A National Perspective-With 41K UNT enrollment & 300K DFW NT alums—Is it really time to shrink our 🏀 venue? That is...

wardly · April 5, 2021

I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that the Athletic Department schedules time at the Super Pit like any other department. I don't know how much support it could expect from the university to upgrade this existing facility if the other departments who use the Super Pitt are not unhappy.

Matt from A700 · April 5, 2021

I knew UT was downgrading their arena but I was not aware they were tearing down the Erwin Center. With Austin set to hit 1 million residents soon, this will leave them without a professional-sized arena (even if they never get a Major 4 team because of UT).

southsideguy · April 5, 2021

If we have had one sell out in the history of the pit is too big.

GrandGreen · April 5, 2021

13 hours ago, wardly said:

I may be wrong, but it is my understanding that the Athletic Department schedules time at the Super Pit like any other department. I don't know how much support it could expect from the university to upgrade this existing facility if the other departments who use the Super Pitt are not unhappy.

What other departments use the SP? It is used for other purposes than basketball, but a single department is not going to use a 10,000 seat arena.

This not belonging to the athletic department problem is a bunch of baloney, it makes absolutely no difference. The same people would make the usage decisions no matter were the technical ownership is.

All those lamenting that the SP is not owned by the Athletic Department, should realize that there would be no SP if that were not the case.

The state of Texas financed part or all the construction because it was a multi-use facility. NT just didn't have the foresight to realize that future fans would be turned off because it is not smaller.

Edited April 5, 2021 by GrandGreen

PlummMeanGreen · April 5, 2021

14 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Funny both Shaka Smart and Karen Aston are quoted in the Moody article. Both are grateful and both are gone.

And I’m sure there are those that believe building a new basketball arena is cheaper than renovating whatever ails the Coliseum. Having done some commercial and residential building myself, I simply don’t believe it.

GO MEAN GREEN

Hey greenjoe, with UT going to demolish their 16K Super Drum & build a new arena that seats 10,000; well, I suppose that means UNT & UT will now have the same basketball arena seating capacity? Whodathunk that would ever happen?🤔 Bells & whistles for UT’s venue being the main difference, of course.

❇️🦅❇️

Edited April 5, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · April 5, 2021

I agree. A new modern arena, like the one pictured, will continue to help boost the basketball program. The coliseum has too many negatives, even though I’ve made some fantastic memories there.

CMJ · April 5, 2021

2 hours ago, southsideguy said:

If we have had one sell out in the history of the pit is too big.

Or our team has been mediocre to bad the vast majority of the last 50 years.

greenminer · April 5, 2021

2 hours ago, southsideguy said:

If we have had one sell out in the history of the pit is too big.

It's not that simple

Looks like @CMJ just touched on it.

southsideguy · April 5, 2021

1 hour ago, CMJ said:

Or our team has been mediocre to bad the vast majority of the last 50 years.

don't say that our you will be considered not a good fan...............................

UNTLifer · April 6, 2021

8 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

The coliseum has too many negatives...

Such as?

Matt from A700 · April 6, 2021

Does anyone know which is higher on the priority list for the master plan: bringing back baseball or building a new arena?

UNTLifer · April 6, 2021

2 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

Does anyone know which is higher on the priority list for the master plan: bringing back baseball or building a new arena?

yes

wardly · April 6, 2021

Just an old man's opinion but it is hard to justify either a new arena or baseball program. The Super Pit may not be new, but we are not the Texas Rangers who tear down a good venue and replace it with a great one. Also, why would we spend millions to add a non revenue sport such as baseball, which would require the addition of a women's non revenue program. There are only a very few college baseball programs who break even, and with a $7 to $10 stadium cost it just doesn't make sense to me.

DentonLurker · April 6, 2021

12 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

Does anyone know which is higher on the priority list for the master plan: bringing back baseball or building a new arena?

I would hope the new basketball arena. The Super Pit served its purpose, but it's time for a major upgrade and a true basketball facility.

UNTLifer · April 6, 2021

48 minutes ago, wardly said:

Texas Rangers who tear down a good venue and replace it with a great one.

Got that backwards, sort of. They replaced a great venue with a good one, since The Ballpark is still standing.

southsideguy · April 6, 2021

Just think maybe one day a real professional baseball might play in the stadium................Daniels must have pic on someone to keep his job.

greenminer · April 6, 2021

2 hours ago, wardly said:

Just an old man's opinion but it is hard to justify either a new arena or baseball program.

I have a couple uninformed responses to this:

Quote

The Super Pit may not be new, but we are not the Texas Rangers who tear down a good venue and replace it with a great one.

Even though we are not the Rangers, it is looking more and more likely that this will indeed happen.

Quote

Also, why would we spend millions to add a non revenue sport such as baseball, which would require the addition of a women's non revenue program. There are only a very few college baseball programs who break even, and with a $7 to $10 stadium cost it just doesn't make sense to me.

Baseball is not a revenue sport at any college, yet we are one of the few in the NT area that does not have one. If this is in the Master Plan (which I haven't glanced at in ages), then there is enough interest to figure out how to make it work.

NTXDJ · April 6, 2021

Can someone please enumerate what exactly is so bad about the SuperPit as it currently exists? I'll grant you that it has a larger seating capacity than is needed for basketball only, but there are cheaper and more efficient ways of dealing with that than building a new facility. Other than the lack of luxury suites or boxes, I don't see the big deficiencies. And really, how much more $$ would luxury suites bring in anyway?

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · April 6, 2021

16 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

Such as?

Seats are WAY too small and narrow

Lighting is terrible

Too big and cavernous for a team that gets 3k fans on average (it could change next year)

Many outdated features

Not very attractive from the highway

DentonLurker · April 6, 2021

3 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Seats are WAY too small and narrow

Lighting is terrible

Too big and cavernous for a team that gets 3k fans on average (it could change next year)

Many outdated features

Not very attractive from the highway

I would add that new arenas tend to have much better sight lines, bring fans closer to the court, etc.

Glaring things missing: practice courts connected to the arena, world class weight/training spaces, etc.

NTXDJ · April 6, 2021

Wasn't the lighting improved recently? If not, that's a really, really easy thing to fix in a building like this.

Seating can also be changed out, as we've seen before. I went to a couple of games two years ago and sat about 4-5 rows up from the floor, and I don't recall feeling any more cramped than I do at most stadiums, and I'm a pretty portly guy. (You want skinny seats? Upper deck in the The Ballpark in Arlington/Globe Life Park. They're 2-3 inches skinnier than lower deck.)

As for how the Super Pit looks on the outside, the recent change from the old brown wood up around the top part to the silver shiny stuff looks better, IMO, but it could still be better. I always liked the SP because it kind of reminded me of old Reunion Arena in Dallas. Both were flat on top, with a large square or rectangular "lid" that extends out over the side. Too bad they didn't copy RA more and use a dark glassy finish around the top and then add some green (or multicolor) LED lighting around the periphery of the top to light up on game days.

Some other easy improvements. They need better exterior lighting for walking across NT Blvd to the parking lots. Last game I went to I noticed the large mast lights were mostly out. They should cut back the trees around the SP so they don't look so old and block the view. They could also reroute or submerge the power/phone lines along Ave. D just east of the SP. Those old wooden telephone poles and sagging lines don't exactly scream "modern" to anyone.

Oh, and lastly, paint the damn top of the roof. Put a bit green "UNT" or SoW on it so when people are looking at Denton in Google Maps or Google Earth, they see it!

Edited April 6, 2021 by NTXDJ

greenjoe · April 6, 2021

Governments pay too much for everything. Buildings and parking lots and furnishings that would work well for businesses trying to make a profit are torn down, ripped up and sold as surplus when dollars are available at the request of a purchase order.

tmjerm · April 6, 2021

3 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Seats are WAY too small and narrow

Lighting is terrible

Too big and cavernous for a team that gets 3k fans on average (it could change next year)

Many outdated features

Not very attractive from the highway

The new silver facade on the upper portion of the exterior in place of the brown is at least an upgrade. I think we can work with it but doesn’t sound like we will, which I get.

4 hours ago, greenminer said:

Baseball is not a revenue sport at any college, yet we are one of the few in the NT area that does not have one. If this is in the Master Plan (which I haven't glanced at in ages), then there is enough interest to figure out how to make it work.

Baseball being non revenue doesn’t mean it isn’t a loss leader in lots of cases. It can be viewed as an advertising expense for the Mean Green brand, especially if we do well. It sustains the energy of the end of the basketball season through the rest of the semester which is a great thing.

greenminer · April 6, 2021

4 hours ago, NTXDJ said:

but there are cheaper and more efficient ways of dealing with that than building a new facility.

NTXDJ · April 6, 2021

1 minute ago, greenminer said:

I don't believe the sight line issues thing. I'd have to see that myself. I've never sat at the very tip top of the building before, but I've sat in the upper level, and I don't see a problem.

As for costs, I'm sure Wren would prefer a new facility. Most executive managers like tearing down the previous guy's stuff and "putting his stamp on the place" with "new and improved" stuff. It looks good on their resume.