Question from OwlsFan27
Mr. Angelos,

I have read that the arena is undergoing a renovation that would include new seating (i.e. chair backs). Is this the case?

The article I read this in was about the ABA team that will be using the arena. What are the benefits to the university when another team using the facility?


Response from Athletics Director Craig Angelos
It is true that we will have new chair back seating on the lower level on three sides of the court which will include the home sideline and the end zones. The other side will be our student seating. With regard to the ABA team, we talked extensively about it and decided to rent the facility to them this year to try it out. The tangible benefit is we receive the rental fee which was pretty good with little time with the gym being offline for set up. Meaning our basketball teams can practice in the afternoon and then the ABA team can use it at night. There may be some intangible benefits but we will see. Thanks for the question.
Best Wishes,
Craig

GhostOfBuchanan said

Don't kid yourself….it will still look like a high school gym….just a private high school now! At least they're keeping the benches on the other side…it'll be like Lockhart now, because you know they're gonna charge more for the chairbacks, so everyone will be on the benches.

dusky256fc said

Doesn't anyone think that they wouldn't be spending any money on the arena if the dome was actually going to get built relatively soon or is it a small enough amount that it doesn't matter?