WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by billhoward
WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: billhoward (---.ziffdavis.com)
Date: December 09, 2010 09:43AM
In the Thursday 12/9/10 [online.wsj.com] the article, "How Far Can College Hockey Go?" It coincides with the Michigan - Michigan State Big Chill game Saturday at Michigan football stadium with a crowd of 113,000 expected. Article notes Michigan hockey will earn $1 million more revenue (more, not total) this year than Michigan basketball. Other signs of growth:
>>> Penn State will become the nation's 59th Division I hockey school when its team goes varsity in the 2012-13 season. The school is also building an arena that will cost as much as $80 million. New arenas are on the way at Notre Dame and the Rochester Institute of Technology and Wisconsin is building a new practice facility.
>>> Joe Bertagna, the commissioner of Hockey East, pointed to signs the sport's appeal is crossing geographic boundaries. The percentage of college hockey players who hail from non-traditional hockey-playing areas has risen to 10.6% this season from just 3.8% nine years ago.
>>> Penn State's ascension to Division I has led to speculation that the Big Ten will form its own hockey conference, since it will have the requisite six teams.
>>> Penn State will become the nation's 59th Division I hockey school when its team goes varsity in the 2012-13 season. The school is also building an arena that will cost as much as $80 million. New arenas are on the way at Notre Dame and the Rochester Institute of Technology and Wisconsin is building a new practice facility.
>>> Joe Bertagna, the commissioner of Hockey East, pointed to signs the sport's appeal is crossing geographic boundaries. The percentage of college hockey players who hail from non-traditional hockey-playing areas has risen to 10.6% this season from just 3.8% nine years ago.
>>> Penn State's ascension to Division I has led to speculation that the Big Ten will form its own hockey conference, since it will have the requisite six teams.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: ajh258 (---.res-wired.cornell.edu)
Date: December 09, 2010 10:34AM
Quoting someone who commented on WSJ.com
Stan Baxter
"Michigan expects its hockey program to bring in more ticket revenue than basketball this season by a margin of more than $1 million."
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
Hockey is a very expensive sport to field, it won't grow much. There was a day when you built a barn and stuck a rink in it (metal bleachers, small concourses/aisles and a simple scoreboard) but they have passed. Now you need theater style seats, video boards and wide concourses as well as handicap accessibility and a nice exterior aesthetic appearance. Because of mens and womens basketball, gymnastics and volleyball it usually isn't practical to convert a traditional gym into a hockey arena which is extremely expensive as it requires bringing in major machinery to dig up the floor and new seating configurations for the oval sized rink. An additional building on campus (one that may solely be used for hockey in many cases) means an additional building to heat in the winter, an additional roof to replace in 20 years, an additional building to clean and so forth. All the expenses for this building are attributed to the hockey team.
Also due to Title IX, adding a mens sport with NCAA scholarships requires adding an equal number of womens scholarships. Often that means adding an additional sport and coaching staff which (depending on the conference and it's travel costs) can be very expensive. Womens sports bring in almost no revenue.
NCAA hockey = VERY EXPENSIVE
Also, the article has failed to mention the rocky world that is minor league hockey ownership. It is very difficult to make money on a hockey team, just ask all the cities with empty hockey arenas that used to have CHL, UHL, AHL, ECHL, WCHL, SPHL and IHL teams.
The NCAA hockey teams also compete with the USHL and OHL for players, both those leagues are development leagues for the NHL.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Josh '99 (---.net)
Date: December 09, 2010 11:07AM
BAH. You DO NOT, you spoiled fucks.Stan Baxter
There was a day when you built a barn and stuck a rink in it (metal bleachers, small concourses/aisles and a simple scoreboard) but they have passed. Now you need theater style seats, video boards and wide concourses as well as handicap accessibility and a nice exterior aesthetic appearance.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: KeithK (---.external.lmco.com)
Date: December 09, 2010 01:46PM
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: munchkin (---.hsd1.ma.comcast.net)
Date: December 09, 2010 02:16PM
The Capitals are the hottest ticket in DC. Just watch the video here: How one Redskins fan reacted to news that he'd reached the top of the wait list.KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Trotsky (---.dc.dc.cox.net)
Date: December 09, 2010 02:41PM
The sad thing is, as atrociously as the Redskins have treated their fans for the last decade, it's still the only team* in any sport at any level that anyone in DC gives a rat's ass about. The Caps are arguably the most fun hockey team in the world to watch right now, and I doubt more than 1%++ of the local population even knows they exist.munchkin
The Capitals are the hottest ticket in DC. Just watch the video here: How one Redskins fan reacted to news that he'd reached the top of the wait list.KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
* Virginia Tech runs a distant second.
++ all of whom moved here from NY after grad school.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2010 02:43PM by Trotsky.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: scoop85 (173.84.100.---)
Date: December 09, 2010 04:21PM
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Rita (129.171.150.---)
Date: December 09, 2010 04:33PM
scoop85
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Does that mean that hockey popularity is going to skyrocket in Arizona this season?
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: KeithK (---.external.lmco.com)
Date: December 09, 2010 06:53PM
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.Rita
scoop85
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Does that mean that hockey popularity is going to skyrocket in Arizona this season?
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Josh '99 (---.nyc.res.rr.com)
Date: December 09, 2010 09:35PM
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.KeithK
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.Rita
scoop85
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Does that mean that hockey popularity is going to skyrocket in Arizona this season?
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Swampy (131.128.163.---)
Date: December 09, 2010 10:23PM
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
So should we expect U. of Cincinnati and UNC to get hockey teams? Buffalo already has a professional hockey team and some good college teams nearby.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Roy 82 (128.18.14.---)
Date: December 10, 2010 02:23AM
Josh '99
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.KeithK
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.Rita
scoop85
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Does that mean that hockey popularity is going to skyrocket in Arizona this season?
I am pretty sure that folks in Arizona know what ICE is. Now, frozen water, that is another story.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Rita (---.hsd1.fl.comcast.net)
Date: December 10, 2010 08:20AM
Roy 82
Josh '99
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.KeithK
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.Rita
scoop85
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Does that mean that hockey popularity is going to skyrocket in Arizona this season?
I am pretty sure that folks in Arizona know what ICE is. Now, frozen water, that is another story.
Nicely done.
![B-]](http://elf.elynah.com/smileys/11.gif "B-]")
. What do the kids say today, "FTW... for the win"?
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: KeithK (---.dsl.pltn13.pacbell.net)
Date: December 10, 2010 08:53PM
After '96 I'm pretty sure college hockey isn't coming back to Cincinnati...Swampy
KeithK
Hockey would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.Stan Baxter
The State of Michigan is a unique place, 1 million people came out for the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup victory parade a few years ago. Detroit is probably the only major market in North America where hockey is the biggest sport, bigger than even the NFL.
So should we expect U. of Cincinnati and UNC to get hockey teams? Buffalo already has a professional hockey team and some good college teams nearby.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: billhoward (---.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
Date: December 11, 2010 03:28PM
Any acronym that starts with F, better look it up to make sure there aren't alternative expansions, as well as to see if FTW is intended with sincerity or sarcasm.Rita
Nicely done.
Friend just diagnosed with breast cancer. Among the get-well emails was one friend's abbreviation for "lots of love." Among people having been of legal drinking age when Reagan was president, it happens a little too frequently.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: munchkin (---.hsd1.ma.comcast.net)
Date: December 12, 2010 01:01PM
FTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: billhoward (---.hsd1.pa.comcast.net)
Date: December 13, 2010 01:20AM
An acronym that's the mirror image of WTF, you gotta wonder. And in fact: [www.urbandictionary.com]munchkin
FTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
I am still boggled that "air conditioner" has multiple meanings. Thank you, Trotsky. [elf.elynah.com]
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: munchkin (---.hsd1.ma.comcast.net)
Date: December 13, 2010 12:17PM
billhoward
An acronym that's the mirror image of WTF, you gotta wonder. And in fact: [www.urbandictionary.com]munchkin
FTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
Ok, no other abreviation of those letters in that order. I've never heard the F the World iteration used.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: underskill (---.nycmny.east.verizon.net)
Date: December 13, 2010 12:28PM
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Josh '99 (---.net)
Date: December 13, 2010 03:00PM
I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob.
Re: WSJ: How Far Can College Hockey Go?
Posted by: Trotsky (---.hsd1.md.comcast.net)
Date: December 13, 2010 03:19PM
Why should I change? He's the one that sucks.Josh '99
I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob.
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