Winter Classic rink proposal

[aawagner011]

Is it just me, or does the rink configuration at the Winter Classic seem really impersonal? The way the seats are so far from the rink. They set it up going from 1st base to 3rd base, which in my opinion makes the crowd really far away from the action.

Look here to see what I mean:

Same set up for this year too:

What I propose is something very simple. All I did was rotate the rink! Added some seats along the sides, just like something you would see at the Emerald Nuts Bowl in San Fran, the way they have the bleachers.

This is the way it is:

This is what I propose:

Now the seats are closer to the action and have a more intimate feel. I added sideline bleachers, exactly like at the Emerald Nuts Bowl I already mentioned. Is it just me, or does this seem to obvious a move for it to ever be executed?

Here is the set up at the Emerald Nuts Bowl, to give you an example of the bleachers on the sideline.

Thoughts?

[TBGKon]

I would assume the reason for the 1st base-3rd base setup is because of the press box and camera locations.

[aawagner011]

But think of the Emerald Bowl, they can shoot it in the normal football camera angle, even though it is played at a baseball stadium. Even if they had a temporary thing set up (I cannot recall the name), its the cameras seen high up on the ladder, that can move down the sideline, that would do the trick too. Whatever the name of that mobile camera, this is what I mean:

[Gordie]

This seems to support Astrobull's idea.

NBC's NHL Producer Sam Flood -

ON CAMERA PLACEMENT: "The camera baskets are designed for a baseball game, not a hockey game, so we spent a lot of time figuring out what the right angles were and what the right places were to put all of our cameras to make the game shine. We also shoot this bigger and wider than a normal game because its about the place as much as the game."

It's easier to orient the rink to suit the existing infrastructure than relocate the camera positions.

[JamieRose]

NHL makes more money when they are able to utilize the entire ballpark. You are right, it would be nicer to see bleachers set up closely to the rink, but they would be sacrificing a lot of seating opportunity.

[aawagner011]

I suppose you all might have a point here!! Though if I were inside the ballpark watching, I would prefer the seats closer, but now I suppose I can see the idea behind it all.

[Red Wolf]

Why don't they just do it at another football stadium? That seemed much more effective to me.

[TBGKon]

Why don't they just do it at another football stadium? That seemed much more effective to me.

The problem there lies in the fact that a lot of pregame prep and postgame prep involved, meaning the home team would have to go on the road for probably the final 2 weeks of the NFL season, or risking an issue where the team would host a playoff game the following week, and might not have a game-ready venue.

College football stadiums on the other hand would work, but for the most part none are in NHL cities.

[BB61]

College football stadiums on the other hand would work, but for the most part none are in NHL cities.

Well, you've got the Big House for Detroit and Ohio Stadium for Columbus. Don't know how keen that would be, but it's a thought.

Franklin Field would work, but those are metal bleachers and there's no guarantee that it'll be cold enough on New Year's Day.

[CDixonDesign]

It would also bring up problems with the rink covering home plate, and the mound, which is at a different grade than the home plate, not to mention home plate being the most important aspect of the field...

[andysoccer12]

Why don't they just do it at another football stadium? That seemed much more effective to me.

The problem there lies in the fact that a lot of pregame prep and postgame prep involved, meaning the home team would have to go on the road for probably the final 2 weeks of the NFL season, or risking an issue where the team would host a playoff game the following week, and might not have a game-ready venue.

College football stadiums on the other hand would work, but for the most part none are in NHL cities.

At least for Philly, the Linc would be perfect, but the Eagles are almost always in the playoffs so that couldnt happen. Something thats been brought up since the Winter Classic started, but never materialized was having the Keystone Rivalry at Beaver Stadium. Beaver Stadium holds 107K+ people and would be a rivalry of stars and lots of hype. I understand the goal of the Winter Classic is have classic locations such as Wrigley, Fenway, and probably one of the Yankees Stadiums, but football stadiums could support a hockey rink's dimensions with seating much better than a baseball field could...