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Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Spartanforlife4 said:
With Illinois and Oakland now out there, that leaves three schools that the NHL gave funds to study starting a program.
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There seems to be a lot of confusion about this, because I think it has been explained poorly, but the NHL set aside funds for five schools to do these studies. So far, only Illinois and Oakland have claimed that money. The other three haven't been chosen, or at least publicly announced.

alfablue said:
While it's cool that OU was chosen, it's odd that WSU was not- they are right down town, they had a D1 hockey program at one point, and already compete with other WCHA teams for other sports. Whereas none of OU's conference, the Horizon League- play hockey.
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OU got the money for the survey because they asked. Wayne State is interesting because the university and campus area has changed so much since they dropped men's hockey, but I don't know if it has changed enough for it to be successful.

Conference isn't a problem. The WCHA would take Oakland(or Wayne State or both) in a heartbeat if they had the option.

The issue is strictly finding a donor. Illinois said they had a list of about 30 people that could possibly make the type of donation they need. I'd imagine that list is way smaller at Oakland, but who knows, maybe they find a rich guy who really wants to make it happen.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

I think this is 20 years too late. College hockey in the Northeast is struggling and I can't imagine it is any better off elsewhere. I watched a bit of the Minnesota game the other day and the rink was maybe half full. I know Sunday's don't do the best attendance wise but from what I remember Mariucci used to be pretty packed most of the time. I think a lot of budgets are going to get squeezed between athletes being paid and a decline in attendance/tv revenue. On top of that there are demographic issues which will mean less kids going to college in the future. It would be nice to see more colleges start programs, especially large state schools, but I don't see where it makes much sense.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Oakland U. is 4-5 hours from five Atlantic schools. The farthest trips are Massachusetts and Colorado vs. Alaska and Alabama. If Atlantic beats the WCHA in out of conference schedule for a second year, that won't hurt their case either.
 
Drew S. said:
I think this is 20 years too late. College hockey in the Northeast is struggling and I can't imagine it is any better off elsewhere. I watched a bit of the Minnesota game the other day and the rink was maybe half full. I know Sunday's don't do the best attendance wise but from what I remember Mariucci used to be pretty packed most of the time. I think a lot of budgets are going to get squeezed between athletes being paid and a decline in attendance/tv revenue. On top of that there are demographic issues which will mean less kids going to college in the future. It would be nice to see more colleges start programs, especially large state schools, but I don't see where it makes much sense.
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this is a very valid/ good post.

and with that dwindling coll demographic.. the powers that be have also failed to realize that the way you do get eyeballs in the stands.. (besides the friends & family crowd).. is through diversity. heck even the nhl.. they're marketing in china.. they are forgetting key demographics on/ in college campuses here. i know nature of the sport has been one way.. that does not mean things cant change. g'luck to oakland & all others trying. hopefully something clicks. niche aint going to cut it long term.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Spartanforlife4 said:
It appears Oakland was one of the schools chosen by the NHL for a hockey study...
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Fast forward six months to the results of this study... What the study will find is that there is an equal chance of their being a new college hockey team in Oakland, CA as there is at Oakland Univ in MI. Hard to believe it takes an NHL paid study to ask this one simple question which pretty much determines the fate of all new D-I hockey programs:
Q: - Does your school have, or can it get in the next 2-3 years, $75M - $100M to start men's hockey and an additional women's sport T.B.D.?
A1 - Yes, then go ahead, build a rink and start a men's hockey program.
A2 - No, then you won't have men's hockey any time soon.

Ryan
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

JohnsonsJerseys said:
Fast forward six months to the results of this study... What the study will find is that there is an equal chance of their being a new college hockey team in Oakland, CA as there is at Oakland Univ in MI. Hard to believe it takes an NHL paid study to ask this one simple question which pretty much determines the fate of all new D-I hockey programs:
Q: - Does your school have, or can it get in the next 2-3 years, $75M - $100M to start men's hockey and an additional women's sport T.B.D.?
A1 - Yes, then go ahead, build a rink and start a men's hockey program.
A2 - No, then you won't have men's hockey any time soon.

Ryan
Click to expand...

Q2: How can you go about raising said funds? After all, not everyone has an oil tycoon alumnus that then pours billions into a Western NY city...
 
Drew S. said:
I think this is 20 years too late. College hockey in the Northeast is struggling and I can't imagine it is any better off elsewhere. I watched a bit of the Minnesota game the other day and the rink was maybe half full. I know Sunday's don't do the best attendance wise but from what I remember Mariucci used to be pretty packed most of the time. I think a lot of budgets are going to get squeezed between athletes being paid and a decline in attendance/tv revenue. On top of that there are demographic issues which will mean less kids going to college in the future. It would be nice to see more colleges start programs, especially large state schools, but I don't see where it makes much sense.
Click to expand...

Mariucci used to be packed when the Gophers were in the WCHA.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

4four4 said:
NDSU, Iowa State, and Rutgers.
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How about UCLA, USC and Stanford. Plenty of billionaire alums to hit up for the cash. California is a booming hockey state. Between 3 NHL teams and the 5 AHL teams, it has to be among the states with the most high level professional hockey teams. I would think ASU and the Colorado schools would support them as well.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Oakland has several advantages. It is D1, but doesn’t have a football team. This along with basketball could be a major sport. It is located in a middle/upper middle class area of Oakland County with a lot of youth hockey and interest in hockey. The university is a short distance off I-75 and easy to get to. My understanding is they would build a rink on campus if hockey were added. Trivia note: Oakland was at one point a satillite of Michigan State University. The only real connection any more is the Oakland U credit union Is a division of the MSU credit union.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

The top 3 hurdles for Oakland establishing a hockey program are: 1. Funding 2. Funding 3. Funding!

Penn State added men's and women's hockey only through a gift of $100 million from oil man Terry Pegula. Oakland will need a huge cash donation, possible not a 9-figure sum like Penn State, but certainly well in excess of $50 million to have a chance of making this working.

The feasibility study is easy, find a Terry Pegula-type donation and then you have a chance to start a program. The next issue would be sustaining a program in an already crowded sports market place. Close to 90 percent of the student enrollment consists of commuter students. These are not your typical sports fans and can't be counted on to support the teams.

Good luck finding the $$$$. It would be nice to add another Division 1 hockey program, but the chances of this happening don't seem to be very realistic.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

joecct said:
Mariucci used to be packed when the Gophers were in the WCHA.
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On a Sunday afternoon during a home Vikings game vs. Green Bay against a not yet fully established conference opponent with out of this world ticket prices?
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

All things considered I thought attendance was good.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

I would think the feasibility study would include something about where the money will come from. Oakland has to at least have an idea as to where to get the $. No idea who potential donors would be but they aren't gonna be blindsided by the costs involved.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Let me ask a stupid question:

Is Oakland, CA really high on the average college hockey fan's destination list? Not that it matters I suppose. Plenty of people would go across the bay I'm guessing.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Let me ask a stupid question:

Is Oakland, CA really high on the average college hockey fan's destination list? Not that it matters I suppose. Plenty of people would go across the bay I'm guessing.
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Oakland University is in Rochester, MI. It’s about 30 minutes from downtown Detroit. It’s in Oakland County.
 
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Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

dxmnkd316 said:
Let me ask a stupid question:

Is Oakland, CA really high on the average college hockey fan's destination list? Not that it matters I suppose. Plenty of people would go across the bay I'm guessing.
Click to expand...

There is an Oakland University in Michigan. It is in a suburb of Detroit....or did you already know that.
 
Re: Oakland U Exploring Addition of Men's and Women's Hockey

Lol. I had only perused the thread, saw a "CA", UCLA, and mookie's post. Missed the others.
 
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