Zac Electrifly

According to Nevada Sports Net, Nevada Athletics, and the Grand Sierra Resort are going to announce a “major partnership”. According to Nevada Sports Net, This partnership is about basketball. While there are currently very few details, it is being reported that the Grand Sierra Resort will be making a large financial investment into the university’s athletic facilities. From what I could tell in the article this will be some sort of investment from the Grand Sierra Resort into the University of Nevada’s basketball facilities. Could this be a new arena?

My first thought as soon as I saw the article was that their building a new arena. The owner of the Grand Sierra Resort is also the owner of the Arizona Coyotes. The Grand Sierra Resort also has enough property to build an arena on it. Those are two points I brought up in my last post about bringing the Arizona Coyotes to Reno. A new arena is the only thing I can think of too that would be “program -altering” as stated in the Nevada Sports Net article. The 12,000 capacity Lawlor Events Center has been the home of Nevada Wolf Pack basketball since 1983. I did hear that the University of Nevada Reno also tried to replace the facility but couldn’t because of the planetarium. I don’t know how true that is. Lawlor Events Center is not owned by the University of Nevada Reno despite being on campus. So any attempts to replace the arena where it is would have to be in cooperation with multiple organizations. So it might just be easier to build something at the Grand Sierra Resort. Two of the biggest drawbacks for me at Lawlor Events Center is that feels cramped, and their is no modern luxuries that might be expected from an NCAA arena. The ticket office is kind of hidden. There are limited entrances which end up making for long lines sometimes. The concourse is small making it often cramped. Parking at the university is also a major issue.

There are four options for a new arena location. At the Grand Sierra Resort I think would be the best option. The drawback there is that it is not on campus. The positive is that the Grand Sierra Resort has a lot of room for a modern arena. It would be good for traveling fans and teams as the arena would be within the same complex as the casino resort. That would also give fans things to do before and after the games. While I do think that is a positive, the overall pre game and post game atmosphere might be better where Lawlor Events Center currently is. There are several restaurants and bars right across the street. Downtown Reno is also within walking distance. The Grand Sierra Resort has bars, restaurants, shops, and other entertainment already so it’s basically switching one kind of atmosphere for anther. I do think that an arena could be built there with shops and other things to mimic the current atmosphere of Lawlor Events Center. Little Caesars Arena does a good job of that by basically building the outside of the arena as a mall.

The second option they have for a new arena location is at the University of Nevada Reno. The University of Nevada Reno is limited in the amount of space that they have to use to build a new arena. The majority of the open space that would be big enough for a new arena on campus is parking. The only way to not get rid of parking is to get rid of an already existing structure. The only already existing structure I think they would get rid of is Lawlor Events Center. again it would be easier to build it somewhere else than do that. There is also the question of where they would b play during construction. While I think this is a solid option I do not see it as the best option.

The third option is the Reno Events Center. They could put a new arena at that location. I don’t see that as happening as the Regional Transit Commission of Washoe County has blocked proposed expansions of the Reno Events Center and new arenas being built there. The fourth option is somewhere else. I do not know what the announcement will be. This is all just speculation.

A new arena in Reno would be the first step in attracting the Arizona Coyotes. The majority of new arenas are built with being multipurpose in mind. I think that a new Nevada basketball arena will also be big enough to host ice hockey. It would be a bad move to have an arena that can’t host hockey games. The biggest sports team in Nevada right now is an NHL team. This could be an early sign of the Coyotes moving to Reno. It could also be a move that could help the University of Nevada Reno get back into ice hockey. Even though I was mostly not serious about the Arizona Coyotes moving to Reno, This could actually be a big first step towards that or towards pro hockey making its return to Reno.