Let me preface what I am about to say with this. I tend to only make it back to one football game a year due to the price and distance of travel and I haven't been to a basketball game in a few years. This year's team had me really intrigued though so I got tickets for Florida this past Saturday.

I don't really understand the gripes about Reed. That may be because I haven't attended college basketball games in other arenas to compare though. The seats were comfortable, the sight lines aren't terrible, and it wasn't bad to get in and out of the arena. We parked in lot 100 and aside from being in a little bit of traffic (which were used to from every day living) it was easy enough to get in and out. My 13 year old did feel the game was pretty "low key" but her only other comparisons are football, which we know is intense.

So to my original question, what is really wrong with Reed besides it being a bit sterile and not overly intimidating. I'm not sure what we would be looking for in a new arena. Something with more suites, concessions, intimidating setting, etc.?

It is sterile and lacks suites. Suites are a big revenue generator. I agree that the overall atmosphere is not bad and the seats are comfortable and the site lines are good as well. As much as it pains me to say this, the arena in Lubbock is far better than Reed.

Reed is a lot like Method Man's former basketball skills...

Basically he could do everything kinda ok but nothing spectacularly well...

Reed is like that.

It's aight.

bobinator said:

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But even Houston's arena is better than ours now.

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$60 Million can go a long ways to making a pig look pretty. And it was way behind the times 20 years before they did the renovation. Having a sugar daddy who really cares also helps.

It was kinda opposite of Reed though. Way too small, dark, and cramped like you were in a bomb shelter. They raised the roof 30', completely redid the structure and seating to have better sight lines before adding all the pretty.

Reed would be helped as a basketball / volleyball venue by not feeling so voluminous.

TxAg76 said:

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zgolfz85 said:

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I just want us to address that terrible blank wall. Surely there's more we can do with that space. It looks like a 25 yr old's apartment wall…just a big screen, no art, nothing to look at besides a screen. It's just a really awkward space. Hell, if they'd just paint it black or maroon, that alone would do wonders.

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That's where all the new banners from Buckyball's success are gonna be hung

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Isn't that the end for the graduation stage? They might be keeping it generic for that reason.

i thought they used to bring down a giant curtain, but I guess not anymore. That way they can use those seats and you can watch it on the tv screen.

The main upgrade Reed needs is a Final Four banner…

How do we get there? Likely filling the place…

I honestly don't think we need an arena with suites. Sure if they want to add some, that is fine. The biggest need I think is the seats need to be closer to the court. A facility designed for basketball, which Reed was not. Going to places like UTA's arena and Dickeys arena, even if you are in the upper deck you aren't far from the action. Move the fans closer to the court

Bobinator can speak to UTA's arena. There were only 2,800 people in attendance and obviously SMU had a decent amount of fans. When A&M made their run in the second half that place got LOUD because everybody is right on top of the court.

I don't really care one way or the other on suites because I'm probably never going to sit in one unless I win some kind of contest, but from the standpoint of reasons why they'd build a new arena it seems like potentially significant cash flow that we're missing out on.

If I got to design the arena myself for my own personal preferences, and it had to be in the same place as Reed, I wouldn't have suites or boxes, but I'd have several areas where people could grab a drink/some food and sit down and watch other games.

We normally tailgate the games, but if the weather is bad or something it would be nice to have a place inside Reed to just kind of hang out before games like Toyota Center and other venues have.

MarcAg said:

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Bobinator can speak to UTA's arena. There were only 2,800 people in attendance and obviously SMU had a decent amount of fans. When A&M made their run in the second half that place got LOUD because everybody is right on top of the court.

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Yeah, place was awesome. I know it's significantly smaller than Reed but the set up of its upper deck is exactly what I'm talking about. You're MUCH closer to the court, the second deck had its own concourse and restrooms/concession stands, etc.

At Reed the second deck feels like you're watching from across the street.

bobinator said:

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, I wouldn't have suites or boxes, but I'd have several areas where people could grab a drink/some food and sit down and watch other games.

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Yes! Completely agree with this. Very common these days.

bobinator said:

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MarcAg said:

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Bobinator can speak to UTA's arena. There were only 2,800 people in attendance and obviously SMU had a decent amount of fans. When A&M made their run in the second half that place got LOUD because everybody is right on top of the court.

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Yeah, place was awesome. I know it's significantly smaller than Reed but the set up of its upper deck is exactly what I'm talking about. You're MUCH closer to the court, the second deck had its own concourse and restrooms/concession stands, etc.

At Reed the second deck feels like you're watching from across the street.

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Yes I sat in the first row of the second deck. I saw the images before the game and I'm like you are really close to the action up there so I went with it and had no regrets. Dickeys is very similar.

If Trev wants to send Bobinator and I on an arena tour to bring back ideas, I will gladly accept the offer.

If all you've been to is Reed and Lloyd Noble arenas then you have no clue. OU at least recognized that a specific BB facility is worthwhile and is investing in it.

Now you can eff up an arena by just trying to expand it ( I'm looking at you Okie State ). You had a nice lil bandbox with a big home court advantage and blew it up chasing the all mighty dollar.

Take home - multi purpose not nearly as good as BB/ VB arenas. Rebuild usually doesn't improve things esp if the underlying facility is flawed to begin with. A destination VB/ BB arena with adequate parking and associated entertainment infrastructure would be a home run even off campus. Ain't gonna happen in my lifetime

One of the the core problems with Reed's design for basketball is that there really should be a lower level concourse. If you're in the lower seats (the good ones!) at Reed you have to hike up like 30 rows to get to a concession stand or restroom or walk around the entire court unless you happen to be in that one specific corner of Reed that has them down there. (I actually question what percentage of people even know that's there, but that's a different thing.)

What did they do to GIA?

I've been there a couple of times back in the Big 12 days and thought it was awesome.

blow out the north side concession stand and bathrooms, build out a food court type area, should be plenty or room and not even mess too much with traffic flow.

They expanded it and added some suites at the top. Lower seats are still close and intimate. Upper section and bowls are too many seats so rarely filled leading to half empty arena. Old GIA so small it was always packed

Doesn't help that they've mostly sucked for a long time now.

Like their best season in the last 20 years (2021) was basically our season last year.

In December 2000. The project, which included the addition of 14 luxury suites, doubled the arena's capacity from 6,381 to 13,611.
Not nearly as intimidating and really 14 suites ? Coach gets one, administration one, OSU Posse one that leaves 11 to sell. Expansion cost $ 55m. Probably equivalent of $200m in today's dollars. Think they wasted Boone's money

Back around 2000 I took a friend who is an OSU grad to a game at Reed. He was a student during the Eddie Sutton era and before Gallagher Iba expanded, when Okie St had one of the best home court environments in all of college basketball in my opinion. For those that don't remember it was a similar vibe to what Duke has at Cameron.

FWIW, he thought Reed was really nice and was surprised we would complain about it. Pretty sure this was pre hanging scoreboard too.

The fact that some people were already complaining about it when it was only two years old is probably the most telling part of that story, lol.

bobinator said:

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The fact that some people were already complaining about it when it was only two years old is probably the most telling part of that story, lol.

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Yeah it wasn't like it got old and people started complaining.
The complaints came early

Reed seems like it could use a slight makeover/updates inside and some window dressing/changes to the outside. But the location on campus is a great plus.

I'm just not sure if we'll get much after the upgrades to Olsen are completed and right behind that, if/when revenue sharing finally becomes a requirement (unless someone puts a big dollar donation specifically towards upgrading Reed)