Omaha's new arena is on schedule to open in time for the 2003 hockey/basketball
seasons, and will seat 14,500 for hockey and 16,000 or so for basketball.

I don't see why the Civic can't host a regional with 8,300 seats if Yost can
get one at what, 6,500? Plus given that the NCAA has a good relationship with
Omaha from the CWS, you'd think we'd have an "in" to getting a regional bid. It
certainly helped us land the NCAA Volleyball Final Four in 2006 or 2007 in the
new arena, that's for sure.

A lot of UNO fans don't want the team to move since it could mean a lot of
empty seats and because there's nothing wrong with the Civic outside of narrow
concourses. The sightlines and atmosphere at the Civic are great, plus a move
to the new arena will probably just add to an already highly noticeable
corporate ticket problem.

That said, I personally disagree with the majority of UNO fans on the issue and
want them to move. It may mean a quieter crowd in the short run and even though
the Bullpen is great, I'd rather move now before people get really attached to
the Civic and plus I think that the new arena would give UNO the best long term
growth potential in its fan base. We may have to suffer through a few years
where paid attendance is around 10,000 and actual is around 8,000 (compared to
the Civic where every game is a paid sellout of 8,300 but there's usually
1,000+ no shows - but I think eventually both of those could climb provided UNO
continues to provide an entertaining product on the ice.