Fargodome as a basketball venue

[Claz B Fan]

How is 6,000 to 7,000 thousand people an awful crowd? I think thats pretty good for the opening rounds on thursday

[twinsfan34]

How is 6,000 to 7,000 thousand people an awful crowd? I think thats pretty good for the opening rounds on thursday

6,000 to 7,000 is not an awful crowd at all, but it still looked like the dome was half empty on TV. That is what I don't like about the Fargodome as a basketball facility, you can have a great crowd of 6,000 to 7,000 (which was the average crowd size at the State "A" last week in Bismarck), but the place still looks empty and "dead" cause it is just too big. In my opinion, the Fargodome is a terrible place for basketball but an excellent football arena.

[bruins44]

If domes are great for the NCAA final 4 then why is the Fargodome bad for Class B, you fill it up and it is a great atmosphere.
If you look at the revenue from tournaments that the NDHSAA has, the tournaments that have been held in the fargodome make more money than the ones held in Bismarck and Minot. Thats a Fact!

Also someone in a previous post said the Alerus in GF was a great site for the Super A... wow who have they been talking to, the crowds and the set up there were terrible, I would bet the State A will never be in GF again.

[BB11]

I understand all the people in Fargo that want to back the dome as a great facility, because it is. But - look at the posts - talk to the casual Class B fan - No One that I have ever talked to in the 20+ years of going to the B tournament likes the tournament in Fargo.
The fans didn't like it in the old campus arena and they don't like it in the dome. The players don't like it, the coaches don't like it. Do I speak for every single person? No - but look at this thread. So far there are two people backing the dome and about 30-40 others that say they hate it. WHY HAVE IT HERE? If the extreme large majority of Class B fans don't want it here? I just don't get it. Like I've stated previously - location has the least to do with it - it's not a basketball facility - the city of Fargo cares less about having the B - no atmosphere - no excitement in the town. THe B will always be a fun tournament - no matter if it's in Bismarck or Zap - but wouldn't you want to please the majority of the people the majority of the time? NO MORE FARGO!

[Mandan]

Class b boys- rotate Minot and bismarck
Class b girls- Rotate Minot and Bismarck
Super A- Rotate Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck
Football- Fargo and Grand forks
Hockey- Always Grand forks


Each major city is in there 3 times except minot since they dont have a good football stadium for a november games.

The problem with this is, you can never have the B girls in Bismarck again under the current schedule because the class A West Region is always in Bismarck that same weekend.

[HeisAlive]

A dome is made for football, let football be played where football needs to be played and basketball played where its suppose to... in a gym!

[thundercat 99]

If domes are great for the NCAA final 4 then why is the Fargodome bad for Class B, you fill it up and it is a great atmosphere.
If you look at the revenue from tournaments that the NDHSAA has, the tournaments that have been held in the fargodome make more money than the ones held in Bismarck and Minot. Thats a Fact!

Also someone in a previous post said the Alerus in GF was a great site for the Super A... wow who have they been talking to, the crowds and the set up there were terrible, I would bet the State A will never be in GF again.

But in the NCAA 60,000 + people come, so of course its gonna look full. Even a 9,000 person crowd at the Fargo dome wont make it look full at all. 9,000 people in Minot or Bismarck looks a lot better and the result is a better atmosphere

[scruffy]

The building is dull, boring and bland, and there is ZERO atmosphere in there....

[Go big or Go home]

If it is gonna be in fargo have it at the bison sports arena

[baseball]

If it is gonna be in fargo have it at the bison sports arena

whats the capactity??

[Go big or Go home]

around 8,000 i think

[point/center]

actually depending on the setup. i think a couple years ago on Title night for the B 10,500 was the attendance.

[GoodO'LBoy]

If it is gonna be in fargo have it at the bison sports arena

I don't think the BSA could handle the state b. Its capacity is 6,000. But the atmosphere would be CRAZY. http://www.gobison.com/ViewArticle.dbml ... CLID=69829

[demon201]

As for the State B Girls not being able to play in Bismarck because of the West Region combined that weekend, it's a necessary evil. The WDA combined tourney belongs in the Civic Center, hands down.

Sadly, the B girls tourney is not the same event that the State B Boys or the Super A are. I wish it was. When's the last time it was even in Bismarck? It seems like it's been bouncing between Minot & Jamestown recently ... I'd love to see it back in the the Civic Center - which is hands down the best place for basketball of any kind. The atmosphere is perfect - as is the size. Grand Forks should be hockey and football (every other year), and swimming gets up there on a rotation, too. But the Super A and State B (boys & girls) should stay OUT of Grand Forks. An earlier poster said Grand Forks is more of a major city than Minot - this is true in terms of population, but not atmosphere and location. Fargo is non-central enough - Grand Forks is just ridiculous. Hockey is king in GF - and not just during the season. I'd be all for football being in Fargo every year, but if we can keep GF to Hockey and Football every 2nd (or 3rd!) year, that would be ideal.

The State B Boys belong in Bismarck every year!!

[demon201]

By the way, wasn't there talk of building a new basketball arena next to/attached to the FargoDome to replace the Bison Sports Arena? What's the status on that, or was that more pie-in-the-sky? I think Fargo recognizes that the Dome isn't the best place for hoops - but a new arena would very likely be a great spot for the Super A AND the State B Boys. The BSA was fun for NDSU women's NCAA title games in the mid-90's, but I don't think it would be great for high school tournaments for the most part - not enough seats all the way around - too many on the two sides only. Changes to make the Civic more "rounded" seating-wise have been huge in making it the premier arena for BB.

[Carl08]

1. As someone who has played basketball in the Alerus...it is terrible! Noone comes and the fans are not very close to the action.

2. How about having the Class B girls at the BSA or the Fargo Civic?

3. Class B boys should be in Bismarck not because of the venue but because it is true...noone in Fargo cares - the level of play is just nowhere near that of class A boys so unless you know people playing it is not exciting - have it in bismarck or minot

4. I don't know what to think about the Super A because it does limit the places that it can be held...but it brings more people to the games and there is some great basketball being played - the fargodome wasn't too bad last year i thought...especially when the teams who bring fans were playing (shanley, Devils lake, West fargo) That being said, Bismarck is always great because the people enjoy watching high school sports more than they do in fargo and the Bismarck civic is inarguably the best place for basketball in the state

[baseball]

think about how the bleachers fail to fill up at the boys B in fargo....now imagine the girls playing in there??

[flatlander]

I can see the Class B at the Fargodome again if they build a new arena attached to the Fargodome for NDSU basketball and smaller concerts. I'm guessing that this new arena would be state of the art, even compared to the Bismarck Civic Center. We should find out if it's going to happen by this summer - they're still doing drawings and stuff.

[bballfan_05]

All I can say is they need a better selection of warm-up music, I mean "Dancing Queen", that really helps pump you up.

[point/center]

I'm about 99% sure on the 1997 Fargdome record. Don't forget the teams when comparing attendance. It's not Fargo' fault that Grafton is a hockey town and had just won state in that. I bet if you put about any other time from the field in the title game the attendance would've inched closer to 10k.

[hoop_fan1]

How much closer? The 300 people in Cleveland or the rest of Watford City would flock to Fargo for the title game? The people that wanted to be there were there already, IMO. or do you think that many people that live in Fargo would show up to see Watford City play TLM instead of Grafton? I'm not buying that hypothesis.

I'm about 99% sure on the 1997 Fargdome record. Don't forget the teams when comparing attendance. It's not Fargo' fault that Grafton is a hockey town and had just won state in that. I bet if you put about any other time from the field in the title game the attendance would've inched closer to 10k.

[scruffy]

The climate is cold and dreary and the building dull and boring that offers an absolute sterile environment for watching basketball. NOT A GOOD VENUE!

[FargoBison]

The new Dome arena is likely to happen and I think the decision will be made next month. The arena will probably seat 6000-7000 and is also expandable. It should be a great basketball arena but too small for the B, probably good for the girls tourney though.

I still think Fargo should get the class B every now and then because there are plenty of class B schools around Fargo and they should get a chance to have the tourney close every 4 or 5 years.

[thundercat 99]

Just wondering- where is the Class A EDC tournement held at?

[Yahyah]

Fargodome as basketball venue for b is too big. many students will agree that they do not like going to the Fargodome for football games because everybody is too spread out.