frozen four attendance

[Jesus of Suburbia]

Re: frozen four attendance

Brand new arena just opened right on the Strip, and they're the favorites in the clubhouse for an expansion NHL franchise. Every airline in the country flies there relatively inexpensive, and there's plenty of lodging choices at all price levels. I doubt the NCAA would go for it. But Nashville would be a nice option, and also closer than Tampa.

I think NCAA needs to be more with Vegas for sports. In today's age you can gamble online. Being in Vegas would barely make a difference. I am not saying Vegas would great host for Hockey but being a gambling city shouldn't disallow a city to host an event. I think the next cities after St. Paul will be
2019 Phoenix
2020 Detroit (with the new arena opening up and being centrally located makes sense)
2021 Tampa/Philadelphia/Boston/Denver (if Chicago is a hit I think NYC will host the event)
2022 Tampa/Philadelphia/Boston/Denver

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: frozen four attendance

I think NCAA needs to be more with Vegas for sports. In today's age you can gamble online. Being in Vegas would barely make a difference. I am not saying Vegas would great host for Hockey but being a gambling city shouldn't disallow a city to host an event.

I agree completely, the problem is the NCAA doesn't and it's a ridiculous stance. Western conference tournaments in basketball have moved there in recent years and have been wildly successful, I believe they had three different tournaments there in the same week. It'd be an interesting place to hold a FF, and I think the locals would support it since no other non-fighting major sporting event ever goes there. Also, the hotels there have it down to a science how to host large groups of people there, so there'd be no issues as far as welcoming and accommodating fans. That's not to say it wouldn't also get swallowed up in the number of things going on daily in that town. It'd be a very, very unique experience to say the least.

 

[redrocker]

Re: frozen four attendance

Unless you had a team that really didn't bring a fan base (i.e. Yale), I think that Amalie would have been similarly full.

Yale has a great fan base that traveled extremely well to Pittsburgh in 2013. Also filled MSG for RS games in 2014 and 2015. Now if you'd used Harvard....

 

[Crimson on the Glass]

Re: frozen four attendance

Yale has a great fan base that traveled extremely well to Pittsburgh in 2013. Also filled MSG for RS games in 2014 and 2015. Now if you'd used Harvard....

Hey now! We were totally ready to make the trip, with seats, tickets, and a room all staked out. Ended up stranded in Worcester, however.

 

[ticapnews]

If you're looking for a destination with decent weather and things to do, LA (or Anaheim) should definitely be in consideration. With the success of the teams in the LA area and the college players that have helped make that success, they'd do better than the last time the FF was at the pond. Flights are easy and cheap, hotels are not horrible if you look toward Anaheim rather than the Staples Center (although they're still cheaper than Tampa). I also think San Jose would be a great host as they have become a "hockey town" but it's ridiculously expensive to get to.

It's really a shame that we can't market in the nation's largest city. MSG is probably too small for a FF now but they're hosting college hockey a couple of times per year now. I think the event would get lost in Manhattan though and the cost would be too much for most (although again, hotels near Amalie were every bit as expensive as midtown Manhattan). A FF in Brooklyn could be a possibility but you're away from the tourist attractions and that arena is an abomination of an NHL arena (fitting for the Asslanders).

Most hotels raise their rates when they learn a big event is coming to town. Price hotels in Tampa in February vs during the Frozen Four and you'll see differences. Hotels in Boston which are usually affordable were skyhigh for the FF last year. There are so many events in New York the prices might not change except around MSG.

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: frozen four attendance

Most hotels raise their rates when they learn a big event is coming to town. Price hotels in Tampa in February vs during the Frozen Four and you'll see differences. Hotels in Boston which are usually affordable were skyhigh for the FF last year. There are so many events in New York the prices might not change except around MSG.

An "affordable hotel in Boston" is generally not something easily found. If you were looking downtown within walking distance of the Garden, well duh. I didn't look, but I'd be shocked if there weren't some in the suburbs along the T that had reasonably priced rooms.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: frozen four attendance

I think I got my hotel next to TD for around 170 a night.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: frozen four attendance

My dream F4 is Havana

i like the way you think...

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: frozen four attendance

Why cant we go to Canada??? Quebec City or Montreal would be great sites

UND fans complained when UND thought about playing in Winnipeg because half of them had DUIs and couldn't go.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: frozen four attendance

I intended to come in asking why no one ever brings up Dallas, but see I've been beaten to the punch. Great city, relatively inexpensive, arena is in a great location, Arlington is a nice area nearby, etc. There are knocks but it's pretty much Tampa, Central TX.

 

[ecbrevik]

Re: frozen four attendance

An "affordable hotel in Boston" is generally not something easily found. If you were looking downtown within walking distance of the Garden, well duh. I didn't look, but I'd be shocked if there weren't some in the suburbs along the T that had reasonably priced rooms.

We were in Boston last summer, and there wasn't much in the way of affordable motels unless you moved quite a ways out into the suburbs with fairly lengthy public transit rides.

 

[scoreboard]

We were in Boston last summer, and there wasn't much in the way of affordable motels unless you moved quite a ways out into the suburbs with fairly lengthy public transit rides.

Boston in the summer is going to be expensive. It is a relatively small city with a large influx of international tourists. Prices are high. FWIW, the highest prices I've paid for a Frozen Four were the ones in Tampa. We paid just over $400 per night a room. They obviously raised them for the event but we wanted to be close to the arena. We paid around $250 in Boston and were one block from the Commons.

 

[CLS]

Re: frozen four attendance

... And I would wager that many of the American players have ventured up to Canada for tournaments at some point in their lives, I know kids from the NY/NJ area who have played youth tournies up there every now and then.
...

Kids who go up to Canada for hockey tournaments generally are accompanied by their parents. Below a certain age, they don't need their own documentation. So just because they've been up to Canada for a youth tournament doesn't mean that there'd be no problem to go up with their college team.

But more to the point about Canada. Why would any Canadian venue want the FF? Canadians generally view US College hockey as competitive with, and inferior to, their Junior Leagues. They venues do have to bid. The NCAA doesn't just go wherever they want.

 

[The Rube]

Re: frozen four attendance

Most hotels raise their rates when they learn a big event is coming to town. Price hotels in Tampa in February vs during the Frozen Four and you'll see differences. Hotels in Boston which are usually affordable were skyhigh for the FF last year. There are so many events in New York the prices might not change except around MSG.

IIRC, the Crowne Plaza in St Paul (a couple blocks from the X) did not jack their rates for the F4 in 2011. I was surprised. It was about $160/night, and their refund policy didn't change much, if at all (you're good until a week before your reservation). Plus, their parking rates ($19/day, ramp) were about equal to the rest of the lots in the area, AND you could leave your vehicle there overnight (most lots in the area don't allow that).

 

[ticapnews]

An "affordable hotel in Boston" is generally not something easily found. If you were looking downtown within walking distance of the Garden, well duh. I didn't look, but I'd be shocked if there weren't some in the suburbs along the T that had reasonably priced rooms.

We all have our own definition of affordable I guess. For the Hockey East tournament I stayed at The Sonesta in Cambridge for $175/night. In Tampa I had reserved a hotel at the airport for $189/night. The ones on Channelside were going for $399/night when I priced them last summer.

 

[The Rube]

Re: frozen four attendance

We all have our own definition of affordable I guess. For the Hockey East tournament I stayed at The Sonesta in Cambridge for $175/night. In Tampa I had reserved a hotel at the airport for $189/night. The ones on Channelside were going for $399/night when I priced them last summer.

Affordable according to the local market, IMO. I know I won't be finding hotels for $150 in certain cities due to cost of living/etc. It happens. It's if they try to over-jack the prices that makes it "unaffordable," you know?

 

[brassbonanza]

Re: frozen four attendance

We all have our own definition of affordable I guess. For the Hockey East tournament I stayed at The Sonesta in Cambridge for $175/night. In Tampa I had reserved a hotel at the airport for $189/night. The ones on Channelside were going for $399/night when I priced them last summer.

I don't doubt the hotels down there were that much. My point is, I can't believe there weren't hotels along the T that weren't downtown and weren't extremely far out of the city that were in the $150-200 price range. There are two hotels within a five-minute walk of my apartment here near BU that would fall into that category. If you narrowed your search to downtown and near the Garden, then it makes sense that you'd be seeing rates that high. Those are also some of the highest-end hotels in the city.

 

[Craig P.]

Re: frozen four attendance

I intended to come in asking why no one ever brings up Dallas, but see I've been beaten to the punch. Great city, relatively inexpensive, arena is in a great location, Arlington is a nice area nearby, etc. There are knocks but it's pretty much Tampa, Central TX.

Houston might be an interesting warm weather destination as well. The arena was built to handle hockey (the Aeros played there until they moved to... Iowa, was it?). The downtown area is decent, although there isn't much right near the arena. Early April weather is usually pretty nice (like Tampa).

 

[FireKnight]

Re: frozen four attendance

An "affordable hotel in Boston" is generally not something easily found. If you were looking downtown within walking distance of the Garden, well duh. I didn't look, but I'd be shocked if there weren't some in the suburbs along the T that had reasonably priced rooms.

I got my hotel 2 stops on the T from the Garden for $129. No frills but I'm not there to sit in a hotel room.

 

[FireKnight]

Re: frozen four attendance

Yale has a great fan base that traveled extremely well to Pittsburgh in 2013. Also filled MSG for RS games in 2014 and 2015. Now if you'd used Harvard....

OK, so I can't pick on Yale or Harvard ... can we all agree on Princeton? They don't even home well, much less travel.