Coolest Arenas in Women's BB
- Thread starter farm85
- Start date
The fact that Williams is #1 kind of invalidates the list. Calling it the barn is being kind.
Williams is a dump but it is a pretty cool venue if you have the right seats and a good game. Last game I was at there was Gophers/Iowa 2018. Place was jumpin' with a great and loud crowd. Reminded me of the Old Armory and my freshman year at ISU.
Of the 10 they mentioned, I have been to games in 3 of them.
Hilton is Hilton, and it is home! For the Women or the Men, it is a cool game experience. Where else can you get a Clone Cone?
I went to Gill Coliseum @ Oregon State last year for the Men's Game vs. Iowa State. That place is AWESOME! I love old gyms like that. Fun Fact: that is where the 1983 N.C. State Jim Valvano Tournament run began.
I have been to the KFC Yum Center for Men's NCAA Tournament Games. It is NBA nice.
Been to Baylor, Minnesota, and Hilton. Those Minnesota people aren't very nice when your cheering loud as their team is losing and then on their inbounds play the ball hits the suspended score board and we win the game. I might have been a little exuberant cheering on the Cyclones while leaning around the steel pillar my seat was behind. It was a men's game late 80s early 90's. Those pillars were a good place to lay your coat though.
I have no doubt that if Covid were a non-issue, there'd be quite a few fans that start going to WBB games instead of some MBB games... since MBB stinks.
I like Williams - don't think it's a dump at all. I can see why it's #1. Very well kept-up old classic venue. In fact, Minny - with TCF Bank, Mariucci, Maturi, and Williams - might have the best group of stadiums/arenas around.
Pretty notable that eight of the venues are home to consistently winning or championship programs - the Gophers and Butler are the outliers.
It takes people like me increasing the number of season tickets I buy. Work in progress. In 1997 our "group" was 8 people now down to 2. It is still a bargain compared to say taking in a movie. If every current season ticket holder brought in one friend, we would raise the rafters.
We are still selling a ton of tickets, it's not "bought" tickets that are a problem. We still are Top 5 is attendance based on tickets. Problem has been a really high number of no shows each game. 4000 plus cheeks in the seats is still a really good crowd compared to attendance nation wide but it's well short of the games were we had 8000 or more. The ease of Cyclone.TV to watch, and now ESPN+, makes it pretty easy for me to not have to road trip 400 miles and hotel to catch a game. Not sure what all of the factors are for more regional peeps. Even the Carleton team in 2018, that had a clear path to the Sweet Sixteen if they had won those Hilton NCAA tilts, only drew 6500, not 10,000.
Well, we aren't going to find out what this year WOULD have been for attendance.
See you all there next season when things hopefully will be finally getting back to something approaching normal.
I'll be buying season tickets again for both MBB and WBB. Excited for next season already.We are still selling a ton of tickets, it's not "bought" tickets that are a problem. We still are Top 5 is attendance based on tickets. Problem has been a really high number of no shows each game. 4000 plus cheeks in the seats is still a really good crowd compared to attendance nation wide but it's well short of the games were we had 8000 or more. The ease of Cyclone.TV to watch, and now ESPN+, makes it pretty easy for me to not have to road trip 400 miles and hotel to catch a game. Not sure what all of the factors are for more regional peeps. Even the Carleton team in 2018, that had a clear path to the Sweet Sixteen if they had won those Hilton NCAA tilts, only drew 6500, not 10,000.
Well, we aren't going to find out what this year WOULD have been for attendance.
Go Cyclones
I was there with CWW#2 and her mother. Our inbounds play to Justus Thigpen deeked out freshman Voshon Lenard of the Gophers (who went on to a great player for the Gophers). Memorable game ending.
Except it's all accounting sleight of hand. They're not selling 10k tickets specifically for WBB. WBB gets to count all of the Junior Cyclone Club memberships and student all-sport passes as "tickets sold."
Had the opportunity to watch the Lynx win the WBNA title at historical Williams Arena in 2017. The atmosphere was unbelievable. My ears were ringing. Definitely a home court advantage. Target Center was undergoing renovations so they needed to install "makeshift A/C" at the Barn. ($1 million)
minnesota.cbslocal.com
Lynx Drop $1M To Cool Williams Arena During Playoffs – WCCO | CBS Minnesota
Because 90-year-old Williams Arena doesn't have A/C, the Minnesota Lynx installed a unique system that meets WNBA standards.
minnesota.cbslocal.com
