On Campus arena

Jimmy Lemke has a great article about the future of an on-campus arena.

I agree with the notion that 5,000 is not enough. Jimmy states that the Panthers current attendance average is 4,200 per game. So here is an obvious question. Why build a new arena? The answers are simple. 1) Better for recruiting 2) Bring in more revenue and most important 3) Be able to play on campus, allowing more students/fans to go to games. All in agreement?

So how many more students would this bring to games? If it is only 800, then why bother? If the University only want 800 more fans per game, than it is simply not worth it to spend the money on a new facility. Now, a new facility will certainly build excitement throughout campus, and certainly bring more people, especially students, to the games. So why turn them away?

You don't build a facility to house what you are content with having, you build a new facility to "grow into", as Jimmy said.

A new on-campus basketball facility could be the ultimate long-term program changer for Panther Athletics, don't come up 'short', build for 7,000-10,000 fans. It may seem bigger than what is needed now, but once it is done, there is no going back.

Great article Jimmy, well done. I think a 7,000 to 8,000 seat arena near North Ave would be great for UWM and I'm sure with a facility like the Al at MU, UWM would have some ideas on what worked / what didn't work, etc.

An arena would do more for UWM than just house a basketball team. UWM has long been considered a commuter school and they are trying to change that image. An arena would help make UWM feel more like a univerisity with a campus, give UWM a real identity in the area.

The new areana would host men and womens' basketball games and big a big draw for recruiting, would provide a venue for concerts, have graduation ceremonies, etc.

I think the real benefit would be to the overall UWM community and the school pride / campus atmosphere it would provide. Who knows, 10 years down the road UWM could be hosting the state high school basketball championships.

I think Goose hit the nail right on the head with "changing the image of the commuter school."

You want an intimate atmosphere to create a home-court advantage. The facility will be used for volleyball and women's basketball as well.

I believe a facility that can seat 6,000 would be sufficient. That's a lot of seats to fill when you play Youngstown State or Wright State on a Tuesday, yet it's also enough for Butler, Green Bay or Valpo.

Butler and Wisconsin both brought in north of 6,000 this year. I just don't think you build an arena to serve you today and today only, but in the future as well.

Jimmy - was is the reality of this new facility getting built? Is this still in the dream phase or are we looking at breaking ground at some point in the next couple years as a reality?
I think while you are building it you may as well go with 7,000 or 8,000. Think space for concerts, graduations, etc and not just hoops.

Jimmy would know the answer, but the students approved a $25 per student fee to pay for it, and that has been in place since the vote. That was two years ago. I don't know if it is semester, or annual, so for safety sake, let's say annual. There are over 30,000 students enrolled. That means there is already $1.5 million in the coffer, and that doesn't include donors that will step up. So to answer the question of "is this facility going to be built", it better be, or the students are going to expect some cash back.

I'm actually working on a second story on the student fee - waiting on Rick Costello to comment, I already have two sources on the record but want his point of view.

Right now, the account has something like $2.9 million.

Must be $25 per semester then. Looking forward to hearing the university's comments.

If there is already $3 mil in the bank, add that to what you should be able to get with donors, possibly some city development money, naming rights, etc and I think you are on the way. What did the Al cost, $30 mil? I think UMW is looking at building something similar from a size venue standpoint.

I'm suprised the students are not already squaking about paying $3 mil and seeing no progress.