Amway Atmosphere (Are We To Blame?)

JAY DASH · Post #1 » by **JAY DASH** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:54 pm

For those of us that are old enough to remember the original Orlando Arena, I think we all would agree that the atmosphere in the new arena pails in comparison. Like there's really not much of a "Home Court Advantage" for the Magic when they play at the Amway.

Yes, a big part of that is that the team hasn't been very successful as of late, but from my times going to games last season, I can honestly say a bigger issue is the fan base itself. I'll use one game for example. Late January or early February, we played the Celtics at Amway. We ended up winning this game. Aaron Gordon was amazing that night...stuffed the stat sheet (19pts 14rebs. 5 assists, 2 blks)...great game overall. Me and my guys were making a lot of noise ( one of them was a Celtics fan), pretty much the whole the game. Talking trash, celebrating after big buckets....all the while it seemed like the old people in the section wanted us to keep it down. Like...how dare we make noise at a basketball game?!? Nobody was being obscene or anything like that...I'm just not sure that most of the fans in the good seats really even care to create a Home Court Advantage noise wise. I've been to other cities and other stadiums and it's literally like night and day.

What can we as diehard fans of this organization, do to change the culture of this team? Make noise. Become an arena that players enjoy playing at...that goes for the road team too. Believe it or not, things like that do make an impression when Free Agency rolls around. Guys want to play in great environments. I figured this may be a good time to discuss something that at least us local fans, may be able to control. Or am I just imagining that we just aren't as rabid of a fan base as we used to be. Maybe the design of the Arena makes it harder to trap the noise in...IDK....just a break from all the hypothetical trade/FA talk.

Optimus_Steel · Post #2 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:01 pm

The fan base, specially the ones that have season tickets, have been spoiled by the Shaq and Penny years. They have a hard time getting excited of the product in recent years. They also come from somewhere else. Hopefully the next generation of season ticket holders will be people that grew up Magic fans.

Sent from my SM-N920V using RealGM mobile app

npiper17 · Post #3 » by **npiper17** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:16 pm

The Amway Center is a beautiful building with fantastic amenities. I have taken my family to a game a few times and being from the UK we don't have arenas (other than the O2 in London) that are like the arenas you have in the States. They were wowed with everything that was available entertainment / concession-wise.

However the knock-on effect of the above is that there is no doubt the atmosphere at the AC is nowhere near the level reached at the AA. Sure having a bad team doesn't help but whereas the AA offered a few concessions, there is enough to do on the AC concourses that you could spend none of your time watching the game and still have a good night out.

The Magic make more money now than they did in the AA because of these amenities so I guess you have to accept the change in atmosphere.

Post #4 » by **UCF** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:22 pm

Amway center is a much better concert venue. The improved acoustics by design also impact how "loud" fans sound.

Viper1500 · Post #5 » by **Viper1500** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:22 pm

It was fine when Dwight was here. I can't blame the crowd for not being into it the last few years.

Driguez · Post #6 » by **Driguez** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:26 pm

It is pretty disappointing playing at home and having half the arena or seemingly more cheering for the away team. The Amway arena was awesome. We aren't loud enough, unfortunately we have more of a casual fan base.

Post #7 » by **Def Swami** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 5:31 pm

It really comes down to having a good, exciting team for fans to cheer for. I consider myself a diehard but found myself sulking more than cheering too often over the last 4 years.

Nemesis21 · Post #8 » by **Nemesis21** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 9:05 pm

Yeah the O-rena had a better atmosphere. I worked at the Amway Center for 4 seasons as a ticket usher, and I've had some of the elderly generation ask me, if I can tell someone to be quiet who was being loud. No I couldn't, as this person was not cussing, not drunk and belligerent, but just enjoying the game and having fun.

glennathan · Post #9 » by **glennathan** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 10:32 pm

I have been going to games on a regular basis since 2006 and been a season ticket holder for the past 3 years. When I would go to the occasional game during the Dwight years at AA it was unbelievably loud. Then going to games during the Dwight years at AC seemed even louder. The reason I think the "home court advantage" is not so noticeable now is because of the team itself. If we had a dominant winning team like we have had in the past I think the crowd and noise would change for the better

Sent from my SM-N910T using RealGM mobile app

3ddman23 · Post #10 » by **3ddman23** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:30 pm

It pretty much has solely to do with how well the team is. Or star power. Cause even in the tmac years we weren't a Championship caliber team and we still had pretty good crowds then.. it's all about the product on the floor, if it's good people want to support and get behind the magic (bandwagon fans) if not then you get a mix bag crowd(older fans, fans of other teams, people who don't really watch but wanna catch a game, ticket give a ways) . I miss the Dwight years when fights would break out when we played Boston in the playoffs lol...

nymets1 · Post #11 » by **nymets1** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:30 pm

Its as simple as get back to have a winning season, make the playoffs and show Us(fans) that we have a team that's good and is sticking together. Certain Franchises have fan base that can still make good atmospheres when they are in a down year. Not us, if we are not relevant, our fan base is weak.

Golden State didn't have an atmosphere fan base until they got Curry, Thompson and Green and definitely the year they made the NBA finals. OKC same thing, They didn't until they got Durant and Westbrook.

OrlDave · Post #12 » by **OrlDave** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:33 pm

Yeah, it's not the fans it's the Arena. Even when fans around me are screaming, it sounds soft overall. The upper bowl feels removed from the game and I think you lose most of those voices and let's face it, the lower bowl has always been mediocre for cheering at they are the business "too good to cheer" crowd.

nymets1 · Post #13 » by **nymets1** » Mon Jun 27, 2016 11:52 pm

This would probably never happen, but if Step Curry joined the Magic, He would fill up seats I think even if we in a down year. Curry is my favorite player in the league, he would create a lot of buzz in Florida, maybe more than with Ibaka since he came here. It would be crazy exciting, if Curry was on the magic, making these 3 pointers near half court, contested and go in.

MagicStarwipe · Post #14 » by **MagicStarwipe** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 12:30 am

I always cringe when one of our players calls our fans the best fans in the NBA.

strongmind3 · Post #15 » by **strongmind3** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 1:24 am

nymets1 wrote:Its as simple as get back to have a winning season, make the playoffs and show Us(fans) that we have a team that's good and is sticking together. Certain Franchises have fan base that can still make good atmospheres when they are in a down year. Not us, if we are not relevant, our fan base is weak.

Golden State didn't have an atmosphere fan base until they got Curry, Thompson and Green and definitely the year they made the NBA finals. OKC same thing, They didn't until they got Durant and Westbrook.

...there hasn't been a time where OKC didn't have durant and russell.

Post #16 » by **SOUL** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 1:31 am

Nah, our fans are pretty crap even when the game is exciting.

OrlandoDream · Post #17 » by **OrlandoDream** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:05 am

Winning fixes everything. Those geriatric boys and gals will whatever is left of their vocal cords loud when we start winning some serious ball games.

mattyBoi · Post #18 » by **mattyBoi** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:28 am

I go to Wizards games in DC and the atmosphere is pretty much the same as in Orlando. I don't know if it bothers anyone else but in the AC the area directly behind the basket is completely open and separated from the fans. Even the sides of the court aren't as full as other arenas and the fans all around the lower bowl are separated by railing. Our old arena and almost every current arena has the fans right in the action, our setup drives me crazy.

thelead · Post #19 » by **thelead** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:28 am

SOUL wrote:Nah, our fans are pretty crap even when the game is exciting.

Fact. I went to many games when we had Dwight and many after. Our crowd sucks 99% of the time and our 'media' (local sports networks/channels/radio/newspapers) do NOTHING to help. Almost everything is negative. For example: Oh, we have Shaq? 'He's not worth $100 mil'.

Negative spin on almost everything. I taught for a few years after college in a lower-income area, and very few kids were magic fans. Very few were even basketball fans, but if they were, they were LeBron or Miami fans.

Somehow, this needs to be addressed.

EAS Law · Post #20 » by **EAS Law** » Tue Jun 28, 2016 2:46 am

thelead wrote:
SOUL wrote:Nah, our fans are pretty crap even when the game is exciting.

Fact. I went to many games when we had Dwight and many after. Our crowd sucks 99% of the time and our 'media' (local sports networks/channels/radio/newspapers) do NOTHING to help. Almost everything is negative. For example: Oh, we have Shaq? 'He's not worth $100 mil'.

Negative spin on almost everything. I taught for a few years after college in a lower-income area, and very few kids were magic fans. Very few were even basketball fans, but if they were, they were LeBron or Miami fans.

Somehow, this needs to be addressed.

I agree about local media. I don't think I've ever seen an OSen piece that got me hyped about anything. It's usually negative. WDBO with Scott Anez (spelling?) seems like a real Magic fan, and he gets pretty pumped while staying professional.