will get by with just 2 passes. If the whole family came regularly, it would definitely be a deal breaker until I'm willing to go green coat society.

The problem is I don't think you can do it for one year. I interpret their language to mean the "new" gold room requires a 5 year commitment totaling $12,500.

 

[Verdad]

The problem is I don't think you can do it for one year. I interpret their language to mean the "new" gold room requires a 5 year commitment totaling $12,500.

Fair point - the chart indicates that may be the case, but the language is unclear. I'll find out and report back.

Since that post I already decided instead to check out beer garden and new kid activities this upcoming season and then determine if I want to do the Patriot Lounge next year.

 

[tblack33]

A wise person once told me, there’s no donation police who will track you down and bring you to prison over a multi year commitment that you don’t stick to. At the end of the day it’s a donation, and even though you sign a contract, enforcing that contract is not in the ADs best interest long term if for some reason you decide after a year or two it isn’t for you.

FWIW, I’ve floated in and out of green coat society within my 5 year commitment and not once did I hear a single thing about it. All that to say if you are on the fence and want to try it, I’ve always treated these commitments as a year by year thing and it worked out for me.