Current capacity of ACC and in-state basketball arenas
Syracuse 33,000
Louisville 22,090
North Carolina 21,750
NC State 19,557
Wake Forest 14,665
Virginia 14,593
Pittsburgh 12,508
Florida State 12,100
William & Mary 11,300
Clemson 10,000
George Mason 10,000
Virginia Tech 9,847
Duke 9,314
Notre Dame 9,149
(VT after reno ~8,900?)
Boston College 8,606
Georgia Tech 8,600
JMU 8,500
ODU 8,472
Miami (FL) 7,972
VCU 7,617
Richmond 7,200
Babcock mentioned that he would like to be able to keep the capacity as "close to 9,000 as possible." So, that means we'll probably be somewhere in the 8,800 to 8,900 realm. With our current capacity we are already in the bottom 3rd of ACC arenas, and this will likely take us down to one of the bottom 4 in the ACC.
This will also keep us solidly in 4th place in Virginia behind UVA, W&M and GMU, and just ~barely~ above JMU and ODU.
The planned renovations are beautiful, but I am extremely disappointed that we are heading in the wrong direction with regard to capacity. Granted we haven't been drawing close to 10,000 in recent years, but if the current resurgence of the program continues, it is not unreasonable to expect that we could see that type of demand again.
With all of the tearing out of walls and other major structural changes, you would think that they might take the opportunity to try to fit more general seating in, to keep our capacity near 10,000. Particularly galling is that, with the conversion of seats to more premium seating, there will be even less availability for regular fans and students. Just seems like a lost opportunity and a short sighted step in the wrong direction.
[Post edited by Culpeper Hokie at 04/21/2021 11:08AM]
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