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U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

LOL

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Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Can easily field a competitive team in 4 years like Penn State.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Still a lot of opposition, interesting to say the least as this progress.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

BlackI said:
Can easily field a competitive team in 4 years like Penn State.
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Given in-state interest level for this project has been high for at least a couple years now, I think it will happen and possibly in half that time. We need another team in B1G, so this is good news.

A comprehensive feasibility study was completed in March this year by the University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA), which was a joint venture commissioned by the NHL, NHLPA and College Hockey, Inc.

The study indicated a program at UI could happen “in a relatively short time frame and would become financially viable and competitive on a conference and national level.” AD Whitman said a hockey program would take two to three years to get off the ground.

"The strong consensus of everyone involved in college hockey is that NCAA men's hockey will flourish at the University of Illinois," said Mike Snee, executive director of College Hockey, Inc. "From the number of native Illinois players currently playing college hockey to the continued growth of youth hockey players in the state, there are many reasons to be confident that the Fighting Illini could quickly become a top national program and sustain it every year. We are very appreciative of the University administration's willingness to consider bringing NCAA hockey to Champaign."
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With the Blackhawks success in recent years, youth hockey has really taken off in Illinois. The study indicated it has the sixth highest youth hockey participation in the nation, a 300% inc. since 1993. There are a lot of good hockey players coming out of Illinois. The state produces the fourth most D1 hockey players. So the recruiting possibilities are already there. The study also highlighted for Title IX issues that women hockey players from Illinois also inc. 192% since 2004. So recruiting for a women's hockey program is there as well.

Illini AD said it would take 50M+ to pull it off with an annual operating budget of about $1.5-2M. Although an ambitious financial goal for UI, the fund raising potential seems to be escalating.

Apparently, the AD has met with Hawks president John McDonough several times and he's very supportive and ready to back it.

"The interest level (in hockey in the state) is at an all-time high," McDonough said. "It's a mercurial pace we're going at right now. The opportunity is there. The timing is right...if we were approached, we would encourage and embrace it..."
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Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Really, Illinois and most of the other Power-5 schools could fund hockey in a heartbeat if they wanted to tap into football profits instead of plowing them into outrageous coaches salaries for bloated coaching staffs, and platinum-plated "football only" dorms and training facilities. Just my .02.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Depends on the Power 5 school you're talking about. Illinois is a logical place for hockey. Pretty sure Billy Bob down in Tuscaloosa or Tallahassee isn't pining for a hockey program.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

Split-N said:
Really, Illinois and most of the other Power-5 schools could fund hockey in a heartbeat if they wanted to tap into football profits instead of plowing them into outrageous coaches salaries for bloated coaching staffs, and platinum-plated "football only" dorms and training facilities. Just my .02.
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They could fund it, but D1 hockey in SEC, Big 12, and most of ACC country - outside of Nashville - would be a tremendous $ loser. A few of the Pac 12 teams could fund it and might get the necessary support, but in what conference are they going to play? Unless five start programs at the same time, they're going to have to find another home and also have enormous travel costs. But schools like Oregon State, Wazzu, and Utah aren't exactly rolling in endless dough like USC and UCLA. Losing millions per year on hockey in addition to $100M+ startup costs wouldn't work there.
 
ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
Now, some of the PAC 12 schools, on the other hand…
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I spend time on the Tuscaloosa campus nearly every year. I can’t ever recall meeting someone named Billy Bob. Actually there is a pretty knowledgeable fan base in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa area. And there are those around the campus in Tuscaloosa that have dome come of the research. After all, there wete nights that the Bama D-1 club team outdrew WCHA teams. UAB does a nice job as well.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

J.D. said:
Depends on the Power 5 school you're talking about. Illinois is a logical place for hockey. Pretty sure Billy Bob down in Tuscaloosa or Tallahassee isn't pining for a hockey program.
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brassbonanza said:
They could fund it, but D1 hockey in SEC, Big 12, and most of ACC country - outside of Nashville - would be a tremendous $ loser.
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My post wasn't meant to imply that each and every P-5 school would want to--or even have an interest in--establishing a D1 hockey program. What it said was that Illinois and any other P-5 school interested in establishing hockey could easily fund it from football profits were it not for the fact that football profits almost universally go back into obscene salaries for bloated coaching staffs and the aforesaid platinum-plated facilities.

Put another way, if the B1G wanted a viable hockey conference bad enough, football money could easily pay for it at places like Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, just for starters. Beyond the B1G, Syracuse in the east and Arizona in the southwest could do the same if they wanted to. And then there is UNLV. No football money but no shortage of monied interests still basking in the glow of a storied NHL season.
 
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brassbonanza said:
A few of the Pac 12 teams could fund it and might get the necessary support, but in what conference are they going to play? Unless five start programs at the same time, they're going to have to find another home and also have enormous travel costs. But schools like Oregon State, Wazzu, and Utah aren't exactly rolling in endless dough like USC and UCLA. Losing millions per year on hockey in addition to $100M+ startup costs wouldn't work there.
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Schools out west are not shy about being affiliated with multiple conferences. For example, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has schools from five conferences across five men’s sports and five women’s sports- Big West, Mountain West, PAC 12, WAC, West Coast Conference.

From their web site:
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) was established in 1992-1993 to serve the competitive needs of member institutions from the Big West, Pacific-10 and Western Athletic Conferences, as well as other selected universities in the western United States; and to provide championships competition for Division I intercollegiate Olympic sports in a conference setting. The founding principles on which the MPSF was originally formed were to provide enhanced competition and championship opportunities for sports without conference affiliation; to contain the costs of competition; and to ensure the survival of endangered sports. The federation has also served as an incubator for emerging women's sports and as a safe harbor for sports impacted by conference realignments.

http://www.mpsports.org/about-us/mpsf-about-us.html

Just look at water polo. It’s a popular sport out west, somewhat like hockey in the east. The assorted conference affiliations will make your head spin.

So, just as a hypothetical, UCLA, USC, San Diego State, San Jose State, Stanford, Washington, and maybe Oregon or Portland State could start hockey programs and play in the MPSF. Maybe Air Force and ASU join them.

Just need a half dozen or so Pegulas.
 
Re: U of Illinois AD & NHL joint press conference

SteveO said:
Illini AD said it would take 50M+ to pull it off with an annual operating budget of about $1.5-2M. Although an ambitious financial goal for UI, the fund raising potential seems to be escalating.
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I truly hope that Illinois is able to add men's and Women's hockey, but the AD's estimate of an operating budget of $1.5-$2 million year is laughable. For the 2015-16 school year Ohio State had the smallest hockey expenses at $2,872,338, with Penn State the next lowest at $3,540,765. So at a minimum he will need to double the annual budget if wants Illinois to be competitive, let alone win a national championship.

Sean
 
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