U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

[Middle Street]

Illinois Athletics Discontinues Exploration of Men’s Ice Hockey

[J.D.]

Illinois Athletics Discontinues Exploration of Men’s Ice Hockey

So many people on here ready to celebrate now that one interested school couldn't make it work financially (probably because of the pandemic).

[Split-N]

Thank you, TP and NIL, for helping make this five-year charade possible.

[pdt1081]

So many people on here ready to celebrate now that one interested school couldn't make it work financially (probably because of the pandemic).

Celebrating and laughing hysterically aren't the same thing. Lindenwood, Long Island, Augustana, and St Thomas are moving forward while a University the size of Illinois "can't come up with the funding." It's actually quite comical when you really think about it. Would we rather see them add the sport? Only if they're going to support it.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

I think the TIL stuff is window dressing to the real reason it’s not happening: They only ever had the funds to endow the program, and the funds to do the arena never materialized in full before the pandemic happened (and dried up afterwards) because there were too many moving parts and not enough investors to overcome it.

Why they never adjusted the arena proposal to suit the funds they had, and why they didn’t just go with the ASU model of dealing with the arena later… who’s to say.

[moose97]

Why they never adjusted the arena proposal to suit the funds they had, and why they didn’t just go with the ASU model of dealing with the arena later… who’s to say.

Probably because, despite seating 2000, the U of I campus rink is a goofy 115' wide

[sigx15]

This whole thing felt so off from the get go. It's like they thought because they had this big feasibility study and NHL "partnership" or whatever, some magic donor was going to float down to earth and give them however many millions they'd need for an arena, probably $60-90 million based on what other arenas have cost in college hockey. It's seems as tho they expected the fairy godmother to just deliver Terry Pegula on a silver platter

[moose97]

This whole thing felt so off from the get go. It's like they thought because they had this big feasibility study and NHL "partnership" or whatever, some magic donor was going to float down to earth and give them however many millions they'd need for an arena, probably $60-90 million based on what other arenas have cost in college hockey. It's seems as tho they expected the fairy godmother to just deliver Terry Pegula on a silver platter

Except that the proposed rink was a public/private development off campus by the city, not the school.

https://champaignil.gov/planning/eco...ent/the-yards/

[J.D.]

I'm not getting bogged down by the same old financial details we love to talk about on here. I'll leave that to others. This is disappointing though. I say that because from what I have read, their fans want it. And Illinois ranks pretty high in terms of producing NCAA players. Top 5 state? It was a logical location for a hockey program. Has Northwestern ever shown any interest?

[Split-N]

...Except that the proposed rink was a public/private development off campus by the city, not the school.
https://champaignil.gov/planning/eco...ent/the-yards/

But if I read that document correctly, the arena itself was primarily a university project. It's even referred to as the "University of Illinois Sports Arena." The project was structured as a private-public partnership that involved the university, a developer, and the city. Per the document, "...the City contributions to the project would consist of revenues generated by the project through a combination of Tax Increment Finance funds and hotel tax revenue. The [city] investment in the project would primarily consist of the construction of two publicly owned parking structures and contributions to the new Conference Center."

Unless I'm grossly misinterpreting something, this debacle is squarely on the University of Illinois, which is neither a small nor a "poor" school. If Illinois really wanted D1 hockey, it would have found a way to make it happen without a Terry Pegula clone, just as Arizona State did, not to mention much smaller schools with far fewer resources, like Long Island, Augustana, and Lindenwood.

Oh well, the five-year soap opera was entertaining in its own way.

[AMC]

So many people on here ready to celebrate now that one interested school couldn't make it work financially (probably because of the pandemic).

I think you really misunderstand those of us who keep saying how expensive it is to start hockey programs.

I think we all want college hockey to grow and thrive. The disagreement is whether adding underfunded programs with no reasonable facilities and a lack of scholarships qualifies as "growing and thriving." College hockey could add a million LIUs, and expand the bottom, but is that making college hockey better? When a school starts a new program, I want that program to have the intent to compete. We have enough schools playing in off campus rinks, or tiny 200 seaters, drawing flies. If a kid wants to pay their way to pay college hockey, there are plenty of opportunities at the bottom end of D-I or D-III. I want schools like Illinois to come in and build a fancy new arena, and invest in a top class program, and keep more kids playing NCAA as opposed to Major Junior.

Maybe Augustana and Lindenwood will be more like that than LIU. I don't know. I hope they put real programs together. We have enough schools teetering on the edge of extinction. We need more schools that are going to put together a jewel of a program.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

One of the biggest problems with Illinois, and the Big in general, is that those schools don't care about hockey. Outside of Minnesota, a state where they can pack an NHL arena in the middle of a weekday afternoon to watch HIGH SCHOOL hockey, name one Big program where hockey has even a sniff at being the most important sports program on campus... I'll wait. Nobody in the Big cared about hockey until PSU came along and triggered the mandatory Big conference creation. The Big is a football first, basketball second, everything else a distant third conference. If the Big is going to expand hockey, there is a far better chance it grows on a campus where the previously mentioned sports can't compete (Rutgers, John Hopkins, etc). It is far tougher to start it on a campus like Illinois where money to start hockey is seen as taking it away from the programs that "matter" to fans and alumni.

If you think Illinois doesn't have money to start a hockey program at any time they want, you're kidding yourself. However when you talk about taking $50-$100M to start a hockey team vs putting that money into football/basketball... that is where hockey will lose every time at a Big school.

[Split-N]

......If you think Illinois doesn't have money to start a hockey program at any time they want, you're kidding yourself. However when you talk about taking $50-$100M to start a hockey team vs putting that money into football/basketball... that is where hockey will lose every time at a Big school.

BINGO!!! The football god must be fed! And don't underestimate entrenched hoops programs not being crazy about sharing the in-season spotlight, not to mention competing for revenue, with D1 hockey.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Probably because, despite seating 2000, the U of I campus rink is a goofy 115' wide

I also hadn’t realized that that might be the only rink in Urbana. I thought for sure there was a decent community rink or something (if they wanted to go “Full ASU” for a few years.

[pdt1081]

BINGO!!! The football god must be fed! And don't underestimate entrenched hoops programs not being crazy about sharing the in-season spotlight, not to mention revenue, with D1 hockey.

The fact they drug this out very publicly for 5 years, and decided they can't do it due to funding is why people are laughing. If they wanted hockey, they would have it. Guys they just wanted some time in the spotlight, because every time the story started to fade, they'd make another announcement of some sort.