Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

[Ed Trefzger]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Of course.

The league gave us a response today. This has been added to the story:

The WCHA has been conducting league meetings this week. According to the WCHA, scheduling was discussed, and the implementation of a plan going forward will await instructions from the NCAA.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

I don't think I see this posted here. BU prez advising his folks that autumn semester with on-campus students is in doubt.

http://www.timeshighereducation.com/...y-empty-autumn

[sunprairie]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

I don't think I see this posted here. BU prez advising his folks that autumn semester with on-campus students is in doubt.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com...y-empty-autumn

Looks like BU already edited the article that story was based on, because they didn't want anyone to know they were planning for not returning in the fall: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2020/cov...recovery-plan/

"Editor’s note: Boston University is planning to resume its on-campus, residential program in the fall of 2020, following the recommended best health practices around the coronavirus pandemic. Media reports that the University will not reopen in the fall, and will instead reopen in January 2021, are false. The article that follows reports on the University’s fall 2020 planning efforts, as well as various contingencies in the event public health authorities limit or do not allow residential colleges to reopen in the fall. —Doug Most, Executive Editor, BU Today"

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

How many students — regular students, not athletes — are going to decide to take a gap year instead of dealing with all the academic uncertainty? Thus, reducing even further the revenue coming into colleges.

Replying to my own post... :-)

I found out the other day, my nephew, who is attending Cornell, is seriously considering skipping the Fall semester if they end up doing online learning only. That would be the start of his sophomore year.

Also, I read recently Urbana University in Ohio announced they are shutting down permanently after this semester. They already were suffering from low enrollment for years, and the prospect of an even lower enrollment next school year due to the pandemic prevents them from making ends meet.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Some schools right now are planning on no students on campus until 2nd semester. I have heard BU is potentially planning on that, I'm sure they are not alone. No students means no hockey.

Why would you need students on campus for there to be athletics in the fall? Why can't you just have athletes on campus? Athletes can probably be housed in just one or maybe two dorms. You have one cafeteria operating for the athletes. You test them for Coronavirus every day. They take their classes online just like all the students who being educated remotely. On game day, they play in empty stadiums, or in front of socially-distanced crowds, which may mean the stadium is only 1/3 to 1/2 full. The programs take a bit of a hit in ticket sales, but they still have plenty of money coming in from TV. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[Russell Jaslow]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Why would you need students on campus for there to be athletics in the fall? Why can't you just have athletes on campus? Athletes can probably be housed in just one or maybe two dorms. You have one cafeteria operating for the athletes. You test them for Coronavirus every day. They take their classes online just like all the students who being educated remotely. On game day, they play in empty stadiums, or in front of socially-distanced crowds, which may mean the stadium is only 1/3 to 1/2 full. The programs take a bit of a hit in ticket sales, but they still have plenty of money coming in from TV. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Many college presidents, including Notre Dame (whose football team has a massive TV contract with NBC), have already said if there are no students on campus there will be no sports.

[J.D.]

Why would you need students on campus for there to be athletics in the fall? Why can't you just have athletes on campus? Athletes can probably be housed in just one or maybe two dorms. You have one cafeteria operating for the athletes. You test them for Coronavirus every day. They take their classes online just like all the students who being educated remotely. On game day, they play in empty stadiums, or in front of socially-distanced crowds, which may mean the stadium is only 1/3 to 1/2 full. The programs take a bit of a hit in ticket sales, but they still have plenty of money coming in from TV. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I brought this up a while back as a possibility. There are just so many things to consider it's very difficult to project what things will look like. I look to pro sports first. That's big business. College sports aren't happening until at least pro sports are up and running and even the NFL is already planning for the possibility of a delayed start. If I had to guess though, I think college hockey starts up 2nd semester and you only play league games. If that happens my next question would be how does that impact next year's NCAA tournament?

[davyd83]

Why would you need students on campus for there to be athletics in the fall? Why can't you just have athletes on campus? Athletes can probably be housed in just one or maybe two dorms. You have one cafeteria operating for the athletes. You test them for Coronavirus every day. They take their classes online just like all the students who being educated remotely. On game day, they play in empty stadiums, or in front of socially-distanced crowds, which may mean the stadium is only 1/3 to 1/2 full. The programs take a bit of a hit in ticket sales, but they still have plenty of money coming in from TV. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

College hockey doesn’t take “plenty of money” from TV.

[UVM Cat in Texas]

College hockey doesn’t take “plenty of money” from TV.

Was talking football. Earlier in the thread someone said there’d be no college hockey without college football first.

[Bonin21]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Just because college football could potentially have hope with empty stadiums doesn't mean college hockey would do the same.

[J.D.]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Why would college hockey not play in empty arenas/limited fans if it is deemed safe to do so? That doesn't make sense.

[Sean Pickett]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

College hockey doesn’t take “plenty of money” from TV.

Most schools report no media revenue for hockey, and of those few that do it accounts for a tiny portion of total expenses.

Why would college hockey not play in empty arenas/limited fans if it is deemed safe to do so? That doesn't make sense.

Once upon a time, or back in 2010 (the earliest I have NCAA financials from), the public college hockey programs ran the spectrum as far as ticket revenue supporting the program: 10 teams got more than 50% of their expenses from ticket revenue, while 12 got less than 25% of their expenses from ticket sales. Forward to 2018 and only 4 teams (5 if you count Vermont) got more than 50% of their expenses from their ticket revenue, while 15 (16 if you count Connecticut and 17 if you count Michigan State) got less than 25% of their expenses from ticket sales. So, while ticket sales are not as important as they used to be for most programs, the loss of that revenue would still be a significant hit to most programs budgets, especially those that still count on ticket revenue.



Sean

[Wicked Slappaahs]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

Folks are missing the point...it isn't about sports. Leaders at major universities are weighing the risks/benefits of having students of any kind on campus at all this fall. Notre Dame leadership has already stated that without students on campus there will be no athletics. BU Prez already warning his people that fall on-campus is in serious doubt. There is no such thing as no-risk, but given today's political environments on most campuses, there is little or no appetite for even moderate health risk. Without anything resembling liability protection for schools (never gonna happen) the trial lawyers would/will be lining up if little Suzie or Johnny caught C-19 while at school.

[Split-N]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

...Without anything resembling liability protection for schools (never gonna happen) the trial lawyers would/will be lining up if little Suzie or Johnny caught C-19 while at school.

The trial lawyers are already lined up and drooling at the prospect of infinite and unending litigation.

[RaceBoarder]

Re: Will there be hockey in the fall? Will we have to wait until after Jan 1

I can't remember where I got this from, but I guess the President of Wayne State stated that it's unlikely to see in-person classes in the Fall. If the GLIAC goes down, it takes LSSU, NMU, MTU, and Ferris with it.