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New arena for Ohio State?

D

Draighlicht

New member
per the Columbus Business First (pay wall protected) OSU is now in the early stages of considering a 4000 seat arena for men's and women's hockey. It would replace the 17500 seat Schottenstein Center.

First Ohio Battery also has an article derived from the report that ends with something OSU fans know to be true...

Though the program is on the rise, having returned this year to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009 under head coach Steve Rohlik and recently produced Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Dzingel, the arena in many ways is a recruiting disadvantage.

Not only does it feel largely empty even during the biggest games with curtains draped across the upper bowl of the arena, but the team often must dress at the Schott and take a bus across the Olentangy River to the Ice Rink just to practice. Finding a suitable home for the women’s team, which plays in the charming yet ancient Ice Rink, is a concern too.
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Link to First Ohio Battery articke.

https://www.1stohiobattery.com/columbus/2017/05/433/a-long-time-coming-a-potential-new-ohio-state-ice-arena-would-be-a-boon-to-columbus-hockey
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

Why 4,000? Aren't we averaging over 4K in the Schott right now? And with Big Ten teams + Notre Dame coming every year, I don't see that going down unless the program really hits the skids again. I would think 6000-6500 would be about right. 4K in a 6K arena is not an empty barn, and packed full for Michigan or Minnesota, it's rocking.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

Yeah, 4000 for OSU sounds too small. Minimum should be 5000 and something in the 6000-7500 range would be better.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

There's a big difference between actual attendance and reported attendance.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

BGDrew said:
There's a big difference between actual attendance and reported attendance.
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Agreed, but don't under-build the thing. UW cheaped out/shrunk LaBahn Arena from the original plan of 4400 to 2200 and they have regretted it ever since. There's plenty of FB money to get it built right.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

BGDrew said:
There's a big difference between actual attendance and reported attendance.
Click to expand...
That may be, but the reported attendance of the 69 OSU home games since the start of the B1G had 49 of them above 4,000. The median for the 69 games is 4,831 and the median for the 39 B1G league games is 5,748. Of the 20 games below 4,000 in reported attendance only 3 were during the 2016-17 season and only only 2 were B1G league games (both in 2014-15). Thirty-two games had reported attendance above 5,000 and 16 had reported attendance above 6,000. Based on those numbers even if actual attendance was 1,000 less for every game a 5,000 seat arena would be on the smaller size, with a 6,000 seat arena probably the best size. Of course, games could still be played at the Schott, but if too many ended up being played there it would reduce the value of a dedicated arena for the men.

Sean
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

Of all the Bi6(7) conference teams, how many can say hockey is their #1 sport on campus? Minnesota and.....? Nobody. That's why you would build a 4k seat arena...they're being realistic. No one in the conference outside MN really cares about hockey. The schools spend their money on football and basketball. I think it is pretty much common knowledge at this point that the formation of the conference was just a way to bring more revenue to the BigTen and help fill their network's weekday overnight time slots.
Ryan J
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

There's nothing wrong with having a smaller arena that gives you an actual home-ice advantage. If you're routinely selling out then raise ticket prices.

Anything larger than 6,000 would be a waste of money.

I do find some irony that OSU is having these discussions after firing their last head coach for broaching the same topic (albeit more loudly).
 
Timothy A said:
Agreed, but don't under-build the thing. UW cheaped out/shrunk LaBahn Arena from the original plan of 4400 to 2200 and they have regretted it ever since. There's plenty of FB money to get it built right.
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Cheaped out and/or got the middle finger from Barry for NHL alumni not responding to his public pouting about donations.

It's worth remembering that before he blew our socks off, he was pretty much **** for the hockey program.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

JohnsonsJerseys said:
Of all the Bi6(7) conference teams, how many can say hockey is their #1 sport on campus? Minnesota and.....? Nobody. That's why you would build a 4k seat arena...they're being realistic. No one in the conference outside MN really cares about hockey. The schools spend their money on football and basketball. I think it is pretty much common knowledge at this point that the formation of the conference was just a way to bring more revenue to the BigTen and help fill their network's weekday overnight time slots.
Ryan J
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Hockey isn't MN's number 1 sport, according the administration. Football still wins, and b-ball might be second if it's any good that year. Hockey merely has the tradition and a strong base of fans, but that's not worth enough money to the school or the B1G.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

I am in total agreement with those who believe a new arena for OSU should seat 6,000 minimum. Don't short-change our hockey program with an undersized facility. We averaged more than 5,000 this season, so I am not sure why the university is proposing building a new arena that holds less than that and would be the smallest arena in the league.
 
JohnsonsJerseys said:
Of all the Bi6(7) conference teams, how many can say hockey is their #1 sport on campus? Minnesota and.....? Nobody. That's why you would build a 4k seat arena...they're being realistic. No one in the conference outside MN really cares about hockey. The schools spend their money on football and basketball. I think it is pretty much common knowledge at this point that the formation of the conference was just a way to bring more revenue to the BigTen and help fill their network's weekday overnight time slots.
Ryan J
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All 6 Big 10 teams were in the top 13 in attendance. 3 in the top 5. Wisconsin was the only team besides N. Dakota to average over 10,000. And if you've ever been to "Hockey Valley," you'd know there is great passion for hockey at Penn State. Do the draw 100,000 like football? No. But of the 54 non-Big Ten teams, only 2 outdrew the Nittany Lions.
 
Sean Pickett said:
Besides when they played Michigan how many OSU home games have you attended over the past 4 seasons? And who were the opponents?

Sean
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In case you missed it, you can actually see the crowd on TV during games. Them having entire endzones tarped for games isn't because there's a problem with the seats.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

klbaum1077 said:
Notre dame has drawn over 10000
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I have been to games vs Miami and BG that have drawn 8,000+. The two home games vs Minnesota this season drew 5,000+ for the Friday night game and 6,000+ Saturday. The one home game vs Wisconsin drew more than 5,000+ (the other "home" game was played at MSG). Looking at some more of the numbers, the Michigan State Senior Night game drew 5,000+. Based on the attendance numbers, it would be short-sighted to build an arena that only holds 4,000. I agree that we want sellouts and a better atmosphere, but I think that can be accomplished while still having the foresight to do this right and allow for the bigger crowds against rivals.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

osualum86 said:
I am in total agreement with those who believe a new arena for OSU should seat 6,000 minimum. Don't short-change our hockey program with an undersized facility. We averaged more than 5,000 this season, so I am not sure why the university is proposing building a new arena that holds less than that and would be the smallest arena in the league.
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+1. Not so big that it looks empty and not so small to let the fans grow with the team.

For those Michigan fans who think Yost has always been as crowded as it is- you haven't been a fan long enough. When I was a student back in 1990, I had tickets just on the inside of the blue line- and it was the edge of the student section. When MSU was in town, we had MSU fans next to us.

Hockey has always been a tough sport to support in Ohio, but its gotten a lot better recently. But I will brag one more time that Woody Hayes sat very near our family when we went to a game in the old arena in the 70's.
 
Re: New arena for Ohio State?

JohnsonsJerseys said:
Of all the Bi6(7) conference teams, how many can say hockey is their #1 sport on campus? Minnesota and.....? Nobody. That's why you would build a 4k seat arena...they're being realistic. No one in the conference outside MN really cares about hockey. The schools spend their money on football and basketball. I think it is pretty much common knowledge at this point that the formation of the conference was just a way to bring more revenue to the BigTen and help fill their network's weekday overnight time slots.
Ryan J
Click to expand...

St. Clown said:
Hockey isn't MN's number 1 sport, according the administration. Football still wins, and b-ball might be second if it's any good that year. Hockey merely has the tradition and a strong base of fans, but that's not worth enough money to the school or the B1G.
Click to expand...
What metric is being used to define the #1 sport on campus?

Sean
 
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