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NEW ARENA: Villanova's 6,500-seat Pavilion opened in 1986 — and was outdated by 1987. Most high school gyms have more restrooms and concession stands than the Pavilion and Wright said plans are in full swing for either a new arena or complete renovation.

"We sell this place out every game," Wright said. "But for the school, we could create more revenue. The place looks great on TV. It's just not good for fans and it doesn't generate the revenue like a new arena would."

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Because seating capacity is almost tripled, the Wildcats save their biggest games each season for the Wells Fargo Center.

But with the arena the site of an NCAA tournament regional this season, Villanova was limited to only three games during the regular season if it wanted the option of playing in March at home.

"We didn't want to be arrogant about making the decision, like we're going to get there," Wright said. "But if we did get that far, and we didn't give ourselves that chance, it probably would be irresponsible. We actually take a revenue hit doing it."

Aim for a 10K arena. Maybe something similar to Xavier's home court.

That would be great for them . I can't imagine a 10,000 seat arena would have a much bigger footprint than the current 6,500 one. For those familiar with the area, is the Pavillion wedged in there or is there some room to grow? Where do you think you would play your home games during construction?

This one to Xavier fans; How long did it take to build the Cintas Center?

Plenty of space. But capacity will not increase. The local community will not allow it.

novahoops11 wrote:Plenty of space. But capacity will not increase. The local community will not allow it.

Hopefully you guys can convince them otherwise, but I understand that is a difficult task. With a 10 year waiting list for season tickets it's clear that Nova has the demand.

We seem to be in a facilities upgrading period as a whole in the BE. MU just upgraded our practice facility, new arena incoming, new athletic performance research center on the way. Nova, as I understand it, is building some new training facilities (although it might be a football only facility? Either way, I think Nova recently put a basketball only facility). Xavier is renovating the Cintas Center. Creighton just finished a practice facility. Georgetown is finishing up their John Thompson athletic center. DePaul has a new arena on the way. Butler recently upgraded Hinkle. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but it's an exciting time either way.

Unlikely that nova could get the zoning approved for increased capacity.

Villanova really does not need a bigger arena, the size is fine considering the use of the NBA arena downtown for bigger games. It's more a matter of giving the place a serious face lift and changing up where the students sit and making each seat in the building more comfortable and adding better concessions than it is about adding capacity

Ova has a new basketball practice facility that is real nice.

NovaBall wrote:Unlikely that nova could get the zoning approved for increased capacity.

Villanova really does not need a bigger arena, the size is fine considering the use of the NBA arena downtown for bigger games. It's more a matter of giving the place a serious face lift and changing up where the students sit and making each seat in the building more comfortable and adding better concessions than it is about adding capacity

Ova has a new basketball practice facility that is real nice.

Yes and no. The problem this year is Nova can use the NBA arena only 3 times to be able to still play in Philly for the NCAA tourney. That's why Nova is only playing Nebraska in the Gavitt games.

marquette wrote:That would be great for them . I can't imagine a 10,000 seat arena would have a much bigger footprint than the current 6,500 one. For those familiar with the area, is the Pavillion wedged in there or is there some room to grow? Where do you think you would play your home games during construction?

This one to Xavier fans; How long did it take to build the Cintas Center?

Cintas broke ground in 1998 and finished in 2000. Was built using private donations and cost less than $50 million.

Not sure on the statistics, but - if Villanova officially confirms new arena - that would mean Nova, Marquette and DePaul are all getting new stadiums in the next five years. That's 30% of the conference. Any other large conference have that many programs getting new arenas for basketball? That's impressive in it's own right - reaffirms how committed the conference is to elite college basketball.

Why doesn't Nova play at Wells Fargo full time?

stever20 wrote:
Yes and no. The problem this year is Nova can use the NBA arena only 3 times to be able to still play in Philly for the NCAA tourney. That's why Nova is only playing Nebraska in the Gavitt games.

Villanova plays 5 games per year at the NBA arena. In years where the NBA arena is the host of the tourney, they reduce it to 3.

From 2000 through 2019, the only years where this has mattered have been 2006, 2009, and 2016. So in 19 years Villanova has lost the increased revenue from a grand total of 6 games. (and in 2006 and 2009, they did get to play 4 more of games downtown in the tourney, and although they don't get that revenue they make up for it plenty in the alumni events)

And stever has somehow categorized this as a "PROBLEM"? Stever is off the hook crazy and has absolutely no grasp of the big picture of things.

And the Nebraska game on campus is great for the season ticket holders. One of the gripes about the new big east is that there aren't as many attractive on campus games as the old big east had (I am not really in that camp). UCLA played on campus in 2002. Oklahoma played on campus in 2006 when both teams were in the top 5. There have been games against fellow big east teams like Pitt and BC and WVU when those teams were in the top 10 or top 15 that were played on campus in years where they sort of flew under the radar and ended up being better than expected. ESPN hosted college gameday from campus a few years back.

With respect to the games I references (Pitt, BC, WVU) that were against ranked teams on campus, this is actually a sore spot for some Nova fans. They think we are missing out on some of those opportunities in the new big east as there are not as many teams, and all the good games are pegged for the NBA arena while in the old big east you were more likely to have a weeknight game that could be on campus. My counter-argument to the naysayers is that in the years when Pitt or BC or WVU played on campus, they were not supposed to be as good as they were, and that's why the games were scheduled on campus. In time, we will see years when a team like Creighton or Marquette or Seton Hall or whomever exceeds pre-season expectations and comes to campus ranked. Of course I think the round robin does decrease this possibility a bit (but I love the round robin, so it is a fair trade in my eyes).