Any thoughts? My first impression is that is a bit far from most colleges except Princeton and Penn.
Lucky to draw 1500. I would prefer reg season champs host, but i guess logistics with the women prevented that. But Allentown?? Cool Billy Joel song.
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surprised they are leasing the arena in Allentown rather than Stabler Arena in Bethlehem.
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if they are going to lease an arena, why one so far from the geographic center of the league schools? Arenas in Bridgeport, White Plains and (maybe) Suffern are the right size and closer to the middle. That said, fans of Cornell, Penn and Princeton won’t complain.
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42nd Street " Lullaby of Broadway " Jerry Orbach
The opening 30 seconds of this song says it all.
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I love moving to an independent venue generally and into a proper arena.
But Allentown?
It’s a nice newish building. Only 1 hour from P-Pr and Columbia, 2 from Yale. Of course, since the crowd is overwhelmingly alums, the proximity to NYC favors all Ivies.
They will do surprisingly well there.
According to Google Maps, two hours from New York City, 3 1/2 hours from New Haven.
For openers, the drive from NYC is close to 2 hours and from New Haven over 3 hours. That is just openers. It is a huge advantage for Penn. If you want to give them an advantage hold it at the 3rd best (MSG and Butler) basketball building in the country, The Palestra. This is a swing and a miss, in my opinion. Why not Bridgeport? It is a great basketball building. How much, if any basketball has been played in this building. How about Westchester, where the baby Knicks play. Loads of nearby hotels and so close to the city. My goodness.
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Bridgeport, Westchester, Fairfield… there are multiple venues of different sizes that could be good choices. It’s true that Allentown is close to where most of the Ivy fans are located but it feels so odd.
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The Ivy League will bring the excitement of Ivy Madness to the Lehigh Valley …
Did anyone ask them if they are looking for this kind of excitement?
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Who wouldn’t want the excitement of ivy madness??
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Overreaction. It’s an hour and a half from the Holland Tunnel. Yes, it’s longer from Brooklyn. But the extra 30 or 40 minutes won’t matter to those who want to see it. They probably got a good deal on this arena. If Bridgeport gave them a comparable deal, they should have taken it.
The problem with Bridgeport is that their arena complex is becoming a wasteland. The longtime Islanders minor league team just left for Hamilton, Ontario. Within the past 10 years the Independent League (minor league baseball) Bridgeport Bluefish also left. The arena is an excellent arena, however.
Just was in Hamilton. Great hiking off the Niagara Escarpment. But that means Bridgeport should be offering the Ivies a good deal.
Allentown is an easy drive from the northern NY burbs where I live. The folks from Boston and Hanover are the only ones who will have a significant journey.
I like that they announced it in advance, but the location is unexciting… anything interesting in/near Allentown?
My main gripe is that I wish they had tried it out for one year to get some feedback from the players, coaches, and fans to see if it’s worth committing to a multi-year deal.
FWIW, I learned that Allentown is the third largest city in PA.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g30029-Activities-Allentown_Pennsylvania.html
Billy Joel seems not to be a fan, however.
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The song was actually about Bethlehem, which is more working class, but Joel felt that the name “Allentown” worked better in the actual song.
The greater Allentown region is actually the second largest in PA nowadays.
These days, Allentown is far more working class. Bethlehem has become a pretty nice town with music venues and a few hotels.
Hope so.