Bon Secours Wellness Arena

[GvilleSC]

1 hour ago, vistatiger said:

LOL.  I have heard that many times in the airport. They will  often announce Greensville-Spartanburg or  Greenville-Spartansburg.

It would be interesting to see what the numbers would be without SC playing in the Greenville regional. Basically home games for them.

Honestly, South Carolina was probably responsible for roughly a little over half of that total number (?). We went Friday and Sunday. LSU had an impressive following that had traveled from Louisiana. The model for selecting host sites for the women's tournament seems very pragmatic. If South Carolina continues to play well for the foreseeable future, I think Greenville is very well positioned to cash in on that success. Not surprising, but the out of town guests that I had the pleasure of speaking with were very impressed with Greenville (cleanliness, safety, walkability, and "the park"). 

[apaladin]

Despite the fact that the media(aka espn) pushes womens basketball, along with soccer, WBK is still not that popular. The womens tournament loses money every year unlike the mens. Probably because there is s huge difference in the top seeds and the rest of the teams, lots if blowouts in early rounds. Yes their are a few hotbeds aka SC, UConn etc. but overall the interest is not there. Watched a couple of “home” games with sweet 16 bids on the line and no more than 1500 in attendance. Student sections were empty at both venues. Clemson plays in an empty building. Maybe it will become more competitive but its been this way a long time. 

[gman]

On 3/29/2023 at 2:36 PM, apaladin said:

Despite the fact that the media(aka espn) pushes womens basketball, along with soccer, WBK is still not that popular. The womens tournament loses money every year unlike the mens. Probably because there is s huge difference in the top seeds and the rest of the teams, lots if blowouts in early rounds. Yes their are a few hotbeds aka SC, UConn etc. but overall the interest is not there. Watched a couple of “home” games with sweet 16 bids on the line and no more than 1500 in attendance. Student sections were empty at both venues. Clemson plays in an empty building. Maybe it will become more competitive but its been this way a long time. 

To say it is not popular is a little off. It will never be as popular as men’s basketball, but the fact a new tv contract is getting ready to be finalized tells me the NCAA and CBS or ESPN knows women’s basketball can be a profit maker. Did you know that South Carolina’s 2022 national championship game victory over Connecticut attracted 4.85 million viewers? It was the most-watched women’s or men’s college basketball game on ESPN since 2008."

 

More proof women's college basketball is popular. 

https://twitter.com/ESPNPR/status/1642297089672589313?s=20

Edited April 2, 2023 by gman

[vistatiger]

4 hours ago, gman said:

To say it is not popular is a little off. It will never be as popular as men’s basketball, but the fact a new tv contract is getting ready to be finalized tells me the NCAA and CBS or ESPN knows women’s basketball can be a profit maker. Did you know that South Carolina’s 2022 national championship game victory over Connecticut attracted 4.85 million viewers? It was the most-watched women’s or men’s college basketball game on ESPN since 2008."

One big reason for that is championship games usually have little to no competition in their category and time slot  unlike regular season games where you have competing games on multiple networks. No doubt women's basketball has come a long way but even men's basketball is not the big money maker these days.  The sport that is driving big conference TV contracts and paying the bills for other sports is football.

Edited March 30, 2023 by vistatiger

[gman430]

On 3/29/2023 at 2:36 PM, apaladin said:

Despite the fact that the media(aka espn) pushes womens basketball, along with soccer, WBK is still not that popular. The womens tournament loses money every year unlike the mens. Probably because there is s huge difference in the top seeds and the rest of the teams, lots if blowouts in early rounds. Yes there are a few hotbeds aka SC, UConn etc. but overall the interest is not there. Watched a couple of “home” games with sweet 16 bids on the line and no more than 1500 in attendance. Student sections were empty at both venues. Clemson plays in an empty building. Maybe it will become more competitive but it’s been this way a long time. 

Ahem…https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaw/2023/04/01/womens-final-four-record-ratings-espn-march-madness-ncaa-tournament/11586202002/

Oh and: https://www.espn.in/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/36008036/women-final-four-tickets-outpace-men-secondary-market?platform=amp

Edited April 2, 2023 by gman430

[apaladin]

Granted not a lot of great concerts these days but whomever is responsible for booking concerts is doing a horrible job. Every time a decent concert is announced Greenville gets passed by and it used to not be that way. The upcoming concert schedule is the worst I have ever seen.  Almost non existent. Outside of some religious gatherings and a wrestling match now and then the building is not being used. Mangement has to held accountable. 

[gman]

16 hours ago, apaladin said:

Granted not a lot of great concerts these days but whomever is responsible for booking concerts is doing a horrible job. Every time a decent concert is announced Greenville gets passed by and it used to not be that way. The upcoming concert schedule is the worst I have ever seen.  Almost non existent. Outside of some religious gatherings and a wrestling match now and then the building is not being used. Mangement has to held accountable. 

Wow, I looked at the schedule and it is bad, with not much happening until October. Being curious, I looked at several other arena websites. It was bad at all of them, including Charlotte. It makes me wonder if something is going on with all concert events. This is one of many articles about the challenges facing the music industry as it relates to concert tours. It is not just Greenville. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/28/youre-doing-it-purely-for-the-exposure-why-many-musicians-can-no-longer-afford-to-tour

Edited July 14, 2023 by gman

[apaladin]

23 hours ago, gman said:

Wow, I looked at the schedule and it is bad, with not much happening until October. Being curious, I looked at several other arena websites. It was bad at all of them, including Charlotte. It makes me wonder if something is going on with all concert events. This is one of many articles about the challenges facing the music industry as it relates to concert tours. It is not just Greenville. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/28/youre-doing-it-purely-for-the-exposure-why-many-musicians-can-no-longer-afford-to-tour

Well to be fair, the Spectrum in Charlotte upcoming schedule does have: Guns N Roses, LL Cool J,   Drake,  Jonas Brothers,  Aerosmith,  John Mayer,  the Eagles, and Pink plus some other lesser acts. Greenville currently has no one in the same ballpark. 

 

[gman430]

Wish the management of the Peace Center would take over the Well. Hopes and dreams. 

[gman]

12 hours ago, apaladin said:

Well to be fair, the Spectrum in Charlotte upcoming schedule does have: Guns N Roses, LL Cool J,   Drake,  Jonas Brothers,  Aerosmith,  John Mayer,  the Eagles, and Pink plus some other lesser acts. Greenville currently has no one in the same ballpark. 

 

You are right. I must have been looking at the website of the other arena in Charlotte. That is a good lineup at the Spectrum. I would love to see Pink in person. That girl can flat out sing. 

[motonenterprises]

Charlotte is a much larger market than Greenville. I'm not sure people's infatuation with comparing Greenville to a much larger Charlotte market. It's supposed to have much bigger acts.

[apaladin]

14 hours ago, motonenterprises said:

Charlotte is a much larger market than Greenville. I'm not sure people's infatuation with comparing Greenville to a much larger Charlotte market. It's supposed to have much bigger acts.

Not at all true. Greenville has in the past had the biggest of concerts from Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney to the Eagles. If you have a 15 to 20k seat arena what difference does it make if you have 1M market or 2-3M market. Both arenas will be full and that is all that matters, The current Well management team is under-performing. 

[gman430]

@apaladinis right. The Well used to get a lot better acts. It’s sad and pathetic right now honestly. And FYI…Greenville was able to land Blink 182 in 2016 but not in 2023. That tells me right there it’s an issue with the Well management and doesn’t have anything to do with how big our metro area is compared to Charlotte. And how many country and religious acts do we need? I know we’re in the Bible Belt but it wouldn’t kill the arena to diversify a little. Where are all the rock acts at? 

Edited July 17, 2023 by gman430

[motonenterprises]

13 hours ago, apaladin said:

Not at all true. Greenville has in the past had the biggest of concerts from Bruce Springsteen, Garth Brooks, Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney to the Eagles. If you have a 15 to 20k seat arena what difference does it make if you have 1M market or 2-3M market. Both arenas will be full and that is all that matters, The current Well management team is under-performing. 

 

3 minutes ago, motonenterprises said:

It does make a difference. That's why much smaller places have no arena at all. There are simply more people to draw from. It's math. And business is all about stats and math. Show me stats that show Charlotte isn't a stronger market than Greenville. Not emotions, but stats.

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by motonenterprises

[DirectorBob0209]

I was talking to my fiance about this last night. We were going through the Jonas Brother's Tour schedule and they only have one South Carolina stop. And it's Columbia. I just laugh that we have big names going to Columbia with a 137k population. 

At least we get Tim McGraw...right..?

[gman430]

The arena board should have fired Beth Paul a long time ago. She won’t even replace the broken back breaking puke colored seats that have been in the arena since 1998. And don’t even get me started on the sound quality of the place. Yeesh.

Greenville and Mauldin suck. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by gman430

[apaladin]

On 7/17/2023 at 12:36 PM, motonenterprises said:

 

 

Never said Greenville is a better market than Charlotte. Never has been never will be. Still there is no reason major tours are not stopping in Greenville like they used to except the poor mamagement at the BSWA. 

[gman]

I am no fan of country music, but am told getting Tim McGraw here is a big deal. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by gman

[DirectorBob0209]

AEW's new show is almost sold out for Saturday's Event. Barring that they only opened the 100 section and floor. Would be a good turnout for their first event in Greenville ever (only WWE has been here)

[apaladin]

On 8/1/2023 at 3:19 PM, gman said:

I am no fan of country music, but am told getting Tim McGraw here is a big deal. 

Yes and no. He seems to be hitting every arena, lol includng smaller ones like N. Charleston. I just get the feeling that the Well’s management is sitting backing waiting for the phone to ring instead of being aggressive when it comes to concerts.

[Den2Gvl]

Whoever is in charge of Fall for Greenville knows what they're doing though. The fact that they were able to book Johnnyswim as the headliner is a huge deal. It's going to attract a lot of people to this year's FFG. 

[gman]

1 hour ago, Den2Gvl said:

Whoever is in charge of Fall for Greenville knows what they're doing though. The fact that they were able to book Johnnyswim as the headliner is a huge deal. It's going to attract a lot of people to this year's FFG. 

Johnnyswin is a huge get for this festival. 

[apaladin]

The Well is celebrating its 25th anniversary and has promised some exciting annoucements coming. 

[rssgvegas]

On 8/2/2023 at 3:21 PM, DirectorBob0209 said:

AEW's new show is almost sold out for Saturday's Event. Barring that they only opened the 100 section and floor. Would be a good turnout for their first event in Greenville ever (only WWE has been here)

AEW did 4524.  That's actually a decent number for that show which is in its infancy.

 

https://wrestlingheadlines.com/list-of-attendance-figures-for-this-weeks-wwe-and-aew-tv-events-69/

[apaladin]

29 minutes ago, rssgvegas said:

AEW did 4524.  That's actually a decent number for that show which is in its infancy.

 

https://wrestlingheadlines.com/list-of-attendance-figures-for-this-weeks-wwe-and-aew-tv-events-69/

Events always draw well at the Well. That is not and has never been the problem, the problem is not getting the “name” acts(or not enough) due to poor management IMHO.