Sorry, Mac but the “seat issue” is most definitely the reason why the ACC Tourney is likely never coming back to Charlotte. We built a 19,000-seat, skybox heavy arena for the NBA and knocked down a 24,000 coliseum that had hosted a Final Four. We — by which I mean you and the Uptown crowd — chose this outcome.
You can talk all you want about the “fan experience” in Uptown, but all Clemson — sorry, Klempzin — fans hear is that they only have seventy — 70 — seats in the arena’s lower bowl. This for the league’s third best team and a fan base known for traveling to support the Tigers.
ACC booster clubs do not want this kind of headache, a stance that absolutely will be heard by the member ADs, who will then kick it up to the conference. This is not a trade show or a convention — or heaven forbid, a golf tourney. Going VIP has diminishing returns on investment as the people left outside the tent decide to spend their money elsewhere — money the member schools have spent years cultivating.
Me, I’ll beat the traffic and catch the whole deal in glorious HD. My skybox is in my basement.
