Stabler Arena – Allentown Arena

[StablerBumParticipant]

I have no insight into this, but it has occurred to me that the new arena being built in Allentown could have serious consequences for Stabler and by extension LU basketball. The Allentown Arena folks have already said that they will be strongly pursuing concerts and tradeshows. I would imagine that most events that Stabler is now hosting would gladly leave for a brand new downtown arena, and the LV Steelhawks indoor football team as well. I have no idea how much revenue Stabler generates from Globetrotters, Sesame Street, LV Auto Show, etc., but I imagine it is about to take a BIG hit. I wonder if they will make any arrangements to make Stabler more basketball/wrestling friendly and forget about the concerts and special events. Just a thought.

[RichHParticipant]

I would gladly support upgrading Stabler , less of an all purpose venue and more fanfriendly for sports. ( In a perfect world, I would move the damn thing to the other side of the mountain, so students could walk to games)

[TMHParticipant]

Personally, I think it may have minimal impact. Stabler doesn’t have a large calendar of events outside of Lehigh Athletics. I suspect that the new arena will be more conducive for ice shows and concerts deemed to draw between 5,000-10,000. The one asset Stabler still maintains is parking and relatively easy egress and exits as compared to an arena smack in the middle of downtown Allentown with only parking decks available.

[jimk72Participant]

The days of Stabler hosting Billy Joel & the like are long since passed. My understanding is the University can easily handle the loss of the very few big time events left on Stabler’s calender. Stabler is still better situated geographically, and as stated earlier, logistically for things like the home show & the auto show. Supposedly the venue taking the biggest hit for major entertainment will be the State Theater.

[TMHParticipant]

You just brought back some great memories. The first time I saw Billy Joel was during my junior year at Lehigh. He performed at the Roxy Theater. Ticket price was $1. Shortly after that, he appeared at Northampton Area Community College and we sat on the gym floor then Lehigh (Grace Hall I believe) and Kutztown. He went fraternity hopping after the Lehigh Concert.

[Author]

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