The end of leagues as we know?

[motox]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

Just a few points.

Miami pushed hard for this --- Its in one of the newspaper articles. Miami's attendance in a watered down CCHA would of taken a massive hit to a program that just shelled out $40 million for a new arena. This was a no-brainer for them.

UNO was drawing 8,000 towards the end of last season. Their fans have proven that they'll back a winner and they want to see name brand opponents. Omaha is a wealthy city and there's no reason that they won't draw the second biggest crowds in the Super League in due time. Most important, Omaha is in the heart of USHL country. Super League teams will be using Omaha trips as de facto recruiting visits.

CC - Fanbase are not alums or people tied to the school. CC had had to drop ticket prices despitegood seasons lately because the WCHA was too watered down. Give Springs residents name brand opponents and a few wins and it will re-energize the program. They will see an uptick in attendance.

UMD - awesome new arena & NC Banner. Say no more.

DU & UND - Want to be national powers with NHL draftees.

Way to address very little of what was actually said and just throw out your own agenda. Just because UMD has a new arena and won the NC LAST year does not prevent them from becoming a perennial bottom 3 team in this league.

Miami's attendance woes won't be resurrected with teams like CC, DU, UNO, or UMD coming to town. If you think for a second the fans of that program will get up as much as they did for Michigan, MSU, or OSU you're kidding yourself.

What happens to UNO when they realize they just got in over their heads and can't put a winning product on the ice in this new conference. You said yourself they'll back a winner, hopefully they'll still pay the admissions to see a team finish at the bottom of their conference year after year and not make the NCAAs.

CC will see an uptick in attendance? Why, because they added Miami to the schedule who 95% of the people in CO have never heard of. All those other teams were already on CCs schedule but all they're doing now is reducing the number of conference games fans will want to attend.

The agenda you're pushing to try making this look like a great decision continues to be proven wrong with every argument you make. It's bad for college hockey, period.

 

[giwan]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

People seem to be forgetting something really important here the WCHA and more importantly the BHHC will lose the Twin Cities market. How many Twin Cities kids will get to see UND, DU etc? Not many their eyeballs are gone! On the other hand they will see the BTN showcasing its members.

That won't matter that much. Kids know where the schools and the schollies are. The BTN will probably not gain much more viewership because of hockey so I doubt there will be an increased cash flow compared to what football and bball create. There really is nothing on Friday nights on the BTN so hockey fits in well, but then another game on what day? Sunday? Monday? Against the NFL? No way that works, but maybe later in the season.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

People seem to be forgetting something really important here the WCHA and more importantly the BHHC will lose the Twin Cities market. How many Twin Cities kids will get to see UND, DU etc? Not many their eyeballs are gone! On the other hand they will see the BTN showcasing its members.

Any chance that FSN would show whatever conference the state schools end up in?

If the schools were smart, and FSN were willing, they'd give away the rights for a few league games that pit Minnesota schools against one another. Do this for a few years and see if there is any revenue to be had and then start getting paid, albeit probably not a whole lot.

From everything you Gopher fans have spouted over the years, you just can't possibly see enough hockey and this would be a chance to see many Minnesota natives playing D-1 for state schools.

I'd actually watch it if I was up there.

Just a thought...

 

[dggoddard]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

Miami's attendance woes won't be resurrected with teams like CC, DU, UNO, or UMD coming to town. If you think for a second the fans of that program will get up as much as they did for Michigan, MSU, or OSU you're kidding yourself.

Michigan, MSU & OSU are leaving Miami & the CCHA. Miami HAD to make this move.

 

[Dude Love]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

People seem to be forgetting something really important here the WCHA and more importantly the BHHC will lose the Twin Cities market. How many Twin Cities kids will get to see UND, DU etc? Not many their eyeballs are gone! On the other hand they will see the BTN showcasing its members.

But who even is aware of BTN? They're like Versus. Not being on FSN anymore will hurt the Gophers.

 

[stuckinwi]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

Just a few points.

Miami pushed hard for this --- Its in one of the newspaper articles. Miami's attendance in a decimated CCHA would of taken a massive hit to a program that just shelled out $40+ million for a new arena. This was a no-brainer for them.

UNO was drawing 8,000 towards the end of last season. Their fans have proven that they'll back a winner and they want to see name brand opponents. Omaha is a wealthy city and there's no reason that they won't draw the second biggest crowds in the Super League in due time. Most important, Omaha is in the heart of USHL country. Super League teams will be using Omaha trips as de facto recruiting visits.

CC - Fanbase are not alums or people tied to the school. CC had had to drop ticket prices despitegood seasons lately because the WCHA was too watered down. Give Springs residents name brand opponents and a few wins and it will re-energize the program. They will see an uptick in attendance.

UMD - awesome new arena & NC Banner. Say no more.

DU & UND - Want to be national powers with NHL draftees.

What happens if CC doesn't win as much with the "watered" down WHCA? Someone has to be last... Losing does help attendance... As a Tech fan, I sadly know how that works... Miami, UNO, and UMD brand name? Since when? Sure UMD just won the NC, lucky timing for them... they're on the upswing.

 

[dggoddard]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

What happens if CC doesn't win as much with the "watered" down WHCA? Someone has to be last... Losing does help attendance... As a Tech fan, I sadly know how that works... Miami, UNO, and UMD brand name? Since when? Sure UMD just won the NC, lucky timing for them... they're on the upswing.

CC just took Boston College to the woodshed in the NCAAs, they will be the only SL team with Olympic ice and they are 1,000 feet higher than Denver.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

But who even is aware of BTN? They're like Versus. Not being on FSN anymore will hurt the Gophers.

I always enjoyed that argument about Versus from national pundits. "The NHL is on Versus? I can't even find that channel."

There's this button on cable and satellite remotes, usually called "guide." If one presses this, just like magic, a, well, guide will come up on the screen listing each channel, what it's called and even what's on that channel.

Of course the TV must be turned on first for this technological marvel to work.


Edit: The guide probably still works even with the TV off as it's run through the cable box. You just won't be able to see it. So I guess technically I can't prove that it's in fact working, since I can't see it, but in theory, it must be.

 

[The Sicatoka]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

Not being on FSN anymore will hurt the Gophers.

And that is why I suspect UMD was added to this plan.
FSN will need programming and with the UND and UMD there's two easy ways to fill the void and get at least a portion of the MSP media market.

 

[Flashy Man]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

A lot of this seems similar to the dissolution of the WIHL in 1958, fortunately the teams found common ground again and formed the WCHA.

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[The Sicatoka]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

I always enjoyed that argument about Versus from national pundits. "The NHL is on Versus? I can't even find that channel."

VersusHD looked good on the 65" plasma during the Stanley Cup playoffs at my house.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

A lot of this seems similar to the dissolution of the WIHL in 1958, fortunately the teams found common ground again and formed the WCHA.

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xGytDsqkQY8?autoplay=1&loop=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Trip Shakespeare was WAY better.

 

[JW Tigers]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

CC - Fanbase are not alums or people tied to the school. CC had had to drop ticket prices despite successful seasons lately because the WCHA had become too watered down. Give Springs residents name brand opponents and a few wins and it will re-energize the program. They will see an uptick in attendance.

Agreed. I don't think CC was the only one seeing it this way, though. It's natural for fans to react this way. What casual or new fan will see the appeal of watching BSU, MSU-M, UAA, etc?

Everyone complaining about schools doing this for the revenue needs to think about what drives a program to succeed. Revenue is important whether we like it or not. I HATE that this is happening to college hockey, but you can't blame the schools from this "Super Conference". This was started by the Big 10, and these schools are trying to ensure the future competitiveness of their programs by banding together. Hell, if I had my way, none of this would be happening because I think we had a unique sport in the sense that big schools and small schools really could compete against each other on somewhat level ground, unlike basketball and football (with a few exceptions, obviously). I fear that could mostly disappear. I liked that the Big 10 schools were in different conferences. I liked the makeup of scheduling before. But that ship has sailed, and we can't stop it.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

VersusHD looked good on the 65" plasma during the Stanley Cup playoffs at my house.

I had it on an awful lot (every night) and actually really warmed to their pre and post game shows.

 

[SOTA]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

But who even is aware of BTN? They're like Versus. Not being on FSN anymore will hurt the Gophers.

I don't think Minnesota will be leaving FSN all together....it will be that their conference games will be on BTN. They'll still deliver a package of Gopher hockey that is non-conference, I believe.

Plus, just because FSN is losing Gopher conference games doesn't mean they need to fill the slot with other college hockey. I'm guessing financially, they'd be better off just hitching on to whatever national college basketball game is going on. Duluth isn't going generate revenue worth it to FSN.

 

[motox]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

Michigan, MSU & OSU are leaving Miami & the CCHA.

Obviously, but from an attendance standpoint (your argument) going to this new conference will do nothing to help that issue and may in fact make it even worse.

 

[ronmexico]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

CC - Fanbase are not alums or people tied to the school. CC had had to drop ticket prices despite successful seasons lately because the WCHA had become too watered down. Give Springs residents name brand opponents and a few wins and it will re-energize the program. They will see an uptick in attendance.

A watered down WCHA had nothing to do with ticket prices. What are you even talking about? UNO and Bemidji? Bemidji didn't even come to the CSWA last season. They came a few years ago for a non conference game but that was before ticket prices dropped...

 

[stuckinwi]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

CC just took Boston College to the woodshed in the NCAAs, they will be the only SL team with Olympic ice and they are 1,000 feet higher than Denver.

After a 13-13 year the WHCA, as the number 4 seed, add another autobid after this shakes out, they don't get to play BC.

 

[Bale]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

And that is why I suspect UMD was added to this plan.
FSN will need programming and with the UND and UMD there's two easy ways to fill the void and get at least a portion of the MSP media market.

If you're forming a new league, why would you allow only 2 of them to be on TV. No one in the Twin Cities cares about DU, CC, UNO, or Miami. So now FSN is out. The only real option is a low-tier national channel like Versus. If they are trying to lock up the TC market, I think they have a painful lesson coming. Maybe I'm wrong and they already have something in motion with FSN, but this seems to be a strange argument for UND/UMD to make. It would be more profitable for FSN to work with the new WCHA.

 

[giwan]

Re: The end of leagues as we know?

I don't think Minnesota will be leaving FSN all together....it will be that their conference games will be on BTN. They'll still deliver a package of Gopher hockey that is non-conference, I believe.

Plus, just because FSN is losing Gopher conference games doesn't mean they need to fill the slot with other college hockey. I'm guessing financially, they'd be better off just hitching on to whatever national college basketball game is going on. Duluth isn't going generate revenue worth it to FSN.

Not so sure about that. The BTN often will show a B1G team playing a non-conference. I think it depends on the who and the BTN has several channels to cater to the different fans.