Thoughts on the Neyland Entertainment District

#76
#76
EZE said:
If it’s anything like what the Texas Rangers have around their new ballpark, most fans will like it…except for those who resist change no matter how good it is.

It’s nice to have a place to congregate after a big win. Texas Live was a blast during the Rangers World Series run.
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That's one thing I really want to see with what they actually lay out. They constantly pitch this as another Battery, Texas Live, etc.

The Battery takes up 70 plus acres so its not even in the same solar system.

Texas Live says its 200000 sq Ft, and has an outdoor space for 5000. The pitch for UT's says 175k sq feet. Ok, that's close enough to warrant discussion. The hotel/condo will be about 100 yards closer than what's at Texas Live so that eats up some of the outdoor availability, but still close enough.

But here's what I don't understand. They keep saying- THINK OF THE GAMEDAYS! Texas Live is surrounded by parking and still reasonably accessible via various methods (drive/park, public transportation, ride share, etc). After spending a couple weekends in Arlington, its plenty reasonable for me to think I could get down there and access Texas Live even if I had no ticket into Globe Life. Even if I had to take a walk in from Cowboys parking or somewhere close.

Let's say Tennessee is playing Alabama in basketball on a Saturday. How exactly am I supposed to access the District? Everything around TBA is a pass lot as is the rest of UT. Park in Ag and ride the bus to and from? Fair enough, but that's enough of a hassle, the vast majority aren't doing that with any sort of regularity. Park downtown and walk in? Why wouldn't I just go to the places down there?

Football gamedays? I can't even begin to imagine getting there without having a ticket to the game.

It just seems be to a rushed answer to a question no one asked. (Which, looking at it, is kind of the official Knoxville/Knox Co Development method so I guess that tracks.)
 
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#81
#81
dobre_shunka said:
VASF started in 1986.

I'm not relying on my memory. I had season tickets in 1991 and still have the stubs to know the per game price and can look up my yearly donations in my online UTAD account.
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Our tickets had the fee you allude to included. This is a much more nuanced topic regarding grandfathered tickets. My point is everyone who bought season tickets in 1991 did NOT pay this fee.
 
#82
#82
BernardKingGOAT said:
Don't forget about TBA. 1/5 of the people attend a basketball game, but that area will be buzzing during basketball season too.
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I can see that for a Saturday game, but not a Tuesday game. Most of us can’t afford to get hammered on a Tuesday night and the chances of the food being anything worth celebrating are extremely slim.

How many Saturday home games do we get each year? 7 for football and 8 for basketball?
 
#83
#83
adam.vol said:
Whatever.. I have no interest in driving 3 hours to Knoxville to stand in a crowded bar for hours before going to sit for 5 hours on crowded steel benches.
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Yeah, took my wife to the 2023 A&M game so she could have the Neyland experience, and while we had a good time overall, the steel benches with at least two too many people in each row for premium prices pretty much kills the desire to do it again.
 
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#84
#84
beachvol23 said:
Most of the people that are complaining have zero clue about commercial development. Those same people, the first time they go, will love it.
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Can you reason your commercial development theory with whether or not people will love the strip mall bars?

I have been building commercially in Nashville for more than 20 years and have no idea how you came to that conclusion. The locals in Nashville who have been here prior to 2010 hate what has happened to the city. The people who moved here with the automotive industry starting around 2008 don’t seem to like the commercial development.

The only people I speak with who like what Nashville has become are those who moved here to downsize because LA, New York, Chicago, Austin, Dallas.. Etc were too crowded and too expensive. They also never knew Nashville before they got here.
 
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#86
#86
Voltopia said:
The district is commercial glitz, lacking in any character or substance. No different from any other pro sport venue. Just more opportunities to uproot anything unique or local and replace it with commercial point-of-sale stations.

The hotel however is a complete travesty, and I cannot believe the powers that be are allowing it. Actually, no, strike that, I can believe it, because there must be money changing hands to get that approved. I despise it.

Have you noticed they NEVER show any views of what the building will look like from inside the stadium? They always show "low" or distant views from the ground, at angles that make look the hotel look as unobtrusive as possible. But if you look closely, the hotel is almost TRIPLE the height of the Neyland press boxes, and wide enough to stretch from section GG to the letters or even the jumbotron (it's tough to tell with the renders; the idea they'd build a hotel that only stretches the distance between GG and IIis hard to swallow - and every new render it gets a little bigger).

Just look at how damn tall the thing is in this picture.

View attachment 830329View attachment 830332
Look at that. It's even bigger than original renders - and it's RIGHT NEXT to the stadium. In the old renders, the building was at least lower and somewhat in line with the press boxes (and that one sucked too, just less than this new rendering). The building will make the view feel cramped, claustrophobic, but worst of all, it will permanently break up the brilliant blue skylines of Neyland. Just imagine seeing this next time you're in your seats-

View attachment 830336
Or this -

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Now those are just dirty photoshops, but it's not like the real thing will be any better. No more unbroken view of Tennessee, no more full blue sky, all for a giant private commercial condo building built for specific folks to preside over everything. And THAT'S why they don't EVER show renderings of the building from inside the stadium, because they know how awful it's going to look. And the less people pay attention, the easier it'll be to build it without complaint.

I know for some it doesn't matter. "I just want to watch football," etc., etc. That's all whatever. I'm sure plenty wouldn't care if they built six condo-hotels around the entire exterior and blocked the view of everything. I've given up on thinking otherwise. But aesthetically the design is garish and will detract from the visual experience inside the stadium.
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This nails it, you can close the thread now.
 
#87
#87
sami said:
Yeah, took my wife to the 2023 A&M game so she could have the Neyland experience, and while we had a good time overall, the steel benches with at least two too many people in each row for premium prices pretty much kills the desire to do it again.
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The perfect game day is when your tailgate experience is the polar opposite of the bleacher experience. Tailgates are what I do to stretch and relax after a long commute. The stadium is where I go to sit bobsled style with everyone who shares a seat number with me and scream for the defense. 😆

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#89
#89
Brave Volunteer said:
Beyond IMO. I think it has gotten downright unreasonable.
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Like I posted in another thread, when I can take a vacation for three weeks to Spain for essentially the same price as a weekend at a big UT game, there's literally no point in going to the UT game anymore. They've entered competition in a place that many people just aren't going to want to go for. It's a damn shame...I can wade around amongst drunks and near-drunks on Cava Baja in Madrid and those drunks and near drunks are way more fun.

I may- eventually- go to a little game or two, but it's just not worth it most of the time.
 
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#91
#91
Unconditional Surrender said:
Here's the thing. I think they are already pretty much maxing out how much money they can extract from Tennessee fans.
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I agree. At some point you reach a max but they seem to believe the line will always be going up.

Lets say the economy crashes or at least sternly corrects (increasingly likely) and the New Money turns into No Money... where does that leave them?
 
#93
#93
strkr said:
Pretty much what I will be doing. Priced out the average fan and of course Dan doesn't care about them just look at what happened with baseball renovation and building more suites to knock out average Joe's. I feel this Neyland entertainment district is not the way to go but what do I know. Just reserve a $400 a night room on top level of hotel and watch the game there.
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$400 a night? Try about $1500 a night. Downtown hotels are already $1000 to $1200 a night the last time I looked.
 
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#94
#94
strkr said:
Pretty much what I will be doing. Priced out the average fan and of course Dan doesn't care about them just look at what happened with baseball renovation and building more suites to knock out average Joe's. I feel this Neyland entertainment district is not the way to go but what do I know. Just reserve a $400 a night room on top level of hotel and watch the game there.
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Just guessing... the top level rooms where you could view the game will be the condos in the hybrid condo-hotel. $400 might YET get you in the rooftop bar
 
#95
#95
volsack said:
What you said. I used to own a bar on the strip back in the early 2000's, and we sold our business and went to Charlotte when the Cumberland Ave Merchants Association showed us the plans for what the strip is now. That marked the beginning of the end of for the strip. That being said, the same thing will happen in the Danny District. Local and independent places will struggle because you only make money during the school year and as high as rent is going to be, alot won't make it through the summer, which is the slowest time of the year in the restaurant industry here. That will leave only the national chains and PE backed concepts because they have deep enough pockets to survive the offseason.

I think it will be Knoxville's version of the generic bars in Nashville
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I dunno. They are hosting all kinds of events in Neyland now, so it should stay steady all year?
 
#96
#96
VolForLife83 said:
I dunno. They are hosting all kinds of events in Neyland now, so it should stay steady all year?
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You really need it to be a weekly or darn close to weekly thing. Even with football you've still got to keep that revenue smooth becuase that's only what, 8 weekends a year?

There are not many small/local businesses that can survive that, especially with what I imagine will be astronomical rent.
 
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#97
#97
Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that we dropped “following the rules” to spend $20,000,000 on basketball recruiting right as the Entertainment District was announced as finalized?
 
#100
#100
strkr said:
Pretty much what I will be doing. Priced out the average fan and of course Dan doesn't care about them just look at what happened with baseball renovation and building more suites to knock out average Joe's. I feel this Neyland entertainment district is not the way to go but what do I know. Just reserve a $400 a night room on top level of hotel and watch the game there.
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Those rooms will be $1,000 +
 
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