How many seats are enough for Bradley?

[squirrel]

FWIW here's the main thread for the conversation on The Bradley Board (not that one )
http://www.pjstarforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=98716

Even when things were rolling during the Jim Les Glory Years, many of our non-conference games had paltry attendance downtown.

This would not likely be an exclusive move back to campus. It would likely be something like a 6 game thing on campus, with 10 downtown (primarily Valley games and maybe 1 or 2 higher profile non-conference games).

The people that wouldn't go to the RC games are the ones already not going to similar games at Carver.

So the attendance, parking and intersection things are all overblown.

Yes, there will be greater stress on the intersection, but that's still largely because people are ignorant toward better parking and efficient outlet options.

[tribecalledquest]

To be clear. Bradley students did not design the current on campus arena. What was mentioned in the article is that Bradley engineering graduate students did a feasibility study about increasing the seating capacity of the Ren Col.

[Bradleyfan1]

Stay at Carver..... even as bad as its been, ISU red and Witch St are good turnouts! I will not give up hope of the return to the top! GO BU GO GO BU. THE CUNNINGHAM? THOMAS ERA HAS BEGUN!

[squirrel]

7 should be enough.

[PapaBear]

I'd support doing this if we get capacity up to 6,500, which apparently we can. Here's how I see it.

Pros:
-Bradley gets to keep all of the revenue. At Carver, Bradley gets no revenue from parking or concessions and has to lease the building. Whereas with Renaissance, BU owns it and the adjacent parking deck.
-Bradley can control its dates and improve its schedule. Geno said BU had a big name opponent lined up to visit Peoria this year but Carver couldn't make the dates work. Increased flexibility will lead to better opponents and more regular games on Wednesday and Saturday nights.
-It will seem more full and draw more students. We can pack the arena and get it rocking even in a down year. It's on campus so it's an easy walk for students (hell, it's across the street from where I lived senior year.) It will present more of a home court advantage for the Braves.)

MANY more pros than cons--6500 seats would serve BUB well on campus--no pay to practice/play--own parking/concessions etc etc--BU is hurting financially and this initial expense would pay BIG dividends in a short time--for a LONG time--and then rent the Civic Center for ISU and WSU or any other ranked team on the schedule--clearly the right thing to do--so I doubt it happens

[BradleyFan71]

I'd support doing this if we get capacity up to 6,500, which apparently we can. Here's how I see it.

Pros:
-Bradley gets to keep all of the revenue. At Carver, Bradley gets no revenue from parking or concessions and has to lease the building. Whereas with Renaissance, BU owns it and the adjacent parking deck.
-Bradley can control its dates and improve its schedule. Geno said BU had a big name opponent lined up to visit Peoria this year but Carver couldn't make the dates work. Increased flexibility will lead to better opponents and more regular games on Wednesday and Saturday nights.
-It will seem more full and draw more students. We can pack the arena and get it rocking even in a down year. It's on campus so it's an easy walk for students (hell, it's across the street from where I lived senior year.) It will present more of a home court advantage for the Braves.)

MANY more pros than cons--6500 seats would serve BUB well on campus--no pay to practice/play--own parking/concessions etc etc--BU is hurting financially and this initial expense would pay BIG dividends in a short time--for a LONG time--and then rent the Civic Center for ISU and WSU or any other ranked team on the schedule--clearly the right thing to do--so I doubt it happens

Considering this is the same administration that gave Geno an extension after year two (putting us in this mess), I wouldn't expect them to make too many smart moves.

[capnkirk]

I have not read the article, but in general I see this as a big mistake.
Drake was averaging over 9000 per game at Vets Auditorium in the early 80's. By the early 90's they moved to an on campus facility that had a maximum sating capacity of 7000, making it impossible to ever get back to their previous average. No matter what size arena you build, it will never be at 100% for a season unless you are coming off an undefeated season and going through another one.

Creighton averaged 4-5000 in the 80's and 90's. Even when they were very good and at or near the top of the conference. They didn't have a huge attendance 8increase until they moved into a huge facility and became a part of the Omaha community. Drake has become much less visible to Des Moines since they moved to an on campus facility. You need to stay a part of Peoria and not just a private school that nobody but alumni has any interest in.

If you truly are going to build something on campus, which you shouldn't. Make sure it holds at least 9000.

Totally agree.....

[rlh04d]

I have not read the article, but in general I see this as a big mistake.
Drake was averaging over 9000 per game at Vets Auditorium in the early 80's. By the early 90's they moved to an on campus facility that had a maximum sating capacity of 7000, making it impossible to ever get back to their previous average. No matter what size arena you build, it will never be at 100% for a season unless you are coming off an undefeated season and going through another one.

Creighton averaged 4-5000 in the 80's and 90's. Even when they were very good and at or near the top of the conference. They didn't have a huge attendance 8increase until they moved into a huge facility and became a part of the Omaha community. Drake has become much less visible to Des Moines since they moved to an on campus facility. You need to stay a part of Peoria and not just a private school that nobody but alumni has any interest in.

If you truly are going to build something on campus, which you shouldn't. Make sure it holds at least 9000.

If you're going to write a post like this, at least you could acknowledge how absolutely everything you said is proven wrong by WSU. Which has averaged a sellout at an on-campus arena since, what, 2001?

I vastly prefer the on-campus arena model, for financial reasons.

[Drakey]

Wichita is a completely different situation than Creighton, Bradley and Drake. I don't think WSU has ever had attendance problems, even when they were terrible. I think it is a different kind of city and a different kind of school. I think Bradley is much more similar to Drake and Creighton than it is to WSU. Obviously I did not make any claim that no school with an on campus facility can draw fans. Nearly every State school in the country has an on campus facility. I'm talking about small private schools in medium sized Midwestern cities. These schools do not come with built in fan bases. The number of alumni is limited and the alumni they do have probably consists of fewer sports fans than most state schools.

It has been my observation that in order to build a fan base at one of these schools you have to be part of the city. Drake at one time had done that. Creighton did that. Bradley traditionally was able to do that before going many years with mediocre teams. I just think it would be a huge mistake to withdraw from the community to a campus facility because based on my experience, that will cause another reduction in fan interest.

[rlh04d]

Wichita is a completely different situation than Creighton, Bradley and Drake. I don't think WSU has ever had attendance problems, even when they were terrible. I think it is a different kind of city and a different kind of school. I think Bradley is much more similar to Drake and Creighton than it is to WSU. Obviously I did not make any claim that no school with an on campus facility can draw fans. Nearly every State school in the country has an on campus facility. I'm talking about small private schools in medium sized Midwestern cities. These schools do not come with built in fan bases. The number of alumni is limited and the alumni they do have probably consists of fewer sports fans than most state schools.

It has been my observation that in order to build a fan base at one of these schools you have to be part of the city. Drake at one time had done that. Creighton did that. Bradley traditionally was able to do that before going many years with mediocre teams. I just think it would be a huge mistake to withdraw from the community to a campus facility because based on my experience, that will cause another reduction in fan interest.

True, I wasn't looking in terms of student body. You might be right.