"So do you go to a lot of Gonzaga games?"
People who don't reside around these parts constantly throw this question at me once they learn they learn I live in Spokane.
"Oh no! Of course not! It's basically impossible to get tickets for men's Zag games," I reply with a laugh. "Nobody in Spokane gets to go to Gonzaga games!"
But really, I'm not sure if I should be chuckling at the situation.
The fact that the biggest team in Spokane — heck, the city's signature cultural export — is usually completely inaccessible for local Zags fans is beyond absurd.
As a GU alumni, I have so many fond memories of attending games in the student section at McCarthey Athletic Center and helping the Kennel Club create one of the most raucous atmospheres in the country. Part of that admittedly is the arena's modest size (6,000 capacity), which keeps the action intimate. It's a truly special environment that all Zags fans should be able to experience.
But that's not how Gonzaga runs their operations. Tickets for GU games in McCarthey simply aren't available to the public. There's not even really a secondary market for them. Unless you snapped up season tickets when McCarthey opened in 2004 or have a friend with a ticket connection, Zags games are an ivory tower beyond the reach of us commoners (even the alumni ones).
The pathetic nature of the situation really dawned on me when I visited a Zag friend in Las Vegas recently. Pretty much every year Gonzaga will play a major regular season game in Vegas (this year it's USC on Dec. 2), plus play a couple games in the West Coast Conference Tournament. Tickets are easy to snag, so my pal usually goes to three Bulldogs games per year.
Let that linger for a second... When it comes to seeing their favorite team in-person, it is far, far easier to be a Gonzaga fan living 1,000-plus miles from campus in Las Vegas than it is to be one living walking distance from the Kennel in Spokane.
That's so f—ing dumb.
Since expanding McCarthey isn't a viable option, there's one obvious answer — play more often in Spokane Arena. It's a no-brainer that playing games in a building with twice the capacity of McCarthey — one that actually puts tickets on sale to the public — could bring the team to the local Zag fan community. Those games can be an absolute blast, and still carry a distinct home court advantage, as was evident when the building was rocking during the Bulldogs' beat down of the Kentucky Wildcats last season.
But Spokane Arena is vastly underutilized by Gonzaga. Before the showdown with UK, the last game the Zags played in the Arena happened way back in 2014. For comparison, the team has played 11 games in Seattle's Key/Climate Pledge Arena since 2005 (and that's not counting Seattle road games at UW and NCAA Tourney games) versus only seven Spokane Arena tilts — and that's despite Key/Climate Pledge Arena being under construction for three of those years! (For those keeping score at home, the cities where it's easier than Spokane to see the Zags live now include Seattle and Las Vegas... plus I haven't even mentioned San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Portland... all of which also top Spokane in that respect.)
Thankfully, Gonzaga is playing a game at Spokane Arena this coming season — a WCC matchup with Pepperdine on Jan. 4 — tickets go on sale to the public on Nov. 10 via TicketsWest.com. More of this, please!
It seems from the outside that part of the reticence to play in Spokane Arena comes from not wanting to have marquee games off campus. And honestly, that's fine! But then go fully the other way — put 2-4 of the "bad" games on the schedule in Spokane Arena every year.
Sure there's more excitement around a GU game in Spokane Arena against a ranked opponent, but because of the scarcity of the live product for the vast majority of area Bulldogs fans, we'll show up for matchups versus teams like Pepperdine.
Here's my proposal:
- Put one of the preseason exhibition games in the Arena (with cheaper tickets for children — it breaks my heart how many young fans never get to go to a GU game). It would turn the start of the year into a community gathering.
- Put one or two of the Christmas break games in the Arena. The atmosphere in McCarthey without the students absolutely sucks anyway, so it'd actually improve the home court advantage! Plus folks would love getting those Zags tickets for a Christmas/holiday gift.
- Put at least one WCC game in the Arena, too. It'll break up the conference slate doldrums.
Gonzaga basketball is part of Spokane's identity. We're long overdue for the program to become something the whole city can actually enjoy in person as a community. ♦
