News and Notes Part 13: Waddell has bought a house in Raleigh

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Unsustainable

Bunch of Jerks
Apr 14, 2012
37,207
102,202
Charlotte, NC
From the article though it looks like it wasn't so much that Waddell spoke disparagingly of him to the press but was asked specifically what went wrong with Semin. Personally I appreciate an actual answer to the question as opposed to obfuscation.

At any rate, the other take-aways from his talk before the Raleigh Sports Club

  • The team is still for sale, but relocation from Raleigh is NOT being contemplated - "This franchise eventually will get sold, but it’s not leaving Raleigh."
  • Waddell has purchased a house in Raleigh and he "wouldn’t be buying a house if I thought we were leaving the city."
  • A $50M - $70M expansion/renovation of PNC Arena is being planned
  • While average attendance went down last year, the team also reduced the number of complimentary and reduced tickets to put more of a premium on STHs
  • # of STHs has increased by an unspecified amount - first time in the last six years that there's been growth among the STH base
  • Waddell not opposed to ads so long as they're limited to a small patch near the shoulder on home jerseys only

From the last thread
 

HisIceness

This is Hurricanes Hockey
Sep 16, 2010
40,106
70,023
Charlotte
I'm kind of torn on a downtown arena.

Positives:
-No more October road trip
-Wouldn't have to share w/ NC State Basketball (not that I have a problem w/ this, but it would certainly free up more Saturday dates, also wouldn't have to worry about Football games)
-Would be a huge boost for DT Raleigh
-Possibility of hosting the ACC Tournament (can't happen w/ NC State playing at PNC)
-Perhaps this time the upper deck will have more leg room

Negatives:
-We'll in all likelihood lose the tailgating traditions (this would be a huge loss IMO)
-Would suck for people in Durham and Chapel Hill travel-wise. Ok maybe not too bad but the traveling distance increases

Neutral/Don't know:
-Traffic and parking
 

Joe McGrath

Registered User
Oct 29, 2009
18,055
37,805
I stay at the comfort suites and walk to the games when I come down. I don't have even the slightest clue what downtown looks like. Please don't change, I hate change. Put it in that delightful spot where World of Beer and Yard house are literally right next to each other.
 

Blueline Bomber

AI Generated Minnesota Wild
Sponsor
Oct 31, 2007
38,857
39,465
I just recently got a job downtown, so I wouldn't mind being able to walk over to a Canes game after work.

But I'd rather they simply stay where they are.

tumblr_n7ghux7JIw1sgrc1go1_500.gif
 

What the Faulk

You'll know when you go
May 30, 2005
42,121
3,851
North Carolina
Some parts of downtown can't handle the traffic as it is. They don't need to add 15k more people to that without some sort of mass transit system. Plus, who the **** is paying for a downtown arena? Undoubtedly us and not ownership. PNC isn't even that old. There's no reason it shouldn't last another 30+ years.
 

Boom Boom Apathy

I am the Professor. Deal with it!
Sep 6, 2006
48,174
97,099
I'd love an arena downtown, similar to what Nashville has, but as others have said, I don't see it happening and I'm not sure it's really even feasible without a lot of other things happening.

That said, being able to quickly get out of the parking lot and be home 20 minutes after the game ends is a very nice feature of PNC arena.
 

Identity404

I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious
Nov 5, 2005
2,738
6,640
Washington DC
Jumbotron is already six years old and is starting to look a bit small. Maybe we could be getting one of these monsters:

TampaBayNewScoreboard2-593x356.jpg
 

CandyCanes

Caniac turned Jerkiac
Jan 8, 2015
7,158
24,564
I'm interested in what is going to be done to PNC w/ these renovations. Anyone know?

There's been a lot of talk that they will shrink the size of the ticket office and likely double or triple the size of the eye store. Also they are talking about making a rooftop bar, which would be dang cool!

If anyone has been to the Lightning stadium in the last 3 years and seen their renovations lets hope for that. The rooftop bar they have is so freaking cool! It helps that it has an amazing view of downtown Tampa. But after every game they have live music up at the rooftop bar, and $2 beers. I'd love to see PNC pull off a similar concept. I lived down in Tampa for a bit, and the roof top deck with $2 beers was a big attraction for people that like to drink. People that didn't even care to go to the games would go just because they could get $2 beers afterwards haha.

Here is an article in the Biz Journal that talks about it. From what I previously heard they only wanted to spend like $30mill in renovations, now there is talks about $75mill budget? So maybe we will be getting more than just a rooftop deck and expansion of the eye. I know our jumbotron ain't old haha but ares is already outdated compared to a lot of the stadiums.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle...ena-centennial-authority-renovations-bar.html
 

VAcaniac

SHOOT THE PUCK
Feb 16, 2007
9,624
24,686
Los Angeles
I mostly grew up in Orange/Durham, so I don't know a lot about Raleigh, but aren't there surface parking lots? I can think of countless teams that have tailgating despite being downtown like the Nationals, Ravens, Orioles, Panthers, Braves, etc.

Also, why are you assuming that NC State wouldn't play at a downtown arena?
 

garnetpalmetto

Jerkministrator
Jul 12, 2004
12,476
11,841
Durham, NC
I mostly grew up in Orange/Durham, so I don't know a lot about Raleigh, but aren't there surface parking lots? I can think of countless teams that have tailgating despite being downtown like the Nationals, Ravens, Orioles, Panthers, Braves, etc.

Also, why are you assuming that NC State wouldn't play at a downtown arena?

Not really in downtown, no. Downtown is mostly deck-based parking.
 
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DaleCooper

NEVER 4GET
Aug 2, 2005
7,793
118
Brooklyn
www.jonathanhawkins.net
There probably would be at least some surface parking as the arena would likely go on the fringe of downtown (probably to the south), not right in the heart of it.

There's plenty of parking capacity in the downtown area (especially after work and on weekends) to accommodate an arena and grid-based street layouts are extremely effective at dispersing crowds. I think physically downtown could handle it quite well. It's a huge shame it was never built there to begin with.

That said, the current arena is still quite nice and I'm tired of local and state governments throwing millions (sometimes billions) of dollars to build venues to hand over to billionaires. I just wish there was a bit more development in that area and better transit. The Caniac Coach alone isn't cutting it.

There's also a good way to build an arena downtown where it blends in, has street-facing retail/mixed use, and is not a black hole outside of game days (Verizon Center in DC is successful in this regard) and there's a bad way to do it where it just blows up a whole superblock area. Raleigh has an extraordinarily vibrant downtown for its size so any arena plan should enhance that not work against it.

There's been a lot of pushback recently against massive public subsidies for sports venues, so I think this new venue building craze is going to slow a bit over the coming years.
 

Unsustainable

Bunch of Jerks
Apr 14, 2012
37,207
102,202
Charlotte, NC
There probably would be at least some surface parking as the arena would likely go on the fringe of downtown (probably to the south), not right in the heart of it.

There's plenty of parking capacity in the downtown area (especially after work and on weekends) to accommodate an arena and grid-based street layouts are extremely effective at dispersing crowds. I think physically downtown could handle it quite well. It's a huge shame it was never built there to begin with.

That said, the current arena is still quite nice and I'm tired of local and state governments throwing millions (sometimes billions) of dollars to build venues to hand over to billionaires. I just wish there was a bit more development in that area and better transit. The Caniac Coach alone isn't cutting it.

There's also a good way to build an arena downtown where it blends in, has street-facing retail/mixed use, and is not a black hole outside of game days (Verizon Center in DC is successful in this regard) and there's a bad way to do it where it just blows up a whole superblock area. Raleigh has an extraordinarily vibrant downtown for its size so any arena plan should enhance that not work against it.

There's been a lot of pushback recently against massive public subsidies for sports venues, so I think this new venue building craze is going to slow a bit over the coming years.

Nashville really has one of the best set ups around. With Broadway right at walking distance, life after the game can be fun if you want.

Checkers had a good set up at TWC in that respect with EpiCenter across the ways to have post / pre game fun.

That is something that should be looked at, just to help boost local business also.
 

cptjeff

Reprehensible User
Sep 18, 2008
20,381
33,935
Washington, DC.
There probably would be at least some surface parking as the arena would likely go on the fringe of downtown (probably to the south), not right in the heart of it.

There's plenty of parking capacity in the downtown area (especially after work and on weekends) to accommodate an arena and grid-based street layouts are extremely effective at dispersing crowds. I think physically downtown could handle it quite well. It's a huge shame it was never built there to begin with.

That said, the current arena is still quite nice and I'm tired of local and state governments throwing millions (sometimes billions) of dollars to build venues to hand over to billionaires. I just wish there was a bit more development in that area and better transit. The Caniac Coach alone isn't cutting it.

There's also a good way to build an arena downtown where it blends in, has street-facing retail/mixed use, and is not a black hole outside of game days (Verizon Center in DC is successful in this regard) and there's a bad way to do it where it just blows up a whole superblock area. Raleigh has an extraordinarily vibrant downtown for its size so any arena plan should enhance that not work against it.

There's been a lot of pushback recently against massive public subsidies for sports venues, so I think this new venue building craze is going to slow a bit over the coming years.

The Verizon Center works because DC has a very good public transit system. The Verizon Center is parked right on top of a major transfer station on the Metro and intersects with the two biggest bus lines in DC, the X2 and the 70. The only parking is street parking, and an internal lot for players and staff. The Verizon center, and the development around it, simply can't be replicated without a substantial investment in transit.

For a pretty much entirely car based area such as the triangle, you need to have an arena on the outskirts of an area with lots of parking, especially when you draw a regional crowd, not just a local one.

On another note, I've got my ticket for the preseason opener here in DC monday. Let's just hope no concussion for Skinner at this time. Got a pretty good view of that last year... :cry:
 

Anton Dubinchuk

aho
Sponsor
Jul 18, 2010
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Atlanta, GA
think i might end up going to the home opener

fall break is that monday/tuesday, and i have no classes on friday, so i'll be back in the triangle.

should be fun, havent attended a game that actually matters in three years (every time i get back for spring break we are already out of it)
 
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