re: If LSU decided to build a new basketball arena..

I honestly think the PMAC is pretty solid and pretty nice with all things considered. I know you were just posing a fair question, so don’t be offended by my response.

The PMAC holds roughly 4,000 more people than Cameron Indoor.... Leg room isn’t a problem like someone stated, filling the arena is. Most nights you could probably prop your feet up on a seat in front of you when the fair weather fans don’t show.

For reference, here are the schools that have the largest seating capacities: LINK

Tiger Stadium gets shite on relentlessly, but at least in the PMAC you arm rests with cushioned theater style seats. Think about Death Valley or Alex Box filled to capacity and it’s available leg room in your bleacher seats. On some nights people would be grateful to just have a standing room only ticket so they could see the tigers play.

It’s gonna be cramped in any stadium or arena around country. and as much as people complain about poor attendance already why would they make even more seats while people are not consistently showing up in numbers? Or take away any seats after this year’s team was able to fill it up?

The product in the PMAC has improved and its called Gym and they draw almost 14,000!!

Yeah a practice facility with no film room, no caoaches office, no weight or training room.
It’s basicall a building with 2 courts in it.
Could you imagine if this was the setup for football?
We really could use a new arena, with a better seating arrangement and move the god damn press out of student section
I just went to Cameron indoor stadium in December for a game. the students are along the sidelines and the baselines. then the chair back seats start above the student section. If we did like 4 or 5 rows of bleachers along the sidelines and baseline, I think that would help the atmosphere

LSU fans always find something to bitch about

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Build a new track and field facility out by softball Demo existing track facilities and build a new arena that connects to both practice facilities. Expand the BB facility to include coaches offices. Demo PMAC and create a massive tailgating village

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100% behind all of this

The PMAC is outdated. That said, it being outdated isn't the reason it's a dead environment. LSU fans have been treated to inconsistent basketball for the last 25 years. Hopefully that is about to change. If it does, the PMAC will be rocking again.

I think for a school the size of LSU and a metro area the size of BR, 13k is a good number. I don't know if there is a need to go much lower (if any). You want to look at what the demand could become with a good basketball program vs. what the demand is now. Empty seat don't necessarily lose you any money. Having demand for tickets but no available seats does.

Also, remember Auburn and Ole Miss are both programs with very little basketball history AND in small college towns. Yes, Auburn is filling their arena now, but it takes a large chunk of students and some of the relatively small population of the city to do it. There probably aren't a ton of people coming to game from outside of the city of Auburn. LSU on the other hand has 500,000+ people within about 30 minutes of the arena. If basketball becomes "hot" again filling a 14k area wouldn't be tough at all.

Wade has a vision for LSU basketball and I appreciate that very much. But building a new arena when you have yet to show significant demand for the product is a bit premature. He wants to model the program after the one Billy Donovan built at Florida. And I agree whole-heartedly with him that there is no reason LSU couldn't have the same type of success. But Donovan built that program to great heights playing in an goofy-looking utilitarian building in Gainseville (the O'Connell Center) that only just (in 2016) underwent a major renovation.

Villanova's home stadium is a 6,500 seat eyesore. Duke plays in a tiny arena. Michigan State's arena isn't all that much different than the PMAC. Point being, you can build a powerhouse in college basketball with an "outdated" home court.

The PMAC is ugly. But I don't know if a $100 million dollar new stadium is necessary and don't expect the current administration at LSU to agree.

The biggest problem with the PMAC is the oval shaped configuration. It puts the seats too far back from the court. Rectangular configurations allow you to put the seats right on top of the court. That can make a big difference for atmosphere.

Also it’s too dark. It looks dark and dull on TV. There’s something with how the lights point at the court. Watch a Big 10 game. Like at Michigan State or Ohio State. They know how to light the court for TV and it looks bright and vibrant. And it pops. It pops like Rennie Curran on a tackle.

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Now that they are winning, that arena is loud. WINNING makes fans LOUD.

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Lol I tried to point that out when people were talking about how great Auburn’s home court advantage was. If we were 18-2, we’d be friggin bouncing off the walls too.