Ford Field Rink Installation

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

i would guess many people bought a single cheap seat and didn't plan on attending to get their point.

the three seats to my left were empty, as were the two seats to the right of my son.

To enter the lottery, you had a choice of $189 or $119 and yes quite a few people bought 1 $119 ticket to get the priority

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

i would guess many people bought a single cheap seat and didn't plan on attending to get their point.

the three seats to my left were empty, as were the two seats to the right of my son.

Which is part of the reason why paid attendance was so high when the actual amount of people there was much, much smaller.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Tickets to the Frozen 4: $189
Airfare to Detroit: $315
3 nights at a hotel: $210
Health insurance deductable after getting stabbed on the people mover: $3000
Enough beer to forget that I'm in Detroit: $972
Watching the most important games of the year in a crappy, half full venue with no atmosphere and not being able to see any of the game from the assigned seat: Priceless

 

[Almington]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I find it funny that (for the most part) those that are whining the most about how bad the venue is are not even at it.

Perfect, No. But the errors are correctable. The biggest thing to consider is that only so may venues/cities exist that would be worth even trying to do this in.

 

[Greyeagle]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I find it funny that (for the most part) those that are whining the most about how bad the venue is are not even at it.

Perfect, No. But the errors are correctable. The biggest thing to consider is that only so may venues/cities exist that would be worth even trying to do this in.

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.

 

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

You have to crawl before you can walk and before you can walk you have to fall. This is a learning experience.

Do you work for the NCAA? Seriously, you ought to start, you seem to have the perfect PR-minded, politically correct "spin" to put on things.

My point, at least, is that the Frozen Four shouldn't EVER be a "learning experience."

. The crowd stuff had a lot to be improved, but given what we now know about this setup I think it would be possible to do again...should it be done again is yet to be determined based on what happens Saturday

Going to be determined for who? You? Me? Everyone? lol.

I don't get this "see what happens Saturday" mantra you keep saying repeatedly as if this "learning experience" as you eloquently call it is going to be tilted one way or the other based on tomorrow night.

 

[MichFan]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Perfect, No. But the errors are correctable. The biggest thing to consider is that only so may venues/cities exist that would be worth even trying to do this in.

Well, look at it this way...

They will never have it outdoors. You can takes risks with the weather for a regular season game, but not for your championship. So who has indoor NFL stadiums or retractable roofs? Arizona, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indy, Minnesota, New Orleans, St. Louis. You could probably add the Carrier Dome in Syracuse.

They would never, ever draw 35,000 in Arizona, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, or New Orleans. You can rule those out now. Even though Indy is close to hockey country, it is not a hockey town, so you can rule that out, too.

St. Louis is a good NHL town but has no college teams nearby, so 35,000 would be iffy.

That leaves the Twin Cities, Detroit, and Syracuse. By the next time they're ready to have it in Detroit, the Red Wings will be in a new place and they will probably want to host it there to show off the new place, so I don't see them doing it at Ford Field again in the next 10-15 years.

Twin Cities? You betcha. Maybe not the Metrodome, but if the Vikings finally get their new stadium and it's indoors, I bet that they will want to give it a try. The Twin Cities are a better college hockey town than Detroit, so you would have no problem whatsoever drawing 35,000. If it's within the next 5 years, the lessons of Ford Field will still be fresh enough that they can get it right.

Syracuse is intriguing, though, being a smaller place to start with, I don't know if you could get 35,000 in a hockey setup, and if you're only going to get 20,000 in the place, why not go with a real hockey rink?

 

[aparch]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Syracuse is intriguing, though, being a smaller place to start with, I don't know if you could get 35,000 in a hockey setup, and if you're only going to get 20,000 in the place, why not go with a real hockey rink?

http://www.syracuse.com/kirst/index.ssf/2010/02/post_30.html

http://photos.syracuse.com/post-standard/2010/02/mirabito_outdoor_classic_2.html

 

[Steve_MN]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

Which is part of the reason why paid attendance was so high when the actual amount of people there was much, much smaller.

I'm not so completely certain that the attendance was all that low, to be honest. This came up in the late game score update thread, but using 65K as a base figure (for football), I'd think there were likely 30+ thousand in there, especially accounting for the blocks of seats that I saw empty for one game, but not the other... I'm not any sort of expert on estimating crowd sizes, but kind of mentally moving the people from the bleachers into the permanent seats on that half of the building, would seem to be a little less than half full, over all.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Ford Field Rink Installation

I'm not so completely certain that the attendance was all that low, to be honest. This came up in the late game score update thread, but using 65K as a base figure (for football), I'd think there were likely 30+ thousand in there, especially accounting for the blocks of seats that I saw empty for one game, but not the other... I'm not any sort of expert on estimating crowd sizes, but kind of mentally moving the people from the bleachers into the permanent seats on that half of the building, would seem to be a little less than half full, over all.

One thing to remember is just because blocks were full for the early game and not for the late game doesn't mean those people didn't just move somewhere else. I would bet that ticket scans did not top 30k

 

[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.