Re: Big Ten Hockey Conference
Minnesota has already announced massive ticket surcharge increases in upcoming seasons for the best seats.
The ticket prices will go up for the other schools, you are crazy if you try and argue that point.
Playoff revenue is going to be massive because they won't have to share the money with schools like UAA, Tech. Plus there won't be a "small arena" in the league.
Basically the Gophers are tacking huge surcharges onto their best seats and expanding the areas that will have to pay the fees. There was speculation from Gopher fans that many wouldn't renew their tickets with the team not playing well in recent seasons.
With the BTHC on the horizon, I'm guessing many won't give up seats that have been held for years.
Actually, from what I recall, the surcharge is being reduced for the premium seats and implemented for ALL season tickets, where it wasn't in place previously. Basically, all season tickets will be a minimum $100 "donation" per seat, with incremental increases for certain sections (although the most expense "donations" will be less than they are currently). Someone correct me if I have that wrong.
Aside from that, you really don't get it. Hockey fans here have a true sense of rivalry with UND, SCSU, UMD, and to a lesser extent Mankato. Those schools have fans who have grown up
hating the Gophers in a way that is not going to be reproduced by MSU, Mich, PSU or OSU. That hatred fuels a rivalry. It grows a return hatred in Gopher fans. There is synergy in that kind of rivalry.
And it is only aided by the fact that when people who graduate from UND, St. Cloud, Duluth, or Mankato want to find a well paying job with advancement possibilities, they will likely end up in the Twin Cities. This serves to bring that rivalry into day-to-day interaction. Even if you don't
really care that much about hockey but still consider yourself a Gopher fan, chances are you have to put up with at least one snotty UND fan in your workplace or social circle. Again, this just fuels the already vibrant rivalry. That won't be the case with PSU supporters.
In addition, a lot of great players at those aforementioned WCHA schools are kids who grew up playing HS hockey in MN and are well known to people who follow the game here. Those types of players aren't going to be nearly as common in Ohio or Pennsylvania based teams. Not even Michigan based teams where much of the talent is home grown.
Just stop and think, would DU fans trade the rivalry with CC for the chance to play Michigan and Michigan State? Would tickets to a DU - Mich game be in more demand than a DU - CC game? Would the atmosphere in the arena be better?
As far as playoff revenue, I don't understand your reasoning. In the WCHA, there are 6 playoff series in the first round, and 12 teams. In a 6 team BTHC, there would likely be 2 first round series, with 6 teams splitting the money. Given that the top 6 teams in the WCHA in a typical year will pull fans in the range of (10,000) (10,000) (13,000) (6,000) (6,000) (5,000) = 50,000 for first round, per night.
In a BTHC, even if the two largest arenas (MN and WI) held the first round, that number would = about 25,000 per night (assuming UW sold an extra 2,000 tickets by being in the BTHC). So that's a wash. And that's best case scenario in favor of BTHC. And I'm short changing UND and taking a smaller SCSU barn over CC barn in those WCHA estimations.
As far as conference finals the WCHA tournament, in a bad year, would average 14,000 per game over 5 games. That's 70,000 split between 12, for 5,800 per team.
In a BTHC if UW hosted in the largest rink in the conference (aside from OSU which would NOT sell out), they could at best pull 15,000 over 3 games for 45,000 split between 6; or 7,500 tickets per team. So even in the BEST CASE SCENARIO for the BTHC, they would earn a total of 1700 more tickets per team across the entire playoffs. Or, for MN's purposes, about 17% of a single home game.
And that's in a bad year for the WCHA, and a fantastic year for BTHC.
EDIT: actually, that best case scenario for the BTHC is impossible. If UW hosted a first round, they wouldn't be hosting the finals (according to your model for the tournament structure).
