(02-26-2023 08:37 PM)JoeNovak Wrote:  

(02-26-2023 07:49 PM)randyfensfanclub1 Wrote:  I guess no one wants to ante up for a glorified hs/juco arena that’s 80…90% empty for sporting events.

Have they ever fixed the upper tier bleachers that are broke or no need to since they don’t get used that often?

Doesn’t help that the basketball team is historically bad and enrollment is way down.

Speaking of enrollment……what a great idea it was to dumb down the university and get rid of admission requirements like standardized tests! Now NIU can be Eastern Illinois (that’s where all the high school kids who couldn’t get in anywhere else would go) now it’s gonna be NIU. Forget trying to continue academic excellence especially in the business school and keep some sort of prestige…….let’s dumb it all down and be the doormat of Illinois colleges! That will attract the students we want!!!!

****sarcasm

And yet they still accept only 70% of applicants.

I thought we were talking about naming rights here?

(02-27-2023 10:30 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  I thought we were talking about naming rights here?

I think it would be a smart move for a company to buy naming rights. Since there hasn't been all that much interest, they could probably buy it for a good price. (Are you listening, STF??) Meanwhile, they would have their name plastered inside and out and maybe even on the roof. Everyone driving to and past the Convo (and perhaps flying over) would see their name on the sign on Lincoln Hwy. Students would continually see it and parents who attend the games would see it. Community members attending an even there would see the corporate name. Of course, it's not the same as buying naming rights to a popular Chicago venue; thus, the price would need to be attractive. And it could be just for a few year deal.

Northwestern Medicine has been generous with their sponsorship, even though I would hate to see "Northwestern" attached to an NIU arena.

(02-27-2023 10:47 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 10:30 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  I thought we were talking about naming rights here?

I think it would be a smart move for a company to buy naming rights. Since there hasn't been all that much interest, they could probably buy it for a good price. (Are you listening, STF??) Meanwhile, they would have their name plastered inside and out and maybe even on the roof. Everyone driving to and past the Convo (and perhaps flying over) would see their name on the sign on Lincoln Hwy. Students would continually see it and parents who attend the games would see it. Community members attending an even there would see the corporate name. Of course, it's not the same as buying naming rights to a popular Chicago venue; thus, the price would need to be attractive. And it could be just for a few year deal.

Northwestern Medicine has been generous with their sponsorship, even though I would hate to see "Northwestern" attached to an NIU arena.

In the post where I suggested Monsanto, I had also considered Northwestern Medicine but knew it would get pushback here, so I left it out.

(02-27-2023 12:04 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 10:47 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 10:30 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  I thought we were talking about naming rights here?

I think it would be a smart move for a company to buy naming rights. Since there hasn't been all that much interest, they could probably buy it for a good price. (Are you listening, STF??) Meanwhile, they would have their name plastered inside and out and maybe even on the roof. Everyone driving to and past the Convo (and perhaps flying over) would see their name on the sign on Lincoln Hwy. Students would continually see it and parents who attend the games would see it. Community members attending an even there would see the corporate name. Of course, it's not the same as buying naming rights to a popular Chicago venue; thus, the price would need to be attractive. And it could be just for a few year deal.

Northwestern Medicine has been generous with their sponsorship, even though I would hate to see "Northwestern" attached to an NIU arena.

In the post where I suggested Monsanto, I had also considered Northwestern Medicine but knew it would get pushback here, so I left it out.

Thank you guys for getting this back on track.

A disappointing football season has led us to beat the drum on the same topics over and over again. Those topics have dedicated spaces, and this one is dedicated to naming rights.

Realistically, what do you think NIU could get for naming rights? If they could get $100k a year they would be lucky

(02-27-2023 02:51 PM)Klake1987 Wrote:  Realistically, what do you think NIU could get for naming rights? If they could get $100k a year they would be lucky

Even $100,000 is a lot better than $0. And, they could set it up short term to get some time to find a sponsor who would be willing to pay more, if possible.

(02-27-2023 02:43 AM)pvk75 Wrote:  FYI ... UIC/Credit Union 1 Arena deal was $9.5 million over 15 years, including $750,000 to UIC's general scholarship fund. So such a deal does not have to be all about facility funding.

NIU naming rights request for proposals went out in January 2018 ... BEFORE UIC got its deal in November 2018:

https://apnews.com/article/illinois-deka...2a6eb84616

Per HuskiePride12, I recall the same thing but can't find any notes I might have saved. STF may have made a passing remark I read in BofT minutes sometime.

Per JoeNovak, UIC's bball team hasn't exactly been a world-beater either. The difference is location.

Also, after 5+ calender years, is the offer for bids even still open?

WE COULD HAVE had money coming in during that time, but he was having hope for something better. A bird in the hand is better than two in a bush and for a cash strapped school every dollar counts. This is the type of stuff that drives me nuts when the money would have covered roof repair costs in addition to other items the school needs.

The contract would have been half over by now and almost could have started negotiating for another deal.

You gotta ask. Courting companies for naming rights and sponsorships come all the time. I've been on both sides of the coin, in the proposals and receiving them. If NIU expects someone to just call them and be like "hey i wanna put my company name on your Center" it isn't going to happen. Surprisingly, companies aren't looking for ways to readily spend their money. Gotta wine and dine them.

(02-27-2023 04:08 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  You gotta ask. Courting companies for naming rights and sponsorships come all the time. I've been on both sides of the coin, in the proposals and receiving them. If NIU expects someone to just call them and be like "hey i wanna put my company name on your Center" it isn't going to happen. Surprisingly, companies aren't looking for ways to readily spend their money. Gotta wine and dine them.

Exactly. There needs to be an aggressive marketing tactic to this. NIU has something to sell, not the potential sponsor. NIU needs to map out every corporation that has a presence in the area (and beyond) and then court those corporations to sell naming rights. NIU may not be the most attractive place for a corporation to put its money, so the price needs to be right. Also, there are a lot of vendors who sell big time to NIU, and those are the companies to contact first. Companies like Sodexo, Pepsi, and many others. There are corporations that sell to and make money from their relationship with NIU. Time to give back. But, NIU needs to be realistic by not charging an unrealistic price for sponsorship.

There seems to be a ton of sponsors for everything related to football and basketball plays. Whenever there is a play, that play is sponsored by some company. It's time to go a bit bigger and do some heavy marketing for naming rights.

How about a sponsor logo on the court.
Bradley has Morton Buildings on their court, Iowa State has pioneer logos.

In all seriousness. Which is the most likley scenario:

A) AD, Frazier have done nothing, or minimal in looking for a sponsor and doesn't care

B) They have asked around, offers are far less than they want and they are making some sort of calculated risk of getting someone to ante up a larger amount in the future rather than peanuts now

C) That the offers are less than peanuts and are downright embarrassing to admit, if there are any at all

If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

(02-27-2023 05:21 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

I'm being brutally honest. But to any corp, what's the draw?

Naming rights for a men's basketball team that doesn't pull more than 10% attendance. They have what? 3 concerts in the past 4 years?

With that being said. I really like what Burno is doing. Maybe he can get us to a point where we really compete (win a ship or two) in the MAC and fill up the convo. If we get more concerts, that will help our cause. And we can ask for more.

But as it stands now, considering our history....$10-25K isn't bad

I think the Wisconsin Club Convocation Center has a nice ring and would be a good sponsor

(02-27-2023 05:28 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:21 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

I'm being brutally honest. But to any corp, what's the draw?

Naming rights for a men's basketball team that doesn't pull more than 10% attendance. They have what? 3 concerts in the past 4 years?

With that being said. I really like what Burno is doing. Maybe he can get us to a point where we really compete (win a ship or two) in the MAC and fill up the convo. If we get more concerts, that will help our cause. And we can ask for more.

But as it stands now, considering our history....$10-25K isn't bad

$10K-$25K is a laughable amount. I'm in marketing for a healthcare system. One of the local middle schools just asked us to do $15K for one of two sponsor spots on their gym "jumbotron" (aka big flat screen TV). We quickly snatched that up.

(02-27-2023 06:35 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:28 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:21 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

I'm being brutally honest. But to any corp, what's the draw?

Naming rights for a men's basketball team that doesn't pull more than 10% attendance. They have what? 3 concerts in the past 4 years?

With that being said. I really like what Burno is doing. Maybe he can get us to a point where we really compete (win a ship or two) in the MAC and fill up the convo. If we get more concerts, that will help our cause. And we can ask for more.

But as it stands now, considering our history....$10-25K isn't bad

$10K-$25K is a laughable amount. I'm in marketing for a healthcare system. One of the local middle schools just asked us to do $15K for one of two sponsor spots on their gym "jumbotron" (aka big flat screen TV). We quickly snatched that up.

I think they were being sarcastic, at least I hope so, seeing other peer schools get 3-15 mil$ over 10-20 years.

While our Convo isn't hovering over 290, most aren't. One of the big benefits besides buying clout or status with the university, and good PR with the alumni, is having your corporate name "3M Arena -Dekalb Il" mentioned 500 times/year on sports websites and news outlets (ESPN, The Chicago Tribune etc.). No reason we shouldn't get 3-5 mil for 5-7 years, seems like Sean T. Frazier blew our one deal, and that may have chilled the target pool. Hoping a new AD will refresh the search, or that the STF will start sucking less, quickly.

(02-27-2023 05:28 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:21 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

I'm being brutally honest. But to any corp, what's the draw?

Naming rights for a men's basketball team that doesn't pull more than 10% attendance. They have what? 3 concerts in the past 4 years?

With that being said. I really like what Burno is doing. Maybe he can get us to a point where we really compete (win a ship or two) in the MAC and fill up the convo. If we get more concerts, that will help our cause. And we can ask for more.

But as it stands now, considering our history....$10-25K isn't bad

Honsetly, I don't think anything Burno or the basketball teams do move the needle at all. It's all about events and when the only events school events plus a job fair or two, then there isn't much to market.

They used to have concerts. I saw Rascall Flatts there like 15 years ago. Not sure why they stopped doing shows. That one that is coming up is someone I've never heard of...which doesn't really mean anything since I'm fully entrenched in the part of my life where I don't pay attention to any music made before like 2005 (and that 2000-2005 window is pretty sparse for me). So, not knowing someone might actually be a good thing...

Nevertheless, they need shows in there to market it as a venue with some kind of value. Otherwise, there's not much there.

(02-27-2023 06:35 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:28 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(02-27-2023 05:21 PM)CollegeMan33 Wrote:  If they could get 10-25k a year should they take it?

I'm being brutally honest. But to any corp, what's the draw?

Naming rights for a men's basketball team that doesn't pull more than 10% attendance. They have what? 3 concerts in the past 4 years?

With that being said. I really like what Burno is doing. Maybe he can get us to a point where we really compete (win a ship or two) in the MAC and fill up the convo. If we get more concerts, that will help our cause. And we can ask for more.

But as it stands now, considering our history....$10-25K isn't bad

$10K-$25K is a laughable amount. I'm in marketing for a healthcare system. One of the local middle schools just asked us to do $15K for one of two sponsor spots on their gym "jumbotron" (aka big flat screen TV). We quickly snatched that up.

No one goes to games, it’s not not in eye sight of 99.995% of people in, visiting or passing through DeKalb ( excluding a those in dorms)and are lucky to be on a ESPN second rate network once… twice a year.

So put a price on it? Would you recommend your marketing department to make a deal for mid 6 figures? Would you think your would get a return on it if you were in marketing ? Not associated with NIU?

You need concerts there and trade shows, job fairs, sporting events. They’re doing a great job having many high school graduations from very well populated areas. It definitely has potential but currently isn’t being used to its potential value.