In the Thursday 12/9/10 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703493504576007943138317876.html 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.
Quoting someone who commented on WSJ.com
Quote from: 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.
Quote from: Stan BaxterThere 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.
BAH. You DO NOT, you spoiled fucks. ::cuss::
Quote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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. (http://wapo.st/ga7toB)
Quote from: munchkinQuote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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. (http://wapo.st/ga7toB)
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.
* Virginia Tech runs a distant second.
++ all of whom moved here from NY after grad school.
Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
That's exactly what came to my mind when I read that
Quote from: scoop85Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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? ::nut::
Quote from: RitaQuote from: scoop85Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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? ::nut::
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.
Quote from: KeithKQuote from: RitaQuote from: scoop85Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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? ::nut::
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.
Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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.
Quote from: Josh '99Quote from: KeithKQuote from: RitaQuote from: scoop85Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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? ::nut::
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.
I am pretty sure that folks in Arizona know what ICE is. Now, frozen water, that is another story. :-D
Quote from: Roy 82Quote from: Josh '99Quote from: KeithKQuote from: RitaQuote from: scoop85Quote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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? ::nut::
Sure. A few people there might actually realize that ice hockey exists.
Step one: Demonstrate to them that ICE exists.
I am pretty sure that folks in Arizona know what ICE is. Now, frozen water, that is another story. :-D
Nicely done. B-]. What do the kids say today, "FTW... for the win"?
Quote from: SwampyQuote from: KeithKQuote from: Stan BaxterThe 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 would be bigger than the NFL in other places too if there were more teams like the Lions.
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.
After '96 I'm pretty sure college hockey isn't coming back to Cincinnati...
Quote from: RitaNicely done. B-]. What do the kids say today, "FTW... for the win"?
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.
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.
FTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
Quote from: munchkinFTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
An acronym that's the mirror image of WTF, you gotta wonder. And in fact: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ftw
I am still boggled that "air conditioner" has multiple meanings. Thank you, Trotsky. http://elf.elynah.com/read.php?1,163222,163848#msg-163848
Quote from: billhowardQuote from: munchkinFTW is for the win, among us young people there's no other abreviation that I know of using those letters.
An acronym that's the mirror image of WTF, you gotta wonder. And in fact: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ftw
Ok, no other abreviation of those letters in that order. I've never heard the F the World iteration used.
you're missing out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECW_FTW_Heavyweight_Championship
Quote from: underskillyou're missing out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECW_FTW_Heavyweight_Championship
I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob.
Quote from: Josh '99Quote from: underskillyou're missing out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECW_FTW_Heavyweight_Championship
I wouldn't say I've been MISSING it, Bob.
Why should
I change? He's the one that sucks.