brockytop
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A great atmosphere such as LSU game is pretty much undetectable when watching TN games on tv because of the lack of lighting on the crowd. Whereas Auburn, UK, and a ton of other programs have arena lighting showing fans, ours does the opposite.
Great post. It's sad that the atmosphere at TBA seems to be lacking more times than not given overall quality of the team since around 2005ish. Anything above Row 4-5 in the uppers is a waste of time for basketball IMO. I'd rather watch on TV. With that said, I actually like the lighting. Gives it a Madison Square Garden type feel and the black seats are much much better than the orange ones. I remember those looking so odd when an even like WWE would come to town.The Auburn Arena is less than half the size and capacity of Thompson Boling, seating 9,121 at full capacity, such that when full a similar size crowd shows in Knoxville it would be an embarrassment, the excitement of the crowd is directly related to the enthusiasm of the team, the entertainment on the floor and the ability to knock down wins against top teams. It happens in Knoxville from time to time.
Under the new ticket pricing arrangement at Thompson Boling, student seating will be in both end zones behind the baskets, the old arena donors on the sidelines will have to pony up significant dollars to stay where they are, but there are still 5,000 bad seats in the upper enclaves of Thompson Boling, courtesy of Doug Dickey's ego in the big 80s in that the arena had to seat more than Rupp Arena, regardless of the demand for seating in the 300 level or the sight distances involved from the lofty perches. The renovations to the arena have helped, the black cloth seats look better on television than the plastic orange ones, but the arena is hard to get to as an on campus arena, poorly configured from a parking location perspective and is routinely scratched from hosting NCAA regional events given the distance and disconnect from the existing hotels and city dining and entertainment amenities. Some of us remember black curtains in the upper deck sealing off and hiding the thousands of unsold seats not so long ago.
A nice tight 17,500 seat arena comparable to the Walton at Arkansas would have looked good on the old worlds Fair site connecting downtown Knoxville to the eastern edges of campus, but TBA is what it is, a bigger house to fill and a harder environment to turn rauccus and roudy given the cavernous spaces in a big box arena which is a bit too big and misplaced for its own good.
The Auburn Arena is less than half the size and capacity of Thompson Boling, seating 9,121 at full capacity, such that when full a similar size crowd shows in Knoxville it would be an embarrassment, the excitement of the crowd is directly related to the enthusiasm of the team, the entertainment on the floor and the ability to knock down wins against top teams. It happens in Knoxville from time to time.
Under the new ticket pricing arrangement at Thompson Boling, student seating will be in both end zones behind the baskets, the old arena donors on the sidelines will have to pony up significant dollars to stay where they are, but there are still 5,000 bad seats in the upper enclaves of Thompson Boling, courtesy of Doug Dickey's ego in the big 80s in that the arena had to seat more than Rupp Arena, regardless of the demand for seating in the 300 level or the sight distances involved from the lofty perches. The renovations to the arena have helped, the black cloth seats look better on television than the plastic orange ones, but the arena is hard to get to as an on campus arena, poorly configured from a parking location perspective and is routinely scratched from hosting NCAA regional events given the distance and disconnect from the existing hotels and city dining and entertainment amenities. Some of us remember black curtains in the upper deck sealing off and hiding the thousands of unsold seats not so long ago.
A nice tight 17,500 seat arena comparable to the Walton at Arkansas would have looked good on the old worlds Fair site connecting downtown Knoxville to the eastern edges of campus, but TBA is what it is, a bigger house to fill and a harder environment to turn rauccus and roudy given the cavernous spaces in a big box arena which is a bit too big and misplaced for its own good.
Agreed. Bad optics on TV. A little dark, and all I see courtside is media, and fat people sitting on their a$$es. Need our students there in place of media and fat, old fans.
Too blunt?
A great atmosphere such as LSU game is pretty much undetectable when watching TN games on tv because of the lack of lighting on the crowd. Whereas Auburn, UK, and a ton of other programs have arena lighting showing fans, ours does the opposite.
I love the TBA lighting. Looks like the garden or (formerly) staples center. It’s actually much brighter than it appears on TV in person and still has a great college game atmosphere.
It’s actually a gorgeous arena on the inside. I like that it’s on-campus, and we have had good attendance, and a few crowds have been absolutely electric. The outer shell is a bit drab, but that was never its strong point. I don’t know anywhere that an on-campus arena would have trouble-free parking, especially the large arenas. The Auburn atmosphere is good because they are winning, and a 9,000 seat arena is right for them because they couldn’t come close to our attendance when both teams are winning on equal terms.I love the TBA lighting. Looks like the garden or (formerly) staples center. It’s actually much brighter than it appears on TV in person and still has a great college game atmosphere.