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UConn to apply to Hockey East

Lots of cable channels, gotta fill them up with something. I'm glad college hockey is on tv more, but it doesn't mean its getting great ratings.

It's enough for it to graduate from ESPNU to NBCSN.

It doesn't have to be Dancing with the Stars, it just needs to justify its existence and it won't take all that much growth for the TV profits to become significant compared to attendance.

Even without that, and the only way to boost margins is to bring more casual idiots through the gates, do you really think that RPI, Union or Mercyhurst (or whatever) are going to do a fraction of what Notre Dame and UConn can do to bring in an everyday moron to a hockey game?
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

It's enough for it to graduate from ESPNU to NBCSN.

It doesn't have to be Dancing with the Stars, it just needs to justify its existence and it won't take all that much growth for the TV profits to become significant compared to attendance.

Even without that, and the only way to boost margins is to bring more casual idiots through the gates, do you really think that RPI, Union or Mercyhurst (or whatever) are going to do a fraction of what Notre Dame and UConn can do to bring in an everyday moron to a hockey game?

You do realise that RPI averages in attendance over 3000 a game, right? (3435 actually, I don't even think Freitas can even hold that much)
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

You do realise that RPI averages in attendance over 3000 a game, right? (3435 actually, I don't even think Freitas can even hold that much)
I can add to that. Because RPI is a D-III school and hockey is its only D-I sport, students with any interest in sports go to hockey games over other sports. That interests tends to continue as alums. There is a reason that RPI has apparently been invited to play BC at Madison Square Garden as part of a doubleheader with BU and Cornell during the 2013-14 season. (The source of the rumor is a BC blog, and the link is somewhere in the first RPI offseason thread.) The reason is clearly that RPI fans travel, and that will continue.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

I can add to that. Because RPI is a D-III school and hockey is its only D-I sport, students with any interest in sports go to hockey games over other sports. That interests tends to continue as alums. There is a reason that RPI has apparently been invited to play BC at Madison Square Garden as part of a doubleheader with BU and Cornell during the 2013-14 season. (The source of the rumor is a BC blog, and the link is somewhere in the first RPI offseason thread.) The reason is clearly that RPI fans travel, and that will continue.

Since the renovations to the Field House in the early 80's student attendance and the hype of the hockey line has steadily declined. Season ticket holders are primarily from the faculty, staff and local community. I’m not privy to exact numbers of student season ticket holders, but have certainly seen it decline over the years. At most home games there are maybe 500-600 students in attendance, not counting the band, RPI TV, WRPI personnel and other students working the game in some capacity. Look at the attendance of games when the students aren’t around and that 3,445 drops only to about 2,800 or 2,900.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

I can add to that. Because RPI is a D-III school and hockey is its only D-I sport, students with any interest in sports go to hockey games over other sports. That interests tends to continue as alums. There is a reason that RPI has apparently been invited to play BC at Madison Square Garden as part of a doubleheader with BU and Cornell during the 2013-14 season. (The source of the rumor is a BC blog, and the link is somewhere in the first RPI offseason thread.) The reason is clearly that RPI fans travel, and that will continue.

Very true (at least in most cases). RIT would have a larger number if their rink didn't hold only 2100; I could see them getting up to, possibly even surpassing, our numbers.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

Lots of cable channels, gotta fill them up with something. I'm glad college hockey is on tv more, but it doesn't mean its getting great ratings.

It doesn't have to be better than the best thing on the air anywhere, it just has to be better than the next best thing the network could put on the air.

Whether it actually is, of course, remains to be seen. NBCSN and CSTV are taking a big gamble on regular season hockey, it has to be said, but if they actually market the sport at all (unlike the ESPN family that treats the sport like a burden to get the stuff it really wants, and wouldn't in a thousand years pick up regular season college hockey), and really play up the 'future stars' angle that might endear it to NHL fans, there might be something here after all.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

Everyone should read this link Im tell'in ya its not over.If anyone thinks North Dakota, Denver et al are going to sit around and let the Big Ten become a super conference before their collective eyes and start dictating what goes on in college hockey your nuts!

First off the Big Ten already is a super conference. Secondly, the Big Ten is one of the most important conferences in the country regardless of the sport. They possibly could be the top sports conference in the country.
 
You do realise that RPI averages in attendance over 3000 a game, right? (3435 actually, I don't even think Freitas can even hold that much)

And that's still nowhere near enough people going through the turnstiles to make potential TV revenue negligible. Plus, UConn won't use Freitas in Hockey East, so it's capacity is irrelevant. UConn in a major conference, playing in a legit rink will move the needle. A D-3 school in a still-not-that-big rink does not. The only people who are more intrigued by RPI/RIT as opposed to UConn are the kind of people who already love college hockey and show up to games. Not much growth potential trying to court that fan.

All of us here take RPI more seriously than UConn, but we aren't going to make Hockey East or college hockey in general more profitable. That power lies in the hands of the kind of people that probably couldn't pronounce Rensselaer.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

And that's still nowhere near enough people going through the turnstiles to make potential TV revenue negligible. Plus, UConn won't use Freitas in Hockey East, so it's capacity is irrelevant. UConn in a major conference, playing in a legit rink will move the needle. A D-3 school in a still-not-that-big rink does not. The only people who are more intrigued by RPI/RIT as opposed to UConn are the kind of people who already love college hockey and show up to games. Not much growth potential trying to court that fan.

All of us here take RPI more seriously than UConn, but we aren't going to make Hockey East or college hockey in general more profitable. That power lies in the hands of the kind of people that probably couldn't pronounce Rensselaer.

It is [gic] capacity certainly is relevant because they aren't even selling it out.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

At most home games there are maybe 500-600 students in attendance, not counting the band, RPI TV, WRPI personnel and other students working the game in some capacity. Look at the attendance of games when the students aren’t around and that 3,445 drops only to about 2,800 or 2,900.

The student body should be ashamed of this development. The students should stop doing all the homework, stop watching Star Trek and Lord of the Rings and get their butts to the games...just saying.
 
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Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

Seriously, I go to see Union regularly, and I root for them, but I have to wonder if they can keep their recent success going. For many years, they were a doormat in the ECAC, and I'm thinking that they will be right back there before long.

Just a hunch.

You are a wise man, my friend.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

The student body should be ashamed of this development. The students should stop doing all the homework, stop watching Star Trek and Lord of the Rings and get their butts to the games...just saying.
First you start the UCONN Thread & now you're taking shots at the RPI students?.....get me Col. Knowlton...NOW!!!! :D
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

Seriously, I go to see Union regularly, and I root for them, but I have to wonder if they can keep their recent success going. For many years, they were a doormat in the ECAC, and I'm thinking that they will be right back there before long.

Just a hunch.

Non-scholarship schools are always going to be more volatile. The inability to court players with free tuition means that they simply will have down years at recruiting, especially years when the big schools have large senior classes leaving and really need to reload.

However, Union will be able to ride the wave generated by their hugely successful year this year and get a few good recruiting classes in out of it, which will hopefully bring similar success.

We saw this happen at RIT after our Frozen Four run. The caliber of our freshmen overall last year was much better than in years prior to the Frozen Four run.
 
Re: UConn to apply to Hockey East

First you start the UCONN Thread & now you're taking shots at the RPI students?.....get me Col. Knowlton...NOW!!!! :D

As a student at the time it was created, it's what turned me off from buying tickets. I was in 33 the last year students bought those tickets on their own.
 
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