U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

[J.D.]

What good did being in the spotlight do? They look dumb now for wasting all that time. I don't see how it benefits them in any way. The pandemic probably derailed the plans and they weren't able to get it back on track.

[moose97]

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."

The part you are missing is that the "private" portion isn't the University. Furthermore, if you read the actual report College Hockey, Inc did for Illinois, while it mentions every rink in the B1G is university-owned, there is no mention of rink building costs in the proposed budget.

[icehawk]

Another failed attempt from the big ten. Remember back when they formed the conference they said now more big ten teams will provide D1 hockey. Still waiting

[bcmsu9196]

BINGO!!! The football god must be fed!

Yup. Something that Lindenwood, Long Island, Augustana, and St. Thomas don't necessarily have to deal with.

[Eddie Schorr]

There seems be a lot of buzz that NIL is sucking up a lot of donations that previously would have been used at the discretion of the AD. Now donors big and small are donating to these non-profit NIL funds (essentially slush funds for football and M Bball) that hang out the lure of private meet and greets with the players for donating members. If this is true, I think you'll see it in the financial reports of the schools in the next couple of years.

OTOH, the new B1G media deal is estimated to pay out 71M per school. I think Illinois could have done it had they really been committed to doing so.

[Split-N]

...the new B1G media deal is estimated to pay out 71M per school. I think Illinois could have done it had they really been committed to doing so.

This is just one of several B1G revenue spigots. If the Illinois powers that be couldn't find the funding, they apparently didn't look very hard.

[Eddie Schorr]

This is just one of several B1G revenue spigots. If the Illinois powers that be couldn't find the funding, they apparently didn't look very hard.

And I think the basketball angle is probably the most logical. Illinois has been good at basketball far more than at football, and I think there was probably some push back from the program not wanting to compete against an in-season shiny new thing on campus. With the pedsters, it was irrelevant as their basketball program has been a bottom feeder for decades and couldn't have stopped a hockey program even if Pegula hadn't dropped from the heavens.

[bcmsu9196]

I think Illinois could have done it had they really been committed to doing so.

Basketball issues aside, Illinois could have retrofitted the rink at the Illinois Ice Arena, to make it smaller, as was done in Lake Placid. Illini could have just played there, like Arizona State did at Oceanside for several years, while waiting on a new arena.

[dxmnkd316]

Illinois Athletics Discontinues Exploration of Men’s Ice Hockey

Oh, we know. We all know
:-D

[dxmnkd316]

It was the arena mockup with 15 guys skating, right? I guess the admin finally got wind of the practical joke and issued a statement.

[JohnsonsJerseys]

It was the arena mockup with 15 guys skating, right? I guess the admin finally got wind of the practical joke and issued a statement.

Yes, the one with the 2022 National Champions banner hanging from the rafters as well.

[Split-N]

Yes, the one with the 2022 National Champions banner hanging from the rafters as well.

To repeat part of an earlier post, "...the five-year soap opera was entertaining in its own way."