Last year, nearly $125,000 in damages occurred as fans set fires, flipped vehicles, knocked down lamp posts and smashed through windows after the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team won the national championship, which left 15 arrested and 16 hospitalized.
In an effort to avoid a repeat of that level of destruction, UConn implemented sweeping security measures temporarily removing lamp posts on Hillside Road and replacing them with wall lights along the School of Business. However, it was not just campus infrastructure that was changed; in addition, the university restricted the number of individuals able to attend the watch party in Gampel Pavilion. Only UConn students were allowed in and were required to show their UConn ID upon entrance. Additionally, no alcohol was sold in the arena and the entire lower bowl was closed off to avoid the court being stormed like last year.
Nearly 1,700 students were denied entry into Gampel Pavilion on April 8 for the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship watch party according to reporting from The Daily Campus.
An email from Mike Enright, UConn’s deputy spokesperson, explained that “There were 6,741 tickets distributed for the event, based upon seating capacity in the upper bowl, and 5,014 were admitted.” 5,014 tickets were scanned, and no statistically significant number of additional people had entered according to Enright.
Enright said that the building had reached a safe capacity with 5,014 seats filled; according to a UConn facilities website, Gampel Pavilion has a capacity of 9,882 people.
“A decision was made by the Fire Marshal to close admission to Gampel before the game started based on concerns related to crowd size and available seating capacity, the safety of our student body and all those in Gampel Pavilion and on campus was the paramount concern during this event and the decision was made on that basis,” said a statement released by the university. “However, the university would still like to extend its sincere apologies to those students who held valid tickets to the Watch Party and were not able to be admitted.”
UConn was adamant in the build-up to the national championship that the experience for this year’s Final Four would be fundamentally different from the prior years. “There’s a wonderful group that has been meeting to prepare for the ‘campus festivities,’ shall we say, around Final Four week,” according to UConn Provost Anne D’Alleva. “No outsiders in Gampel,” she promised. “The UConn community in Gampel only.”
There were 6,741 tickets distributed for the event, based upon seating capacity in the upper bowl, and 5,014 were admitted.
Mike Enright, UConn’s Deputy Spokesperson
Despite these promises, the university slashed the seating capacity of the only venue for students to watch the game for free without providing any real alternative for students. We at The Daily Campus Editorial Board are disappointed by the university’s lackluster response to a problem they largely created. We want to be clear: the rioting that occurred last year was inexcusable. However, it is disappointing to see that the university gave no clear alternatives to students who were either denied admission or were unable to get a ticket to the watch party in the first place. The gravity of UConn’s logistical failure is underscored by the fact that dedicated Huskies fans only had one chance to witness this historic back-to-back victory. Student outrage is completely valid given how UConn arbitrarily squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity for many, on a campus filled with viable venues for a student watch party.
There are options at the main campus: Morrone Stadium, a nine-minute walk from Gampel, has a seating capacity of 5,300, or a bleacher capacity of 4,169. Sherman Sports Complex, located behind Gampel, has a seating capacity of 2,000. According to Enright, the difficulty with holding watch parties this year arises from enforcing fire codes and the chance of inclement weather. Despite advertising this year’s watch-party for the UConn community-only, the university was content with allowing students to be left stranded outside of Gampel, some of which were paying up to $250 for a ticket. Meanwhile, UConn is aware how popular these events are, with numerous social media posts hyping up both watch parties and encouraging students to go.
Event-planning is an inherently challenging process. While it’s clear that UConn did extensive preparation when it came to the protection of its property, it is disheartening that it seems like they didn’t extend that same level of preparation to their own students in ensuring every member of the UConn community had somewhere to watch the biggest college basketball game of the year.
Especially since Huskyvision was cut from our dorms, they really didn’t offer an alternative.
The national championship game was on TBS this year – not Channel 3, like last year, so one needs to have a cable subscription to legally watch it.