Ford Field Rink Installation

[RedFreak]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I'm not saying that...but imagine with all the feedback from people, I'm sure the next time around there would be more appropriate pricing of tickets based on the view and the risers would be designed in a more fan friendly way. My point is that rarely are things of this magnitude done perfectly the first time around.

If the NCAA learns from this experience, it would be a first. I won't buy tickets from them anymore. I turn to E-Bay or scalpers, because the NCAA wouldn't know a good seat if it bit them in the butt.

[STATEdude3]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

If the NCAA learns from this experience, it would be a first. I won't buy tickets from them anymore. I turn to E-Bay or scalpers, because the NCAA wouldn't know a good seat if it bit them in the butt.

That has been my experience with them as well. I just don't understand why people are so obsessed with their "priority" number like it makes them a great fan because they've been in the lottery so long. Just seems like if you are unhappy with the NCAA you would use other means that are more financially logical and fan friendly.

[aparch]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

...because the NCAA wouldn't know a good seat if it bit them in the butt.

Nor does Ticketmaster or even the actual event ticket sellers.

Where is "best available" for Football? 50 yard line front row. Basketball? Center court front row. Hockey? Why that must be the same thing, center ice front row.


God forbid that fans of the sport actually like sitting behind the goalies/ends or other "lesser" seating choices. I hate the dirty looks I get from ARENA ticket sellers when I try to ask for a different seating area.

[STATEdude3]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

God forbid that fans of the sport actually like sitting behind the goalies/ends or other "lesser" seating choices. I hate the dirty looks I get from ARENA ticket sellers when I try to ask for a different seating area.

I absolutely agree.

I have had the opportunity to move to center ice at Michigan State, but we have stayed behind the net..at the top of the bowl. I prefer watching the play go up and down the ice and watching passing lanes open and close. This part of the game is lost from the side view.

[Almington]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I don't like the concept. Tickets are almost never an issue for the FF and domes suck atmosphere out of games they are designed to host and IMHO are downright terrible for events to small (area where the teams compete, not the importance/interest in the event) for a dome.

I also don't like the precedence.

I agree that the concept is horrible, but given that (with the exception of the risers) the actual execution of the concept was about as good as could be expected.

Basically, the only other place they could host this in a dome would be in MN if/when the Vikings get a new stadium. Otherwise, hockey just does not have enough casual fans in other markets to make the effort worthwhile.

The biggest problem with learning from this is that each event has a different set of hosts who would actually need to talk and not listen to idiot basketball organizers.

I was talking with others at the open practice today and what they needed to do is just make the area behind the bench a standing room platform and them elevate the field risers 3 feet and add 6 (or more) inches of rise per row to make them actually decent seats.

No need to repete this experiment for at least 10 to 15 years. Once the secondary market for F4 tickets exceeds face for all tickets when no local team is involved, then we can talk about needing a larger venue.

[MaizeRage]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I didn't realize ESPN spent that much time going around to each individual section of the arena so that those watching on TV could get such an accurate count of how many people were "actually in the arena".

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I just don't understand why people are so obsessed with their "priority" number like it makes them a great fan because they've been in the lottery so long.

Clearly you just don't get it. People aren't "obsessed" with the priority number because it "makes them a great fan" -- they're so-called "obsessed" because it typically means you're getting a much, much better seat than everyone else. Obviously that's not the case this year -- which is why a lot of people are irritated -- but most years, yeah, the priority makes a big difference in terms of seating. That's why people care about it.

[STATEdude3]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Clearly you just don't get it. People aren't "obsessed" with the priority number because it "makes them a great fan" -- they're so-called "obsessed" because it typically means you're getting a much, much better seat than everyone else. Obviously that's not the case this year -- which is why a lot of people are irritated -- but most years, yeah, the priority makes a big difference in terms of seating. That's why people care about it.

I have sat in the exact same seats for the exact same price, if not lesser price each time I went to the Frozen Four. I just think it's ridiculous for people to complain for years that NCAA pricing is stupid and out of line, then in the next breath say they want to trust the system.

[JB]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I didn't realize ESPN spent that much time going around to each individual section of the arena so that those watching on TV could get such an accurate count of how many people were "actually in the arena".

After every commerical they pan in from the empty end of the arena and pan around the ice before focusing in on the hockey. Unless people are showing up dressed as blue seats it is fairly easy to see how many empty seats are in that building. Published capacity is 39K for that configuration, one can estimate from there.

[Bill]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Although you could actually see the game if you got high enough in the arena, you were so far from the ice surface that the electricity normally present at a Frozen Four was missing. It was very sterile and quiet. Our official seats were in row 8 of the risers, but the game was unwatchable from there. We wound up watching from the handicap area at the top of the lower bowl. This is my 18th Frozen Four, and by far the worst experience. I'd take Cincinnati again anytime over another Frozen Four in a football stadium. The only way I would consider attending another Frozen Four in a football stadium is if my favorite team was there, and even then I'm not sure if I would go. Ford Field is a great facility, but not as a hockey venue. I'll admit to being one of those who didn't like the idea of having the Frozen Four in a football stadium, but thought it was only fair to attend anyway to give it a try. It is a huge disappointment.

There was an interesting comment in the Detroit News this morning. The writer said that there were hundreds of empty seats behind the team benches, and evidently there were a lot of people who didn't want to pay the $189 price for those great seats. He was too stupid to realize that people did pay big bucks for those seats but couldn't see the game from there so they moved higher up in the arena where they could see. Another comment we overheard was from a women who spent around $1000 for tickets for her group; they were in the risers. When she complained to the ushers for that section, they told her she could watch the game on the overhead screen.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I think this says it all:

This is my 18th Frozen Four, and by far the worst experience. I'd take Cincinnati again anytime over another Frozen Four in a football stadium.

I stand by my original statement:
Epic Fail

[hockeytown100]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Anyone know what the deal with this ice was? What were those horizontal, straight lines across the whole sheet? Were those pipes underneath or what?

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Anyone know what the deal with this ice was? What were those horizontal, straight lines across the whole sheet? Were those pipes underneath or what?

Yes...apparently the freon pipes run like that and for whatever reason it was very obvious probably because the painted layer of white ice was not as thick as it should have been or because of the indoor setup and probably extra lighting compared to Fenway, it was WAY more obvious.

[RedFreak]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Another comment we overheard was from a women who spent around $1000 for tickets for her group; they were in the risers. When she complained to the ushers for that section, they told her she could watch the game on the overhead screen.

Ouch.

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Ouch.

might as well spend that $1000 on a nice big HD tv then huh?