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Mountain of Morgantown

Official Review by Joshua Guiher, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

The WVU Coliseum was built in 1970 and was last updated in 2004. The WVU Coliseum seats around 14,000 including 100 extremely tight seats on media row. The WVU Coliseum is mainly a concrete structure that stands out as being unique against the rest of the WVU architecture. The building is starting to show its age in some areas, but seems to be well maintained and should last for years to come.

Food & Beverage    3

The WVU Coliseum has your standard arena foods such as hot dogs ($3.50), foot long dogs ($5), nachos ($4), popcorn ($4), pretzels ($3.50), and peanuts ($3.50). They also offer pepperoni rolls ($3.50), a grilled sausage sandwich ($4), and a BBQ Beef sandwich with slaw ($8).

Sodas are $4 for a large and $4.50 for souvenir size along with 20oz bottles of water ($3).

The concessions are run by Sodexho and are of decent quality. There are not a whole lot of stands and while lines moved quickly you should still plan your food run accordingly.

Atmosphere    5

I was quite impressed with the atmosphere at the WVU Coliseum. The game I attended was sold out for a weekday contest, something most programs in the country only dream of. I witnessed multiple adult fans wearing mountaineer type hats and other extreme attire. Usually the costume type clothing is limited to student sections. The place was loud and electric, making for a nice game day atmosphere.

Neighborhood    2

West Virginia University is located in Morgantown, WV. Outside of the school, there are not a whole lot of options for entertainment. One popular place seemed to be Kegler's Bar. Everything else was chain type restaurants and a bunch of rundown places I wasn't willing to visit. Morgantown just isn't really a destination where you are going to spend a day or two exploring and shopping in. I've been here multiple times for various sporting events and have never enjoyed myself outside of the event itself.

Fans    4

The fans are extremely into the game, constantly cheering their team and trying to rattle the opposition. They also make sure the refs are well aware of their displeasure if they disagree with a call. The only real downfall of the fans, and the reason I didn't give them a 5 star rating was a few moments where they seemed to not know the rules, resulting in unnecessary berating of the referees.

Access    3

The traffic cops at WVU just seemed to stand around and allow you to park wherever you wanted. Cars were just pulling off of the road anywhere they could find an empty spot to park. I'm a sucker for free parking but it would be nice to have some signs or parking officials directing you to cut back on the number of times a car in front of you just dives off of the road.

The bathrooms were easy to find and had plenty of room just as expected.

Return on Investment    4

Attending a game at WVU Coliseum is worth the money, but it is going to cost you. Tickets for the game I attended against UConn were $35 face value. Tickets at most other programs are a little cheaper, however, when you are consistently selling out games you can charge whatever patrons are willing to pay. There were also a good number of scalpers on the street so you could find tickets if you were willing to pay.

Extras    3

Halftime entertainment was the dance team and a few shooting contests involving fans. Promotions during media timeouts were fairly limited. It made for a nice clean presentation. The staff was also very polite and helpful as I asked questions so I could get the full range of the WVU experience. Overall the WVU Coliseum is a great place to watch a collegiate basketball game, particularly when another great team is playing.

My take

Circular arena designs are not very efficient for getting fans close to the action, but WVU did a good job of working around that and getting a good number of fans near court-side. They have their nights when only 7000 fans show up, but over-all this is a good venue with good atmosphere for college hoops.

by CigarBoy | Apr 07, 2011 05:14 AM

Don't forget the Jerry West tribute display

Good review. I saw a game with just 6,400 fans and it was still a great atmosphere. One point that should be mentioned is the display on Jerry West including programs and game sheets from 50 years ago. Fascinating if you like sports history.

by sportsroadtrips | Jun 18, 2011 02:18 AM

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