For those that are, do you play on campus? Own arena or bball conversion?

How much money does it take to fund one?

(07-11-2013 06:23 PM)PirateTreasureNC Wrote:  For those that are, do you play on campus? Own arena or bball conversion?

How much money does it take to fund one?

To have a DI team, an (almost) absolute necessity is an on-campus (or close to campus) ice arena for practice. A bare cost for that is around $10 million, plus there are energy costs to keep the compressors and cooling systems working.

A number of schools that play high-level DI hockey use off-campus multisport rinks for their games (and in some cases practices): Colorado College (World Arena near downtown Colorado Springs), Nebraska-Omaha (Century-Link Center), Minnesota-Duluth (Amsoil Arena), UConn (begins Hockey East play at XL Center in Hartford), Alaska-Anchorage, Bemidji State, Alaska.

In the midwest, the availability of a league to play in is often more of a hurdle than a local rink capable of 4000 seating. Generally, about 4000 seats is required to break even on the sport. (but that depends on Title IX, existing hockey fan base, travel issues, etc)

i know a lot of schools make it more efficient by building an athletic center with a hockey rink which allows it to be a dual purpose building.

hockey is surprisingly affordable because unlike football & basketball stadiums, hockey arenas can serve multiple community purposes with or without the ice which significantly lower the cost of building/upkeep of arenas. it is easily the best spectator sport and the in game experience doesnt translate well to TV which is why attendance at hockey games shows so many unique trends compared to other sports in terms of repeat customers & first time customers. hockey isnt dependent on a large tv following to be profitable whereas other college sports who are close to the line between profitable/not profitable (like lacrosse & soccer) need huge tv following in order to be successful.

(07-11-2013 11:17 PM)john01992 Wrote:  i know a lot of schools make it more efficient by building an athletic center with a hockey rink which allows it to be a dual purpose building.

hockey is surprisingly affordable because unlike football & basketball stadiums, hockey arenas can serve multiple community purposes with or without the ice which significantly lower the cost of building/upkeep of arenas. it is easily the best spectator sport and the in game experience doesnt translate well to TV which is why attendance at hockey games shows so many unique trends compared to other sports in terms of repeat customers & first time customers. hockey isnt dependent on a large tv following to be profitable whereas other college sports who are close to the line between profitable/not profitable (like lacrosse & soccer) need huge tv following in order to be successful.

Think a number of urban midwestern schools should have sponsored hockey years ago, as hockey would do well in many locales:

Cleveland St
Wright St
IP-Ft Wayne
St Louis (dropped it)
UIC (dropped it)
Kent St (dropped it)
UW-Milwaukee
UMKC
Buffalo
IUPUI
UW-Green Bay
Drake
Wichita State

Nebraska-Omaha - has averaged around 8000 many years

That depends on a variety of factors, but I assume you're asking from the point of view of an ECU fan. If I'm correct, the low end teams of DI spend about 500k a year, though startup costs are pretty hefty, especially if you have to add a women's sport for Title IX. I don't know the exact figures of what Miami is funded, but I believe higher end schools spend a few million a year. Like it was posted on the other hockey thread going on now, Penn State got an $88 million donation from a married couple, which covered the costs of building a state-of-the-art arena and funding for the men's team, though not many schools have some random rich guy ready to do that (they own the Buffalo Sabres).

Miami had been nothing special for the most part until Enrico Blasi took over about a decade ago. Since then, we've been regular Frozen Four contenders (only NoDak has a longer NCAA tournament streak) and have even gotten a brand new ice arena (see link below for pictures). It cost $40 million but in addition to the main arena there's a recreational and practice rink too that's also used for synchronized skating.

I agree with the comments above. Hockey for us is a big revenue producer and really beefs up our athletic profile with football and basketball declining over the years. I suspect that some of that may have to do with hockey diverting a lot of funding and fan support from those sports, though there's no proof to back that up. SLU hockey may start up sometime in the near future, their anti-hockey president recently stepped down and they have plenty of arena options (on-campus arena could be retrofitted, Scottrade Center if not) for temporary usage. Other MAC schools like Buffalo would also be good fits as well.

My advice? It might not be meant to be unless you have some donors ready to write some checks for getting it off the ground. I don't know if you have a club team or even an arena available in Greenville, but it's difficult to start up a team, though you obviously know more about ECU athletics than I do. Alabama-Huntsville has been able to make hockey work in the south, perhaps you could too.

http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/g...043/images

Compton Family Ice Arena, built by an alumni family donation.

5,022 seats, built on campus in 2011:


http://www.und.com/facilities/compton-family-ice.html















With the opening of the new arena, the home game NBC Sports TV contract, the move to Hockey East Conference and with head coach Jeff Jackson, ND hockey believes it is well positioned to build off recent success (CCHA titles in 2007, 2009 2013, NCAA Tournament appearances in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and Frozen Four appearances in 2008 and 2011).

The Notre Dame and Miami (Ohio) rinks looks awesome.

Providence built an on-campus rink (very forward thinking back then!), Schneider Arena, in around 1973. It seats around 3,300 and does hockey only (hoops plays downtown at the Dunk while practicing on-campus in a different building). Friars' hockey has been around since the early 50's.

Prior to that, the Friars played at the old Rhode Island Auditorium on North Main Street, a few miles away. The RI Auditorium was also the home of the Rhode Island Reds (NY Rangers AHL affiliate), a lot of high school hockey, and even boxing. Half of Rocky Marciano's fights were at the Auditorium (he was from nearby Brockton, Mass).

Schneider Arena is finishing up major renovations this summer for the upcoming season. Just about everything is being upgraded from what I hear... scoreboard, lobby, concessions, luxury suites, press box, weight room, film room, training room, locker rooms. Coincidentally, the Friars are hosting 2 games each vs Miami (great ooc matchup) and the Irish (great new Hockey East matchup). We also have a women's team that has been great and produced an Olympic gold-medal winning goalie not too long ago.

I just realized the OP asked about whether schools played on campus or rented downtown, and the costs.

I don't know the costs, but PC makes money from its hockey from what I've been told.

Also, 9 of last year's 10 Hockey East schools play on campus. Only Lowell is downtown, at the Tsongas Arena. The Irish will be on campus next year. UConn, joining the following year, will start out in downtown Hartford off-campus.

The ECAC is all on-campus. The 6 Ivy schools (ECAC) that play hockey have some nice rinks-- historic Hobie Baker at Princeton, domed Meehan Auditorium at Brown, "the Whale" at national champ Yale.

(07-12-2013 08:08 AM)billyjack Wrote:  I just realized the OP asked about whether schools played on campus or rented downtown, and the costs.

I don't know the costs, but PC makes money from its hockey from what I've been told.

Also, 9 of last year's 10 Hockey East schools play on campus. Only Lowell is downtown, at the Tsongas Arena. The Irish will be on campus next year. UConn, joining the following year, will start out in downtown Hartford off-campus.

The ECAC is all on-campus. The 6 Ivy schools (ECAC) that play hockey have some nice rinks-- historic Hobie Baker at Princeton, domed Meehan Auditorium at Brown, "the Whale" at national champ Yale.

UMass Lowell bought the Tsongas Arena a few years back.

Goggin Ice Center - $40 million inflation adjusted.

As the various pictures highlight, the boxes above the regular seating level is an important piece of the revenue picture.

(07-12-2013 12:04 AM)Love and Honor Wrote:  I agree with the comments above. Hockey for us is a big revenue producer and really beefs up our athletic profile with football and basketball declining over the years. I suspect that some of that may have to do with hockey diverting a lot of funding and fan support from those sports, though there's no proof to back that up.

It would seem that the greater risk of diverting fan support would be basketball, as they are both winter sports. By the time that the ice hockey season is starting the MiamiU football team has generally done enough of a job diverting fan support from FB that it would be hard to lay it at the feet of ice hockey.

Also, some caution is required regarding ice hockey as a revenue producer ... the accounting of men's sports expenses typically do not include the expense of the subsidized Title IX offset sport, nor facilities capital costs, so they are overstated as far as an operating profit of a going concern. However, it makes sense to classify ice hockey separately from the subsidy sports ~ the other thread suggested something like "popular regional sports" ~ baseball in the South, Lax in the Mid-Atlantic, ice hockey in the North, sports that can operate at break-even to a modest profit, all costs considered.

Yea I miss Kent State having hockey but they would have to renovate the arena (again) to get it up to 4000 (it seats close to 2000 if you really wanted to I think) if that is where the profit is.

I can vouch that the arena gets a lot of use. We have two rinks in our arena and it is used by students, high schools, and other functions frequently.

Minnesota Gophers play at Mariucci Arena, an excellent venue. Sits 10,000 and tickets are hard to come by.

Wisconsin plays at the Kohl Center, another great venue that seats 15,000 plus.

I wish Iowa had its own varsity hockey program and dedicated ice hockey arena.

I have a strong feeling Iowa State will be joining the NCHC in the next couple years. Colorado-boulder would work great too.

UConn will be at the XL Center for the foreseeable future. Built in the 1970's, it's overdue for an update.

I think UConn is exploring an on campus hockey stadium (money won't be a problem), but they might draw better in Hartford than in Storrs, which is out in the woods and hard to get to.

(07-12-2013 07:52 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  UConn will be at the XL Center for the foreseeable future. Built in the 1970's, it's overdue for an update.

I think UConn is exploring an on campus hockey stadium (money won't be a problem), but they might draw better in Hartford than in Storrs, which is out in the woods and hard to get to.

where in the world is all this money coming from?

new practice facility & new bb arena. upgrades in soccer, baseball & softball stadiums........

(07-12-2013 08:10 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-12-2013 07:52 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  UConn will be at the XL Center for the foreseeable future. Built in the 1970's, it's overdue for an update.

I think UConn is exploring an on campus hockey stadium (money won't be a problem), but they might draw better in Hartford than in Storrs, which is out in the woods and hard to get to.

where in the world is all this money coming from?

new practice facility & new bb arena. upgrades in soccer, baseball & softball stadiums........

From the little that I know ... it comes from everywhere (big donors, little donors, corporations, the state, etc.).

I really don't follow the finances.

Here is Denver's Magness Arena, which also doubles up as the men's basketball facility. It seats just over 6K for hockey and 7,200 for basketball

http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticl...=204832652

(07-12-2013 08:47 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  

(07-12-2013 08:10 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(07-12-2013 07:52 PM)UConn-SMU Wrote:  UConn will be at the XL Center for the foreseeable future. Built in the 1970's, it's overdue for an update.

I think UConn is exploring an on campus hockey stadium (money won't be a problem), but they might draw better in Hartford than in Storrs, which is out in the woods and hard to get to.

where in the world is all this money coming from?

new practice facility & new bb arena. upgrades in soccer, baseball & softball stadiums........

From the little that I know ... it comes from everywhere (big donors, little donors, corporations, the state, etc.).

I really don't follow the finances.

yeah well its coming at a good time, i was born & raised in syracuse, but i have family from CT so ive always had a sense of respect for uconn & like seeing that school do well. you guys got shafted big time, but the worst part about it was that in 2003 uconn fought the hardest trying to keep the BE together and now they are paying big time for those actions. not playing BC in any sport just doesnt seem right and to top it off provy, Gtown nova & especially syracuse sold you guys out. to add insult to injury the ncaa kicks you out of the final BE tourny for BS reasons.

the good news is ollie sure has his **** together & those BB upgrades is gonna keep uconn BB strong. I just hope the former big east greats can form some sorta big 5 type round robin tourny to keep these traditions going

B1G Ten Hockey

U of Minnesota


U of Wisconsin


Ohio State


U of Michigan


Michigan State


Penn State