Suggestion for the student section next year

[RhodyRams916]

I think it is BS that they moved the south side student seats to sections 301 and 314 for this season. For games other than PC I don't see how that draws more students to games. I would like to get your guys opinion on this:

What if they just gave all the 100 level seats to students. I've been watching a bunch of cbb games so far and many teams will wrap students around the arena for a more intimidating atmosphere. I legitimately think this would make the Ryan center even harder to play at for opponents because they would have a bunch of students behind them while they're on the bench cheering.
I'm not sure how possible this is with the season ticket holders already sitting behind the benches but it would draw more students to games other than the PC match.

[LoveThoseRams]

So as a 4 seat season ticket holder in 104, I would be willing to have my seats relocated IF we could be sure there was a URI student in every one of those seats EVERY game.

I do not think that would ever happen unfortunately. I always look to the student section in dismay and see several empty seats. I would say to start wrapping it around incrementally and see how many students fill the seats before displacing season ticket holders.

[RhodyRams916]

So as a 4 seat season ticket holder in 104, I would be willing to have my seats relocated IF we could be sure there was a URI student in every one of those seats EVERY game.

I do not think that would ever happen unfortunately. I always look to the student section in dismay and see several empty seats. I would say to start wrapping it around incrementally and see how many students fill the seats before displacing season ticket holders.

Well I think a start would be to not put the students all the way up in the third section and let those people go on the side. I've been to every game so far and the student section has been pretty great for most of the well scheduled games (PC, Nicholls, Alabama)

I am sure if they stopped putting Students in the nosebleeds and gave them seats in sections 104, 105, 106 they would fill those up.

[ramster]

Have you talked to anyone in ticketing/marketing about this possibility? I’d suggest that be a step you take as I’m sure this topic has been reviewed in the past.
What would happen to the season ticket holders that you would displace?

Do you information on what the 13 other A10 schools do? That would be a start.

[RhodyRams916]

Have you talked to anyone in ticketing/marketing about this possibility? I’d suggest that be a step you take as I’m sure this topic has been reviewed in the past.
What would happen to the season ticket holders that you would displace?

Do you information on what the 13 other A10 schools do? That would be a start.

Yeah I'll send them a message. I'm not sure about the season ticket holders.
It's not a big deal if they can't do it. I just think it would be nice to give students better seats especially when they took away a whole section in the 100s just for the cheerleaders.

[Rhody83]

They allocate 1500 tickets for students. There are too many games where they struggle to get 1,000 students. I don’t think it’s realistic to think there would be over 500 more students at most games if the seats were better. That doesn’t even take into consideration the home games when the students are on break (WKU, Richmond & Davidson this year. I believe it was 5 games last year). The student attendance hasn’t been strong on Saturdays and Sundays either. I believe there were approximately 500 students for the first game this year.

It would most likely be a reduction in ticket revenue of approximately $100,000 due to the displacement of season ticket holders from Club seats to Loge seats.

If student interest increases, I think putting students behind both baskets would be the first move. Hopefully the team continues to perform well and consistently make the NCAA Tournament. That would help increase student demand and overall paid ticket demand.
A lot of the schools you are probably watching on TV have larger student followings.

[Taylor Swift]

Have you talked to anyone in ticketing/marketing about this possibility? I’d suggest that be a step you take as I’m sure this topic has been reviewed in the past.
What would happen to the season ticket holders that you would displace?

Do you information on what the 13 other A10 schools do? That would be a start.

Yeah I'll send them a message. I'm not sure about the season ticket holders.
It's not a big deal if they can't do it. I just think it would be nice to give students better seats especially when they took away a whole section in the 100s just for the cheerleaders.

Students used to be behind the bench in my years as an undergrad, 2002-2006. The Baron Era created a situation of students not attending games, thus, STH’s were relocated to this level at the arena. The amount of revenue the Athletic Department would be losing giving up these seats to students would be a tremendous loss. I’ve mentored and worked with students and they can be quite fickle in showing up for things so we’d probably be looking at empty seats many times as LoveThoseRams mentioned.

We need as much revenue as possible to keep reaching for the next level, whether it be ticket sales or donations. I am for keeping season ticket holders in the areas they are now even though that wasn’t the initial intention when the RC first opened.

I do think it’s silly to give the cheerleaders all those seats as I think that’s only been the last few years. They must have increased the squad so that’s why they need the seats instead of all sitting at the baseline.

[RhodyRams916]

Have you talked to anyone in ticketing/marketing about this possibility? I’d suggest that be a step you take as I’m sure this topic has been reviewed in the past.
What would happen to the season ticket holders that you would displace?

Do you information on what the 13 other A10 schools do? That would be a start.

Yeah I'll send them a message. I'm not sure about the season ticket holders.
It's not a big deal if they can't do it. I just think it would be nice to give students better seats especially when they took away a whole section in the 100s just for the cheerleaders.

Students used to be behind the bench in my years as an undergrad, 2002-2006. The Baron Era created a situation of students not attending games, thus, STH’s were relocated to this level at the arena. The amount of revenue the Athletic Department would be losing giving up these seats to students would be a tremendous loss. I’ve mentored and worked with students and they can be quite fickle in showing up for things so we’d probably be looking at empty seats many times as LoveThoseRams mentioned.

We need as much revenue as possible to keep reaching for the next level, whether it be ticket sales or donations. I am for keeping season ticket holders in the areas they are now even though that wasn’t the initial intention when the RC first opened.

I do think it’s silly to give the cheerleaders all those seats as I think that’s only been the last few years. They must have increased the squad so that’s why they need the seats instead of all sitting at the baseline.

Well for the cheerleaders I think they moved them there because they used to be on the other end before the student section moved to that one side.

[RhodyRams916]

They allocate 1500 tickets for students. There are too many games where they struggle to get 1,000 students. I don’t think it’s realistic to think there would be over 500 more students at most games if the seats were better. That doesn’t even take into consideration the home games when the students are on break (WKU, Richmond & Davidson this year. I believe it was 5 games last year). The student attendance hasn’t been strong on Saturdays and Sundays either. I believe there were approximately 500 students for the first game this year.

It would most likely be a reduction in ticket revenue of approximately $100,000 due to the displacement of season ticket holders from Club seats to Loge seats.

If student interest increases, I think putting students behind both baskets would be the first move. Hopefully the team continues to perform well and consistently make the NCAA Tournament. That would help increase student demand and overall paid ticket demand.
A lot of the schools you are probably watching on TV have larger student followings.

Ok I see... So I guess the kids needs to fill the student section every game except for during January break to add extra seats?

[Obadiah]

First of all, we did have students sitting behind the visitor bench earlier in Ryan history, but they were moved because of numerous complaints from visiting teams, especially, A-10 teams and not because of the Baron era. So forget about putting students in sections 104,105,106. It ain't going to happen. Also, the student cap is 1500 so don't expect that to increase especially for big games. Exceptions to that will occur, but with more program success and an increase in the paying customers will reduce that probability.

Also, I question the comment that other CBB venues employ such seating arrangement. Duke, for example, seats their students at floor level on three sides - behind both baskets and along the north side of court. They do not seat students on the south side where the team benches are located. I know of no school that wraps their student section along all four sides of their courts. URI cannot follow the Duke model because of the special configuration of Ryan's west court side which includes space for the press, scouts, etc. They probably could do it, but only if they spend lots of dollars to reverse the west and east sides.

[Rhody83]

Many of the top attendance programs have student lotteries for every game. The student demand and paying customer demand far exceeds the seating. A nice problem to have. There have bern plenty of great crowds at the RC in the last four years that included the students filling the 300 sections behind the basket. The crowd Friday crowd was great. I think the URI Ticket Dept is focused on giveaways and promotions in their attempt to increase student interest. Everyone likes free stuff, especially students.

[RhodyRams916]

First of all, we did have students sitting behind the visitor bench earlier in Ryan history, but they were moved because of numerous complaints from visiting teams, especially, A-10 teams and not because of the Baron era. So forget about putting students in sections 104,105,106. It ain't going to happen. Also, the student cap is 1500 so don't expect that to increase especially for big games. Exceptions to that will occur, but with more program success and an increase in the paying customers will reduce that probability.

Also, I question the comment that other CBB venues employ such seating arrangement. Duke, for example, seats their students at floor level on three sides - behind both baskets and along the north side of court. They do not seat students on the south side where the team benches are located. I know of no school that wraps their student section along all four sides of their courts. URI cannot follow the Duke model because of the special configuration of Ryan's west court side which includes space for the press, scouts, etc. They probably could do it, but only if they spend lots of dollars to reverse the west and east sides.

Well that’s what I meant sorry if I confused you by saying south side. I mean the side the tv camera faces. Teams like duke, Michigan state, nc state, Washington, Auburn, do it.

What I was suggesting originally was to keep the student section on the current side but take those 300 level seats and move them to the sections behind the uri and away bench. But like someone said it did happen for a bit until away teams complained.p

[JimSidd]

The two spirit squads have had about the same number in the three years I’ve been going to games. I mentioned this in another thread over the weekend, they are limited to 24 total spots on the floor. The difference between last year and this year is that last year all the cheerleaders were on the floor and all the Ramettes were in the stands, in section 107. This year, it is split 12 and 12. As stated previously, the difference is that the spirit squad members have been moved from the south end to the student section. From my vantage point, they appear to be taking up two or three rows, not the entire section.

[Taylor Swift]

First of all, we did have students sitting behind the visitor bench earlier in Ryan history, but they were moved because of numerous complaints from visiting teams, especially, A-10 teams and not because of the Baron era. So forget about putting students in sections 104,105,106. It ain't going to happen. Also, the student cap is 1500 so don't expect that to increase especially for big games. Exceptions to that will occur, but with more program success and an increase in the paying customers will reduce that probability.

Also, I question the comment that other CBB venues employ such seating arrangement. Duke, for example, seats their students at floor level on three sides - behind both baskets and along the north side of court. They do not seat students on the south side where the team benches are located. I know of no school that wraps their student section along all four sides of their courts. URI cannot follow the Duke model because of the special configuration of Ryan's west court side which includes space for the press, scouts, etc. They probably could do it, but only if they spend lots of dollars to reverse the west and east sides.

John Chaney loved our student section

[RhodyRams916]

The two spirit squads have had about the same number in the three years I’ve been going to games. I mentioned this in another thread over the weekend, they are limited to 24 total spots on the floor. The difference between last year and this year is that last year all the cheerleaders were on the floor and all the Ramettes were in the stands, in section 107. This year, it is split 12 and 12. As stated previously, the difference is that the spirit squad members have been moved from the south end to the student section. From my vantage point, they appear to be taking up two or three rows, not the entire section.

From what I’ve seen is that they have everything but the top 2 rows in that section. The problem I have is that they just sit down the whole time while the whole other floor section stands and it feels awkward. Also students always give an annoyed look when they see that those seats are reserved for the cheerleaders.

[JimSidd]

My daughter is a Ramette. She is on the floor, but I’ll pass along the word to her that the students think those girls in the stands should be standing along with them. As for the annoyed looks, I think the students will have to get past that. These girls are students, too. They also practice several times a week, attend every game while school is in session as well as some over break. They sometimes make appearances on behalf of the school, like at local elementary schools and sometimes meet recruits. Admittedly, I am biased, but I will always stick up for the spirit squads.

[RhodyRams916]

My daughter is a Ramette. She is on the floor, but I’ll pass along the word to her that the students think those girls in the stands should be standing along with them. As for the annoyed looks, I think the students will have to get past that. These girls are students, too. They also practice several times a week, attend every game while school is in session as well as some over break. They sometimes make appearances on behalf of the school, like at local elementary schools and sometimes meet recruits. Admittedly, I am biased, but I will always stick up for the spirit squads.

I have nothing against the Ramettes at all. I was pointing out that there are students who regularly sat in those seats last year that can’t this year.

I don’t think they should sit on the floor. There’s no way that could be comfortable. I’m suggesting they put the them back to the other side like last year!

[section(105)]

.....don’t mess with my 105 seats.....kidding, but as I stated before, maybe an audit of existing number of seasons currently in the 100’s could be done to see if these could be consolidated into say 105. If so, fill the behind the visitors bench with students. I get the home court advantage of that, but do not get the visitor teams complaints, screw ‘me......like when watching some band box A-10 gyms, the roll out bleachers seem to be right atop both teams benches......lots of factors here, and I do think students not showing on regular basis is a visual concern.....use both 100 end zones to the max.....the press/media section seems to big for most games, consolidating that to south end zone/south baseline line table maybe could work, place displaced seasons across from URI bench.....I cannot offer anything to spirit squads etc......the section 105/106 saved for families, media types, comps, other will calls seems under utilized on regular basis, except say PC.....don’t mess with my 105......

[JimSidd]

The spirit squads want to sit on the floor: closer to the action. They just can’t use all four baseline sections. One reason is probably an area needed for photographers. There may be other reasons, but I don’t know them.

[thatRamBand]

The other issue with the spirit squads being on both sides is that it becomes difficult to coordinate cheers and chants. This was really apparent when I was in the band. You would get a weird delay from one side to the other, and often there were 2 different chants going on at the same time. Putting everyone on one side seems to have helped fix that this year.

[RhodyRams916]

.....don’t mess with my 105 seats.....kidding, but as I stated before, maybe an audit of existing number of seasons currently in the 100’s could be done to see if these could be consolidated into say 105. If so, fill the behind the visitors bench with students. I get the home court advantage of that, but do not get the visitor teams complaints, screw ‘me......like when watching some band box A-10 gyms, the roll out bleachers seem to be right atop both teams benches......lots of factors here, and I do think students not showing on regular basis is a visual concern.....use both 100 end zones to the max.....the press/media section seems to big for most games, consolidating that to south end zone/south baseline line table maybe could work, place displaced seasons across from URI bench.....I cannot offer anything to spirit squads etc......the section 105/106 saved for families, media types, comps, other will calls seems under utilized on regular basis, except say PC.....don’t mess with my 105......

Lol I’m ALL for giving students the current away section. I’m also curious on the number of students they’ve had for the other games this year (not manhattan) because the section “looked” pretty full for most of them

[RhodyRams916]

The spirit squads want to sit on the floor: closer to the action. They just can’t use all four baseline sections. One reason is probably an area needed for photographers. There may be other reasons, but I don’t know them.

I think the reason is because uri has those chairs set up right near the hoop. If they removed those, the spirit squad wouldn’t have to sit in the student section.

[EZBuckets]

Hi all - as the “unofficial” leader of the student section, I mostly disagree with a lot being said in this thread.

I personally think the current setup is ideal. The concept of wrapping students around the 100’s or moving them back behind visitor benches is simply a non-starter. Displacing season ticket holders and the spots taken behind both benches for friends/family just ain’t gonna happen.

Of course I wish we didn’t have to stick students in the 300’s but with the size limitations of the RC, it is what it is.

I for one was extremely happy we got rid of the “other” student section this season. No matter what we did, that side would be filled with students sitting and not cheering. It was impossible to keep the “Ruckus” on both sides - especially since I couldn’t be 2 places at once. I do maybe partially agree regarding the spirit squads taking up some of the prime front row seating - but it’s not a big deal & they’ve been really helpful starting cheers if I’m occupied.

I don’t think there’s one “right” way to organize student sections. I’ve been to plenty of CBB arenas and games and it runs the gamut. One thing that’s not debatable is that we now have one of the best student sections I’ve seen in person & are LIGHTYEARS ahead of where we were even 3 years ago. We’re seeing a consistent 900-1000 ENGAGED and STANDING students for virtually every game they are on campus. Only a few years ago we were lucky if the first 5 rows were standing for most of the game.

Just my 2 cents...

[RhodyRams916]

Hi all - as the “unofficial” leader of the student section, I mostly disagree with a lot being said in this thread.

I personally think the current setup is ideal. The concept of wrapping students around the 100’s or moving them back behind visitor benches is simply a non-starter. Displacing season ticket holders and the spots taken behind both benches for friends/family just ain’t gonna happen.

Of course I wish we didn’t have to stick students in the 300’s but with the size limitations of the RC, it is what it is.

I for one was extremely happy we got rid of the “other” student section this season. No matter what we did, that side would be filled with students sitting and not cheering. It was impossible to keep the “Ruckus” on both sides - especially since I couldn’t be 2 places at once. I do maybe partially agree regarding the spirit squads taking up some of the prime front row seating - but it’s not a big deal & they’ve been really helpful starting cheers if I’m occupied.

I don’t think there’s one “right” way to organize student sections. I’ve been to plenty of CBB arenas and games and it runs the gamut. One thing that’s not debatable is that we now have one of the best student sections I’ve seen in person & are LIGHTYEARS ahead of where we were even 3 years ago. We’re seeing a consistent 900-1000 ENGAGED and STANDING students for virtually every game they are on campus. Only a few years ago we were lucky if the first 5 rows were standing for most of the game.

Just my 2 cents...

Yeah I understand now how much revenue they would also lose if they moved STHs away. I think the student section has been great this season. People are rowdy and like you said a majority are standing up.

I’m also happy they aren’t seating students on the other end zone. Those ones wouldn’t stand or cheer because you couldn’t run back and forth to coordinate the chants.

[urirx]

This is an old conversation that comes from when the Ryan Center opened and what was said to secure the approval of the increase in student fees that was passed as part of securing funding for building the then convocation center. The visit team comfort is really my last care about seating arrangements and as long as the visiting team gets their 40-60 seats mandated by the NCAA, the home team can do as they like. The old section 4 in keaney is celebrated in URI history and it was located right behind the visitor bench. I will say I loved interacting with the coaches from my old104/105 standing spot, and most of the coaches seemed to enjoy the give and take with the students. we only had gum thrown at us once...

With that being said, if you can't have 1000 students for every in session game, it makes the Ryan Center look empty on TV Filling only 104 and 105 doesn't work for free throw shots and just makes it look like no one is there. At the least, they have stopped putting most of the students in the 300s, which they did for a while (late Baron, early Hurly timeframe). I "might" of discussed this with Dr. Dooley at an alumni event when I lived out of state and saw it change to the endzones the next season. Amazing how saying it looked bad on TV made changes...

[section(105)]

.......yep, let’s celebrate what we have, we are not sharing an on campus building with a hockey team where way less than half capacity for most hoop games.....

[bigappleram]

Hi all - as the “unofficial” leader of the student section, I mostly disagree with a lot being said in this thread.

I personally think the current setup is ideal. The concept of wrapping students around the 100’s or moving them back behind visitor benches is simply a non-starter. Displacing season ticket holders and the spots taken behind both benches for friends/family just ain’t gonna happen.

Of course I wish we didn’t have to stick students in the 300’s but with the size limitations of the RC, it is what it is.

I for one was extremely happy we got rid of the “other” student section this season. No matter what we did, that side would be filled with students sitting and not cheering. It was impossible to keep the “Ruckus” on both sides - especially since I couldn’t be 2 places at once. I do maybe partially agree regarding the spirit squads taking up some of the prime front row seating - but it’s not a big deal & they’ve been really helpful starting cheers if I’m occupied.

I don’t think there’s one “right” way to organize student sections. I’ve been to plenty of CBB arenas and games and it runs the gamut. One thing that’s not debatable is that we now have one of the best student sections I’ve seen in person & are LIGHTYEARS ahead of where we were even 3 years ago. We’re seeing a consistent 900-1000 ENGAGED and STANDING students for virtually every game they are on campus. Only a few years ago we were lucky if the first 5 rows were standing for most of the game.

Just my 2 cents...

Agreed on all ^^...the students + JV are 1 of the biggest assets within the in-game experience, leave well enough alone.

[ramster]

First of all, we did have students sitting behind the visitor bench earlier in Ryan history, but they were moved because of numerous complaints from visiting teams, especially, A-10 teams and not because of the Baron era. So forget about putting students in sections 104,105,106. It ain't going to happen. Also, the student cap is 1500 so don't expect that to increase especially for big games. Exceptions to that will occur, but with more program success and an increase in the paying customers will reduce that probability.

Also, I question the comment that other CBB venues employ such seating arrangement. Duke, for example, seats their students at floor level on three sides - behind both baskets and along the north side of court. They do not seat students on the south side where the team benches are located. I know of no school that wraps their student section along all four sides of their courts. URI cannot follow the Duke model because of the special configuration of Ryan's west court side which includes space for the press, scouts, etc. They probably could do it, but only if they spend lots of dollars to reverse the west and east sides.

Don Chaney loved our student section

John Chaney
And before him was Harry Litwack.

[ramster]

This is an old conversation that comes from when the Ryan Center opened and what was said to secure the approval of the increase in student fees that was passed as part of securing funding for building the then convocation center. The visit team comfort is really my last care about seating arrangements and as long as the visiting team gets their 40-60 seats mandated by the NCAA, the home team can do as they like. The old section 4 in keaney is celebrated in URI history and it was located right behind the visitor bench. I will say I loved interacting with the coaches from my old104/105 standing spot, and most of the coaches seemed to enjoy the give and take with the students. we only had gum thrown at us once...

With that being said, if you can't have 1000 students for every in session game, it makes the Ryan Center look empty on TV Filling only 104 and 105 doesn't work for free throw shots and just makes it look like no one is there. At the least, they have stopped putting most of the students in the 300s, which they did for a while (late Baron, early Hurly timeframe). I "might" of discussed this with Dr. Dooley at an alumni event when I lived out of state and saw it change to the endzones the next season. Amazing how saying it looked bad on TV made changes...

Urix,
Excuse my memory problems if I’m wrong
But in Keaney directly behind the visitors bench wasn’t it Section 11, or possibly Section 8???? I don’t recall it being Section 4

[RhodyRams916]

Sorry guys I didn’t mean to make such an unrealistic suggestion! I completely understand why they’re not gonna move those season ticket holders and family and that the students would have to fill the full 1500 seats every game for the allocation to increase!

[steviep123]

This is an old conversation that comes from when the Ryan Center opened and what was said to secure the approval of the increase in student fees that was passed as part of securing funding for building the then convocation center. The visit team comfort is really my last care about seating arrangements and as long as the visiting team gets their 40-60 seats mandated by the NCAA, the home team can do as they like. The old section 4 in keaney is celebrated in URI history and it was located right behind the visitor bench. I will say I loved interacting with the coaches from my old104/105 standing spot, and most of the coaches seemed to enjoy the give and take with the students. we only had gum thrown at us once...

With that being said, if you can't have 1000 students for every in session game, it makes the Ryan Center look empty on TV Filling only 104 and 105 doesn't work for free throw shots and just makes it look like no one is there. At the least, they have stopped putting most of the students in the 300s, which they did for a while (late Baron, early Hurly timeframe). I "might" of discussed this with Dr. Dooley at an alumni event when I lived out of state and saw it change to the endzones the next season. Amazing how saying it looked bad on TV made changes...

Urix,
Excuse my memory problems if I’m wrong
But in Keaney directly behind the visitors bench wasn’t it Section 11, or possibly Section 8???? I don’t recall it being Section 4

I don't specifically remember the section # but it was not 8. However, during Penders years, that group of students behind the opposing bench did call themselves "Section 8"

[Rhodymob05]

Michigan states students use the lower tier of the seating for roughly 3/4 around the court. PC section is similar to URI. I don't have a problem with the location now. It would be nice to have a more balanced location like behind both benches, so that the students can be more involved on defense and free throw shooting during the entire game.

[BleedBlue87]

I'm not sure when this changes, but when I was at URI, the student section circled over to the section behind the opposing teams bench. I think that is an excellent section for a student section.

[RhodyRams916]

I'm not sure when this changes, but when I was at URI, the student section circled over to the section behind the opposing teams bench. I think that is an excellent section for a student section.

Well I think the question is where would they put those people already in the section behind the opposing teams bench?

[section(105)]

I'm not sure when this changes, but when I was at URI, the student section circled over to the section behind the opposing teams bench. I think that is an excellent section for a student section.

Well I think the question is where would they put those people already in the section behind the opposing teams bench?

.......if they(Athletics)really wants to relocate anyone currently in 104 behind the visitors bench, I am sure they could find a way do it, via incentives choice of open seats in the 200 side courts, in 105/6, and where then do they place the visitors family, friends, fans etc that sit in 104?

[RhodyRams916]

I'm not sure when this changes, but when I was at URI, the student section circled over to the section behind the opposing teams bench. I think that is an excellent section for a student section.

Well I think the question is where would they put those people already in the section behind the opposing teams bench?

.......if they(Athletics)really wants to relocate anyone currently in 104 behind the visitors bench, I am sure they could find a way do it, via incentives choice of open seats in the 200 side courts, in 105/6, and where then do they place the visitors family, friends, fans etc that sit in 104?

yeah that is where I am unsure lol

[Rhody83]

I hope we start seeing 1500 students at games in January (assuming the team is doing well). I recall 2 & 3 seasons ago games where they let in more students to fill unsold seats in a Section 305. They could sit in any open seat.

[Rhody83]

RR916 we appreciate your enthusiasm and goal to make the Ryan Center the best experience it can be. Please don’t take our posts as criticism. We welcome your thoughts. If you have other ideas that could increase student interest, please share them. I know the Ticket group is always looking for ideas to increase student and paid attendance. Btw, I thought the Own the State shirts at the last game was great.

[RhodyRams916]

RR916 we appreciate your enthusiasm and goal to make the Ryan Center the best experience it can be. Please don’t take our posts as criticism. We welcome your thoughts. If you have other ideas that could increase student interest, please share them. I know the Ticket group is always looking for ideas to increase student and paid attendance. Btw, I thought the Own the State shirts at the last game was great.

Thank you, I appreciate it! For the PC game I loved those keaney blue shirts that they passed out. Going through the game footage, the ryan center and especially the student section looked amazing with a sea of keaney blue.

I hope marketing let's students know how good Dayton and VCU are this year. Those should be sold out crowds!

[Taylor Swift]

First of all, we did have students sitting behind the visitor bench earlier in Ryan history, but they were moved because of numerous complaints from visiting teams, especially, A-10 teams and not because of the Baron era. So forget about putting students in sections 104,105,106. It ain't going to happen. Also, the student cap is 1500 so don't expect that to increase especially for big games. Exceptions to that will occur, but with more program success and an increase in the paying customers will reduce that probability.

Also, I question the comment that other CBB venues employ such seating arrangement. Duke, for example, seats their students at floor level on three sides - behind both baskets and along the north side of court. They do not seat students on the south side where the team benches are located. I know of no school that wraps their student section along all four sides of their courts. URI cannot follow the Duke model because of the special configuration of Ryan's west court side which includes space for the press, scouts, etc. They probably could do it, but only if they spend lots of dollars to reverse the west and east sides.

Don Chaney loved our student section

John Chaney
And before him was Harry Litwack.

I knew it was John. LOL. I edited the MBB Media Guide back in the day when I was a student worker. Fixed it.

[Taylor Swift]

The spirit squads want to sit on the floor: closer to the action. They just can’t use all four baseline sections. One reason is probably an area needed for photographers. There may be other reasons, but I don’t know them.

I think the reason is because uri has those chairs set up right near the hoop. If they removed those, the spirit squad wouldn’t have to sit in the student section.

No way can they remove the courtside seats. There's a minimum donation (not sure exact $ amount, but it's up there) to have those seats plus the per seat cost alone. They also charge more for those seats for a premium game such as last Friday night's game. We didn't have those seats at one point, and I think those seats are a huge asset. The added second row (with risers) has worked well, but I did notice a few of those seats empty last Friday even though the seats were most definitely paid for. Thor has seats in that area on the Rhody bench side for when JT and Stan visited last year, and Lamar about 5-6 years ago. I think I remember seeing Penders there recently, too.

[LoveThoseRams]

Hi all - as the “unofficial” leader of the student section, I mostly disagree with a lot being said in this thread.

I personally think the current setup is ideal. The concept of wrapping students around the 100’s or moving them back behind visitor benches is simply a non-starter. Displacing season ticket holders and the spots taken behind both benches for friends/family just ain’t gonna happen.

Of course I wish we didn’t have to stick students in the 300’s but with the size limitations of the RC, it is what it is.

I for one was extremely happy we got rid of the “other” student section this season. No matter what we did, that side would be filled with students sitting and not cheering. It was impossible to keep the “Ruckus” on both sides - especially since I couldn’t be 2 places at once. I do maybe partially agree regarding the spirit squads taking up some of the prime front row seating - but it’s not a big deal & they’ve been really helpful starting cheers if I’m occupied.

I don’t think there’s one “right” way to organize student sections. I’ve been to plenty of CBB arenas and games and it runs the gamut. One thing that’s not debatable is that we now have one of the best student sections I’ve seen in person & are LIGHTYEARS ahead of where we were even 3 years ago. We’re seeing a consistent 900-1000 ENGAGED and STANDING students for virtually every game they are on campus. Only a few years ago we were lucky if the first 5 rows were standing for most of the game.

Just my 2 cents...

I totally defer to JV. I’m all in on whatever makes it easiest for him to get the Ruckus going...even if I have to give up my Prime section 104 seats! Go RHODY