OT - Suns Plan To Play Outdoors

[LittleOzzy]

The Phoenix Suns are planning to play the league's first-ever outdoor game this fall, the Arizona Republic is reporting.

The game will most likely be played at Indian Wells (Calif.) Tennis Garden, a team official said.

"It's a completely unique experience," the same official told the Republic. "We like to do new and exciting things. I think it would be remarkably successful."

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... this_fall/

What do you guys think of this idea? It sounds to me like a pretty big rip off of the NHL.

It would be interesting to see though, wind could become a factor possibly. I think it would of been pretty exciting to have it in a big NFL stadium, I'm not sure what these Tennis Gardens are like but it doesn't sound like too big of a place.

[garbageman]

http://www.iwtg.net/

the place looks pretty nice, and seats 16,000.

i'm all for this idea, sounds like it would be a fun experience, but wind might be a factor

[theSkinny]

Im all for it....it worked for the NHL...not that anyone in the states knew about it...

I can see this being a real hit down in the desert

[Consequence]

the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is an 80-acre tennis and entertainment facility. It boasts a year-round, world-class tennis club, a 16,000 seat stadium

Sounds like it could work. Won't be a huge amount of tickets, but I'm sure that they can more than compensate for that by pricing them higher. The demand for it will be high, I'd reckon.

[Shaazzam]

It's a good thing to tell kids to go outside and play.

[EnigmaticProblem]

The wind can be a huge factor, relative to shooting of course. Considering shooting is a cardinal aspect of basketball, I'm against it. Hockey is marginally affected by such factors, if at all; whilst it'll have more than a lil' impact on basketball.

[Kid Canada]

Im all for it....it worked for the NHL...not that anyone in the states knew about it...

I can see this being a real hit down in the desert

NBC drew a 2.6 overnight rating for the 1:00 p.m. game. That was the best large-market rating for a regular season NHL game since Fox drew a 3.0 for regional coverage in February

[theSkinny]

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I think a lot of people in the states knew about the game considering it was the NHL's best TV audience in over 10 years.

How long has the NHL been on the OLN for, down there?

[LittleOzzy]

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How long has the NHL been on the OLN for, down there?

Oh I understand they still are doing a horrible job attracting the American market, but you have to give them credit when they do something right. That game was great for the NHL in the States, and if they do it again next year I bet even more people will tune in.

It's at least a start for them.

[Kid Canada]

a 2.6 rating is horrible.

[wade2bosh]

- They need a bigger stadium, but I dont like the idea...
- The NHL needs to do this more often.

[Jai Monee]

I've got some family in the carribean and they play all their high school games outside - games get rained out all the time. It's awesome!

Supposedly the NBA has been trying to co-ordinate this idea for years.

[yucatan87]

a 2.6 rating is horrible.

A 2.6 rating is miles ahead of what a typical ESPN/ABC/TNT regular season NBA broadcast gets. ESPN barely scrapes 1.0, topping 1.5 if they're lucky. TNT gets marginally higher ratings than ESPN IIRC and ABC marginally higher than that.

[mintsa]

The wind can be a huge factor, relative to shooting of course. Considering shooting is a cardinal aspect of basketball, I'm against it. Hockey is marginally affected by such factors, if at all; whilst it'll have more than a lil' impact on basketball.

I agree.....hockey can make this work.

But the wind could make it imposibel to shoot the ball with any type of accuracy.

[LittleOzzy]

Another thing I didn't think of, is do you think they'll be playing on a hard wood floor built for the event, or just on concrete like a real outdoor game?

[Nially]

haha, there's no way they'd play on concrete!

[Hendrix]

Cool idea, (err, ripoff). I don't think the wind would be that big of a factor on this court. In a football stadium maybe, because it's so much bigger, but this one looks like the side's come up real high, with less length to have wind come down.

[LittleOzzy]

[ICEMANRC]

Wind may be a little bit of a factor, but keep in mind, that if they can play tennis there without the wind problems, then basketball shouldn't be any worse off.

[HiJiNX]

Wind realistically won't be a huge factor unless it just happens to be particularly windy on the day of the game. I mean, we all play ball in the summer don't we? And wind is rarely a factor then...it shouldn't be a big deal for the game.