There hasnt been a single human in this "courtside area/loungue behind the visitors all season. Sorta rediculous; a call needs to be made to whatever joke company rents that thing...shame on them.
Empty Again...
- Thread starter ClarkLotTgate
- Start date
you're assuming that a company is renting it. It could be unsold this year, like most of the upper deck. Many of the other suites have looked empty too. Could be unsold.
At least one suite IS unsold. Maybe two. Pitt sent out an email offering them for individual games. One was unsold last seasn, or much of it anyway.
IMHO, those courtside suites were a questionable design choice anyway. The corporate presence for hoops in this city is pretty marginal.
Thank you for your support of Pitt Athletics. We are pleased to offer you this exclusive luxury suite opportunity. Hail to Pitt and THANK YOU for your support.
Whatever it takes to get that filled in. It just looks bad, especially on TV when they show the visiting bench and it's empty behind them. At least they could sell tickets for the seating in front of the lounge. I dunno there's a solution here somewhere.
Hopefully Barnes will eliminate those courtside boxes and put in 500 or so premium permanent seats. Would probably make more money and it wouldnt look like crap on TV.
Actually, what you could do is put retractable seats behind the benches where the boxes are now and that can be the Zoo. Then, the current Zoo section could be high priced mega donor seats since the location is prime.
Actually, what you could do is put retractable seats behind the benches where the boxes are now and that can be the Zoo. Then, the current Zoo section could be high priced mega donor seats since the location is prime.
There actually were some people in that box before the game. There were four guys standing behind the seats at one of the tables set up there BSing. One of the guys I go to the games with actually pointed it out and said look, there are some people in those seats tonight for a change.
If they weren't sitting in those seats during the game (I admit I didn't notice) then I wonder where those guys went?
If they weren't sitting in those seats during the game (I admit I didn't notice) then I wonder where those guys went?
Even when the suites were rented, a lot of those seats were empty. Used to be a lot of guys standng around talking instead of watching the games most nights.
I guess this is an interesting challenge for Barnes. He's supposed to be good generating corporate money. The suites were supposed to be a big revenue source. The area is basically built around them. How about the upper level suites on the Zoo side? Are they lit up and filled? I can't see them from my seats. If the suites aren't bringing in money, the whole basketball revenue system is broken and even more financial burden is put upon a half-empty Heinz Field and football.
The Burgh has never been a basketball town, particularly at a corporate level. It is an "event" town but I suspect that the furure of the Pete is going to be more like football. Near sell-outs for "name" teams and lots of empties otherwise.
Short-term, maybe the empty suites and their linked seats could be donated to various charities on a per-game basis. It won't generate money but would fill those empty seats for TV and build some goodwill.
Hell, they sent an E-mail last week offering to let anyone rent one of those suites for any 3-game pkg., including Duke. "Catering packages available". I guess they thought Domino's Pizza & growlers wasn't what they were anticipating. Maybe the campus stadium nutjobs will jump on it as a recruiting tool.
BTW, Scott Barnes is one big dude. He & the Chancellor = Twin Towers.
