Fifth Third Arena

I volunteered for an event here (graduation ceremony for the online university I work for) so I got to see behind the scenes. It's an intimate arena with pretty decent sightlines. They even have a bar area, which is still odd to me as a college arena, but hey, gotta make money. I actually thought the food options weren't as varied as I thought they would be, but then again it was offseason. I wouldn't mind seeing a basketball game here.

The home of the Cincinnati Bearcats. I have been going to Fifth Third Arena since the year it opened the venue after the renovation has created bigger concourses, great beer selections with the various bars and added several food stands, such as Skyline, Frischs and a Wings and Rings. After that the quality falls of quickly for any food choices. What a place to watch the Bearcats!!

Won tickets for a game through a work raffle. Great seat, fun atmosphere, easy wayfinding, plenty of concessions, beer vendors serving the stands. I even had a t-shirt land in my lap during the t-shirt toss when I wasn't looking! They also do a Skyline parachute drop with coupons for cheese coneys. I paid for parking in advance at the Campus Green garage.

Great venue. Nicely organized. Plenty of men's facilities but a little challenging for the ladies.

That said the seats were excellent, access was superb and the acoustics were outstanding.

The jumbo tron is yooge but among the crispest displays around!

Easy to see the dais from just about anywhere!

Had a awesome time watching the UC game, even though they lost. The staff were all very friendly and the place was as clean as it could be for a full house. The facilities were very nice as well. 100% recommend!

Here for first game in the newly remodeled fifth third arena - WOW!! They did a great job - it is a totally new place - great seating and decor and concession and restroom and layout are all 100% better!!

My first experience in the newly remodeled arena was pretty good. I will say that the layout is much better and more open than the previous arena. Views, even from the nosebleeds where we sat, were fine and apart from the surprisingly terrible camera crew (seriously some of you need to learn how to focus and shoot wider), were fine and complimented with multiple gigantic screens. Walking around the plaza level, I did find it odd that there were not tvs showing the action on the court. This is a brand new design right?

I never used the bathroom because the lines, yes even for the guys, were way out the door so I am not sure if if was poor design or everyone synchronized their bathroom visit.

Waiting in line for beer at a sporting event is typically not enjoyable and while I was in line at the the busiest time (halftime), I only waited about 10-15 minutes. Their selection of beer was great. There were the usual Cincinnati craft breweries (Madtree, Rhinegeist, etc) and the lesser quality (cheaper) beers. Expect to pay ~$8-10 dollars per beer. If you are hungry, they have you covered with offerings from BW3, Skyline, Frisch's, and even Taste of Belgium. Chicken and waffles and all that other good stuff. Not bad.

The only other aspect to consider is parking. Clifton is notorious for a few things and crappy parking is one of them. Plan ahead and either suck it up and pay $10+ for garage parking or take your chances by parking in the surrounding neighborhood. Do not leave ANYTHING visible in your car and try to park so that the other cars do not have to give you the "Clifton Bump" to extricate themselves from the spot. ;)

The 2018 renovation definitely added some life to this arena. Considering the structure is over 40 years old, it looks pretty good. I hope it was $80 million dollars well spent. 2 years after the renovation, some of the features are already starting to show their age. In the champions club lounge some of the light fixtures are crooked and the corners and drywall sections have been well abused showing scratches and dents. The champions level seats are pretty comfortable. The embroidery on the seat back is pretty nice.

Been going to UC Games since the Big O days in the really old Armory Fieldhouse. 5/3 @ The Shoe is ok but the renovation will be a great step forward. When the House is a Rockin' it's fantastic but when the fat cats at floor level court side sit on their hands or leave early, it's depressing.

They should let us cheap skates in the nosebleed sections come on down at halftime to the empty seats so the Cats get some love.

The upgrades made to this arena were well done. I was at the venue for a work meeting in the Mercedes Benz lounge. The lounge is nice but your can definitely hear whoever's on the court from that room. I can't wait to return to check out a game!