No need. Iâve been there. They are pretty nice, but in person theyâre not quite as impressive. Their football stadium is oddly tucked waaaay in the back of their campus and it feels like it was just randomly plucked down on some spare land they had. I have to say, one of the most underappreciated aspects of the Rich is how centrally it is situated on campus. It feels like part of it, especially with the classroom buildings surrounding 2 sides.
This is the most flattering picture I found of the UCF layout⌠From their website. If youâre driving, itâs like you drove to the back lot of a commercial building to get the stadium. Thereâs nothing immediately beside it that screams big time or even good tailgate scene. My lasting impression was of a bunch of generic warehouse style buildings (in fairness, one was prob their IPF). I like our setup better.
I will defer to you on the"feel" as i have never been on the UCF campus, but their facilities / amenities LOOK big time and i mean all of them, all sports. Id trade ours for theirs in a heartbeat.
In person the bounce house looked like a giant aluminum high school stadium when I was there maybe 5-6 years ago. I remember their fans complaining that it wasnât aging well and badly needed upfits based on cheap construction methods, as well as a facade that looked more permanent/ classic. They probably have the money to do that now if they havenât already.
The stadium is built on swampland, which it entirely feels like. And the humidity combined with the cheap construction caused bad corrosion problems:
Coating delaminations were found on many of the stadiumâs steel support structures, allegedly due to subpar coating selection and application techniques
Also, looking at that aerial shot, how much better would it be if their stadium was say⌠Right in that center circle on campus? Especially with that radial layout and parking lots?
That would be more akin to what we have. Also the fit and finish on the Rich is just much better. I think the best thing they have over us is their IPF, and I didnât get a good look at their baseball stadium.
Here is a picture of the baseball stadium from their official website:
Itâs okay, I guess. Still just mostly aluminum. I havenât been to ECUâs baseball stadium, but it sure looks a lot nicer on TV.
If I am honest, before I drove on campus I had higher expectations. I remember thinking âokay this school is big as hell - like 2-2.5x even our current campus, but itâs not all that niceâ.
Have you read about the amenities, seating options, etc. at most of their facilities? They offer so many hospitality sections and options. Their arena kills Halton and i like halton.
The pessimist in me says that if they were going to donate it to us, it would have already been announced. The optimist in me says theyâre going to make a big PR production at some point closer to fall practice. How long does it take to set that thing up for use?
Nothing from our fan base or our corporate community makes me think we can sell premium seating options. I know we need them and I know itâs an important component but I hope the people that will spend that money show up.
Seems most of our fans complain a polo is $50 or a T-shirt is $35. The history of our fanbase is wanting the nicest stuff but no one except a handful of people stepping up.
You canât write off shirts as a business expense like you can box seats. Also, no one wants to entertain clients around 50 other people in GA seats. I think this is creating a great opportunity to cater to new business clients. The money is out there for the box seats. Need these for basketball also. We need the Charlotte corporate community, but we have to understand what they need. They need a return on investment and our athletic media exposure hasnât provided that for names on athletic facilities, commercials, etc.
I totally get that. Just havenât seen the charlotte business community give two shits about us. I hope this helps with that but my expectations are very low. Plus we are competing vs prosports.
I get that and you are much closer to the scene than I am. It is going to be about price point as well. They canât try to price match with the NFL as that is not reasonable. I know that there are many company owners that have season tix to Panthers (canât afford boxes or boxes are sold out) and box seats at the Speedway. This will be an opportunity for those not named Lowes and BOA to come on board. Need to target small to midsize companies that are growing.
As an operation, Addition Financial Arena is more akin to the Spectrum Center than Halton. In the opening montage on their website, basketball doesnât show up until the 8th image!
It was a pain in the ass to drive through too. So many 1 way roads and that loop road isnât as much of an intended traffic flow as it looks.
They do have a student union and some stores near the stadium that arenât bad. Their student union is a lot like ours. They have a little mini outdoor mall looking area with like subway and some other restaurants. Itâs basically like a mini version of the UC area
