It's been awhile since I've been at the Ferrell Center, but I know it can get pretty loud and rockin. I remember the days of sold out crowds against Texas and we were not a regular Big 12 contender then. The arena seemed spread out, but still certainly very vocal.

I'm very curious about the Foster Pavillion. I've seen the 3D tour of the facility - it appears to be more "cozy" and condensed. It seems the students will be on top of the floor and I know total capacity is about 7-8K, correct?

My question is this - will the Foster Pavillion give us a new edge in terms of home court advantage? Will we get to the level of Allen Fieldhouse where the crowd is seemingly a force in the game? (so much so that it intimidates the refs, that obviously happens there)

Curious to hear thoughts on this from those whom are more in the know on Foster Pavillion. Very excited to see the Bears start playing there!

Great to hear!

I did this analysis in another thread, but this pic offers a frame of reference:



Ferrell Center is 35 rows high. The concourse comes in at Row 16.

At Foster, the top row of the upper deck will be about as far back from the court as row 22 at Ferrell, or only slightly further back as the ribbon boards above the concourse doors. But it will be as high above the court as about the midpoint of the championship banners at Ferrell.

What happens when the same mid-court area season ticket holders that are chronic no-shows for average non-con games along with mid-week and even sometimes weekend games that aren't against high end opponents at the Ferrell behave the same way at Foster Pavilion? Is the thinking that they'll be more prone or incented to sell their tickets on the secondary market because of higher ticket prices brought on because of less overall available seats?

There won't be a P5 venue in America where you will be closer to the court. Currently The Pavilion at Ole Miss has that title.

It'll be a great atmosphere, ensure a much tougher entry for opposing fans and appear full on those lighter Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday night home games.

That is a great idea but I cannot imagine Baylor would actually implement anything like it.

Moody Center holds 15,000. Don't want to revisit this debate but our new arena is too small. I will have tickets. My kids who are students will likely not get them for games that matter unless they just get lucky. Silly mistake IMO.

The only reasonable rationale is that is what Scott Drew wanted.

Will one side have the student section that is right up on the floor? I hope and assume that side will be the one TV viewers see? Will the other side be season tickets holders? Any idea about their historical attendance? Thanks again.

ATLbear said:

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Will one side have the student section that is right up on the floor? I hope and assume that side will be the one TV viewers see? Will the other side be season tickets holders? Any idea about their historical attendance? Thanks again.

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First 5 rows behind the benches (and on camera) will be students. Opposite side lower level will be all club level (think: both sides of lower court side seats at FC). Above the students will be the next level of season ticket holders (I.e., mid level court side at FC).

Sitting behind the students will be palatable if there is enough of a drop from the regular seats to the student courtside seats so as to not block the view of those behind them. Moody Coliseum at SMU has a good setup like that.

JP1037 said:

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Moody Center holds 15,000. Don't want to revisit this debate but our new arena is too small. I will have tickets. My kids who are students will likely not get them for games that matter unless they just get lucky. Silly mistake IMO.

The only reasonable rationale is that is what Scott Drew wanted.

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Moody holds 15,000 for concerts, etc, but only 10,000 for hoops. Our arena may wind up being too small for about 4-5 games a season, will be interesting to see how the new big 12 hoops schedule does with who each school plays home/away each year vs. who we just play home or away from year to year.

Home games vs. Kansas, Tech, TCU, UH, and Ok. St. would be the 4-5 I would expect to be the ones we might wish we had more seats for.

JP1037 said:

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Moody Center holds 15,000. Don't want to revisit this debate but our new arena is too small. I will have tickets. My kids who are students will likely not get them for games that matter unless they just get lucky. Silly mistake IMO.

The only reasonable rationale is that is what Scott Drew wanted.

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Think 7750 - 8000 was probably the sweet spot. I think with SRO it can get close to that first level but think it is just a bit too small. Won't be a huge deal but I would tend to agree. Fully understand the attendance is highly variable and the big games carry the avg but to average 8500 and not build to at least say 7750 isn't great. Now Texas's only holds that much for events. For basketball it is closer to 10k.

With continued success and if the school grows getting 6500-7000 actual attendance on a weekday against a weak team isn't terrible. True that would be an auto sell out with only 7k but every game that isn't in a terrible time slot against a really weak team will be a sellout even with the slightly higher capacity. So you would probably sell out 80-90% of the time with the slightly higher capacity. Argument is small details but in all major games the arena would be packed with virtually no other fans. The environment even with only 7000 showing up in a 7750 arena on a November Tuesday night would still have been fine.