March 14, 2009
Boardwalk Hall (Capacity: 12,000)
Atlantic City, NJ
Duquesne Dukes vs Temple Owls
Final Score: 64 – 69
* The arena was revisited on March 11, 2012
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Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall is a long-standing fixture in the city and along the Jersey Shore. It was built in 1926, but underwent a beautiful renovation between 1998-2001. The upgrades made this quite a nice facility. The arena is most famously known for hosting big-time boxing matches and the Miss America pageant for decades. Unfortunately, there are currently no tenants at Boardwalk Hall and sporting events are few and far between. It’s a good place for a tournament as this resort city of 40,000 features a backdrop of beach, casinos and restaurants. Yeah, it’s a little rundown, but it’s still a place with plenty to do when you come down for a few days. The Atlantic 10 Conference brought its postseason basketball tournament to AC during the late 2000s and I went to the championship games in 2009 and 2012. Soon after, the A-10 felt they were “too big” for this place as they started moving things around to Brooklyn and DC. I know you have to be ahead of realignment, but I’ve always been annoyed at commissioner Bernadette McGlade for ruining the rivalries and expanding this conference way beyond my perceived parameters. I believe in college basketball tournaments being played at a neutral site and this is a pretty good one for Northeast leagues.
Prestige Ranking: 4.5 out of 5
Location
Atlantic City is part of a barrier island between inland marsh and the ocean. Much of the city struggles with poverty as the tall and bright buildings that house casinos mask the troubles below. For those that gamble, the downtown section will suffice, though several of the casinos are older. The Uptown Marina offers better options like the Borgata and Harrah’s. If staying near the arena, the Tropicana has become pretty good as it offers more than a gaming floor. Shopping and a vibrant nightlife are the attractions there. Atlantic City does offer plenty for anyone not gambling and the arena location right on the Boardwalk is evidence of that. As its name implies, the arena is literally is right on the Boardwalk, so much so that the entrance is off of the wooden planked walkway. Being located in the central part of AC puts casinos, plenty of restaurants and shopping within walking distance from the arena. Just beyond the city, visitors can also check out an aquarium and a lighthouse.
Location Ranking: 8.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Getting to Atlantic City involves taking the Garden State Parkway if you are coming from North/Central Jersey or the Atlantic City Expressway from the Philly suburbs in South Jersey. It’s a simple arrival as the Expressway dumps you right into the city. In fact, you don’t have to make any turns as there are parking garages on your right for Trump’s casino and on your left for Caesars. You then can walk to the building, but beware there’s not much signage (both inside and out), so you need to rely on an outside visual of what Boardwalk Hall looks like. There are other parking options and the Hall does have its own underground garage. We ended up at Trump for the ease of entrance, however in retrospect, I would recommend somewhere with a better exit to make getting to the Expressway easier after the game. There was a ton of traffic trying to get out as I spent 20 minutes sitting in bumper to bumper. Having no police help with directing did not help matters. Once back on the Expressway, it should be smooth sailing and this is a time of year where GSP traffic is not terrible.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8
Exterior
Being built in 1926, the exterior of the building is in complete contrast with the glitzy, bright casinos as the Boardwalk Hall décor is beige limestone. There is not much that really says it is an arena and can easily be confused as a different building. The exterior reminded me of a federal building near the National Mall at DC. A unique feature is the entrance is backwards as it actually is at the back of the building. This works as a lot of the pedestrian traffic in the warm months is along the boardwalk. Inscribed at the top is a message saying: “A permanent monument conceived as a tribute to the ideals of Atlantic City – Built by its citizens and dedicated to recreation – social progress and industrial achievements” Lastly, the arched metallic roof is the most distinguishable feature when coming in from further away.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
Inside, is a separate box office and an open entrance area before escalators bring fans to the second floor and the main concourse. There is a ballroom within the hall and this was where the Atlantic-10 Fanfest was held. The concourse is large and very spacious with plenty of room to walk around. Restrooms could have been a little more plentiful as they get jammed with a low number of urinals (of course speaking from the male side). I loved the color-scheme in here as it is very representative of AC. They even added little touches like having a seashell as the background for Section letters.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
Food and beer was standard with enough to satisfy for a basic meal. My second visit featured a stand that added some variety as you could get a BBQ Chicken Sub, a Kielbasa Sub or a Pork Roll & Cheese in a nod to the home state. There were a couple stands though that featured a ton of bulk candy. That’s fine, but where are the funnel cakes?
Food Ranking: 6 out of 8
Interior
Inside, Boardwalk Hall is a vibrant facility as the visual appearance is really nice. The combination of sea green wall accents, dim blue lighting up a portion of the distinguishable arcing roof and the green seating all help to set the tone. Standing out the most, is a huge mural of an old ship that is located on the stage. Now the seating design itself leaves a lot to be desired as the structure was designed more for concerts than sports. There is a ton of floor space and that pushes the seating bowl a good distance from the basketball court (or hockey rink if that’s the case). One level of seating kinda becomes two on the sides as a walkway and large wall split the bowl in half. Sections wrap-around one end in a curved nature, while at the other end it stops the side seating stops for the stage. These seats are very far away and not great to use since the court is rightfully placed closer to the other end. It is over in this area, that the non-sporting design shows again as temporary seating fills the gap between the floor and bowl. Seats are at least comfortable and the pitch is adequate higher up. The aesthetics make Boardwalk Hall a better arena, but this is still one not designed all that well for sports.
Interior Ranking: 8 out of 14
Scoreboard
The four-sided scoreboard is nice and completes its purpose without all the bells and whistles. Score and player stats are displayed, while each side has a video screen. Unfortunately, the video looks worse than Standard Definition TV as it can even be difficult to even make out players faces when watching replays.
Scoreboard Ranking: 2.5 out of 4
Displays
While walking along the Boardwalk outside of the building, there are small plaques on some of the walls denoting both Atlantic City and arena milestones. A nice touch inside was the Boardwalk Hall of Fame, comprised mostly of singers who have performed concerts inside. I liked the display as each member had a wooden board signed with picture and ticket stub. The Atlantic 10 Conference is honored nicely as the rafters feature flags for each member and a banner with the year and champion listed from when the tournament was played in AC. There are also a couple of hometown nods with the old ECHL hockey team banners seeing recognition along with Arturo Gatti who fought 15 time here.
Displays Ranking: 4 out of 6
Cost
Prices were good in 2009 as I paid $5 for parking and $28 for a seat. Just three years later, it got jacked up as surrounding lots doubled or tripled in cost. Championship game tickets were going for $31, $41 or $67 and that does not include the $9 TicketMaster fee. I suppose for the type of event this is reasonable, however that type of increase certainly is a disappointment.
Cost Ranking: 6 out of 8
Fan Support and Atmosphere
Fan support for the tournament is OK. Most sessions have a few thousand fans on hand and the first championship game I saw had a decent crowd that filled more than half the building. However, the problem is much of that attendance is bolstered by the Philly schools advancing far. Outside of Dayton and Saint Bonaventure, further schools may not bring in that much in the way of fans. For the first game I saw, the crowd was about 70% Temple, 20% neutral and 10% Duquesne. In 2012, the Bonnies had more of an advantage over Xavier, but the building was far less full. In terms of neutral, local support there wasn’t a lot and given that the two local sports franchises have folded, there really isn’t a great sport supporting base around AC. Atmosphere for each final in Boardwalk Hall was pretty good as the building was loud and you can tell there is great acoustics.
Fan Support Ranking: 5 out of 8
Atmosphere Ranking: 9 out of 14
Other Stuff
In addition to being declared a National Historic Landmark, Boardwalk Hall is home to the world’s largest pipe organ. Unfortunately, it is no longer working, however restoration efforts have begun…..In the early portion of this decade, Boardwalk Hall was home to an ECHL team. After four seasons with poor attendance the team moved, going the same fate of the baseball team. Home team sports unfortunately just don’t seem to work in Atlantic City…..A nice touch here was the availability of the city newspaper “The Press of Atlantic City” in the concourse. Helps to pass the time in between sessions and at halftime…..The list of famous boxing matches at boardwalk hall is long: Tyson-Spinks, Holyfield-Foreman, Ward-Gotti, Duran-Barkley.
Game
Temple won their second straight A-10 tournament as Dionte Christmas led them with 29 points. He had 20 in a well-played first half as the tempo was fast and clean with both teams shooting over 50%. The Owls pushed their lead to 10 in the beginning of the second half. Duquesne kept it close but not enough to seriously threaten. Sergio Olmos finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds for Temple.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
