With the debate over whether to renovate the Dean E. Smith Center or build a new arena for North Carolina’s basketball program, the university has one major priority: the student section.
Improving student seating and the game-day atmosphere is central to the future of Carolina basketball, as the university aims to recreate Carmichael Arena’s loud, intimate feel by moving more students closer to the court while balancing revenue, donor needs, access and overall student engagement.
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“We think that’s important for the overall atmosphere in the entire arena,” UNC executive associate athletic director Steve Newmark said on the Carolina Insider podcast. “We believe that we can get to a point where we’re able to get the students closer to the court than we currently have and not jeopardize the revenue opportunities that we’re going to be able to generate in a new or renovated arena.”
Newmark recalled attending games at Carmichael Arena growing up and wants to recreate that loud, intimate, 9,000- to 10,000-seat environment in a renovated or new arena.
“There’s nothing like being closer to the court and being loud. I’m an out-of-state student, and I’d never been to a Carolina basketball game until I got to Carolina,” student body president-elect Devin Duncan said. “One of my favorite experiences was when there was snow and the university made the call for open seating. Seeing the people running down super close to the court, I remember remarking, ‘It’s almost as loud as the Duke game.’ The energy was unprecedented.”
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As plans continue to take shape and leaders consider the next steps, Newmark said the arena’s design must extend beyond the seats themselves to the entire game-day journey for students.
“Wherever we end up, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got good transportation plans, ample parking, good ingress and egress, good pedestrian flow,” Newmark said. “All of that goes into the experience that Devin’s talking about and making sure there are opportunities for students to be engaged before, during and after the game.”
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Student section update for future arena plans
