Frost Arena Capacity?

[valleyrabbit]

What is the actual current capacity of Frost Arena?

In our last game against USD, we had approximately 8000 in attendance. What I read now is that it only holds 6500. The new seats did not reduce the capacity by 1500 seats. Is it a more strict fire code? Does it have something to do with being Division I? Does it have to do with the bad steps in the corners of the building?

If anyone knows for sure, please add your thoughts. It will be a major bummer if we have to turn people away because we have to have some bleachers partially rolled up because of some fire code.

[joeboo22]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

I posted some of this on WNIT attendence but I will respond to yours also
1500 seats is alot thats the size of an average A gym.. (alot of bleachers)
I know fire codes are strict but reducing that much is alot. I really think that they should fix that problem because as we get into a conference we will have bigger rivals and the possibility of bigger names coming into frost I wouldn't want to have to turn anybody away.

[thebluehatman]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

What is the actual current capacity of Frost Arena?

In our last game against USD, we had approximately 8000 in attendance.  What I read now is that it only holds 6500.  The new seats did not reduce the capacity by 1500 seats.  Is it a more strict fire code?  Does it have something to do with being Division I?  Does it have to do with the bad steps in the corners of the building?  

If anyone knows for sure, please add your thoughts.  It will be a major bummer if we have to turn people away because we have to have some bleachers partially rolled up because of some fire code.

A.) They have shrunk the student section by quite a few rows in those 3 years.
B.) The east and west sides used to be bleachers now they are seat back.
That right there is easily between 750-1000 seats, if you think back to NCC days the bleachers went down to the court and maybe a space of 2-3 feet were left between the seats and the floor.

[Jacks99]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

I posted this in the other thread, but per past discussions here, there seems to be an issue with the SW stairwell that puts a cap on how many can be in the bleachers upstairs. Maybe this is fixed and why the west bleachers were pulled once this year.

[valleyrabbit]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

[quote author=gatewayrabbit link=1173939865/0#0 date=1173939865]What is the actual current capacity of Frost Arena?

In our last game against USD, we had approximately 8000 in attendance.  What I read now is that it only holds 6500.  The new seats did not reduce the capacity by 1500 seats.  Is it a more strict fire code?  Does it have something to do with being Division I?  Does it have to do with the bad steps in the corners of the building?  

If anyone knows for sure, please add your thoughts.  It will be a major bummer if we have to turn people away because we have to have some bleachers partially rolled up because of some fire code.

A.)  They have shrunk the student section by quite a few rows in those 3 years.
B.)  The east and west sides used to be bleachers now they are seat back.
That right there is easily between 750-1000 seats, if you think back to NCC days the bleachers went down to the court and maybe a space of 2-3 feet were left between the seats and the floor.[/quote]

I understand the new seating has reduced the number of seats but 750-1000 does not equal 1500. Where did the other 500-750 seats go. I figured the new configuration of Frost held between 7000-7500 not 6500. What is the reason?

[CatchEmAll]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

To find the answer to this question one must solve a riddle wrapped in an enigma that has been dropped into a bottomless pit.

You can physically count chairback seats, that's the easy part. But with bleachers it's pure estimation, are you factoring an 18" wide seat and therefore taking the length of a row divided by 18 to come up with a number. Or, is it a 24" wide seat, or some other width dimension. It really comes down to how many bodies are being crammed into the bleachers and at what point is the athletic department shutting off ticket sales.

[mitchellrabbit]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

To find the answer to this question one must solve a riddle wrapped in an enigma that has been dropped into a bottomless pit.

You can physically count chairback seats, that's the easy part.  But with bleachers it's pure estimation, are you factoring an 18" wide seat and therefore taking the length of a row divided by 18 to come up with a number.  Or, is it a 24" wide seat, or some other width dimension.  It really comes down to how many bodies are being crammed into the bleachers and at what point is the athletic department shutting off ticket sales.

and how wide those butts are, is a factor too.

[SD-STATE]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

On Terry's blog, there is a list of all-time attendance games. We might need to expand Frost capacity if post-season basketball is going to become a habit, which I think it will.

[valleyrabbit]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

On Terry's blog, there is a list of all-time attendance games. We might need to expand Frost capacity if post-season basketball is going to become a habit, which I think it will.

Hopefully this year and next year will be our last years hosting post season games. The Mid-Con conference tournament and the NCAA tournaments are held at neutral sites. The only post-season games at Frost will be NIT games.

[Haldersham]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

I was at the game and was very surprised with announced number. It looked like more than 6000, but I suppose if you had video span of the seating during the game, you would note empty seats and there were some. I hope we can host another game but maybe not as if we are up against  Assembly Hall at Indiana U, I think it might be hard to host. Who knows though, if the money looks good to WNIT, maybe we get another host game.

[mitchellrabbit]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

kdlt just said, the jacks will host a game either wed or thur

[SD-STATE]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

[quote author=SD-STATE link=1173939865/0#7 date=1174178225]On Terry's blog, there is a list of all-time attendance games. We might need to expand Frost capacity if post-season basketball is going to become a habit, which I think it will.

Hopefully this year and next year will be our last years hosting post season games.  The Mid-Con conference tournament and the NCAA tournaments are held at neutral sites.  The only post-season games at Frost will be NIT games.[/quote]

Yes, but if we're good enough to get into the Big Dance consistently, we'll have more people than 6000 showing up during the regular season for games.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

[quote author=gatewayrabbit link=1173939865/0#8 date=1174185599][quote author=SD-STATE link=1173939865/0#7 date=1174178225]On Terry's blog, there is a list of all-time attendance games. We might need to expand Frost capacity if post-season basketball is going to become a habit, which I think it will.

Hopefully this year and next year will be our last years hosting post season games.  The Mid-Con conference tournament and the NCAA tournaments are held at neutral sites.  The only post-season games at Frost will be NIT games.[/quote]

Yes, but if we're good enough to get into the Big Dance consistently, we'll have more people than 6000 showing up during the regular season for games.
[/quote]

I'm thinking that making every one of those 6,000 seats a valuable commodity is more important to athletics than getting 8,000 in there once a year.

[NightHawk78]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

[quote author=gatewayrabbit link=1173939865/0#8 date=1174185599][quote author=SD-STATE link=1173939865/0#7 date=1174178225]On Terry's blog, there is a list of all-time attendance games. We might need to expand Frost capacity if post-season basketball is going to become a habit, which I think it will.

Hopefully this year and next year will be our last years hosting post season games. The Mid-Con conference tournament and the NCAA tournaments are held at neutral sites. The only post-season games at Frost will be NIT games.[/quote]

Yes, but if we're good enough to get into the Big Dance consistently, we'll have more people than 6000 showing up during the regular season for games.
[/quote]
I'm hoping you're right about the big crowds being back. Some other things to consider:
1) Doubleheaders could return (on a limited basis) starting next season when we're in the Mid-Con.
2) The WNIT appearance has certainly raised student interest . I'm thinking that will carry over into next season....
3) This is a "good problem" to have, isn't it?

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Frost Arena Capacity?

My question is where in the heck are the other 700+ seats that weren't filled last night. I counted about 100 seats in the reserved section that were empty (Obviously not an exact science), and the bleachers around me were packed to the corners. There were also a number of fans standing throughout the game in the corners of the arena as they couldn't find a seat. If that was 5700+ through the turnstiles, I don't know if Frost truly holds 6500.