Spin

Hmmmmm, then Freshmen could get in...

The USFL did have teams go out of business. I remember specifically the San Antonion Gunslingers having their jerseys repossessed and they were sneaking into a high school training facility after dark to practice. Several teams had trouble making payroll. But like you said, all start-up leagues have those issues. The NFL has lost something like 60 franchises maybe? Including Akron (the first champs), Canton, Portsmouth, Hammond, Rochester, Dayton, Muncie, Rock Island. The Chicago Bears started out as the Decatur Staleys. Green Bay was independant until the NFL's second year. What killed the USFL (the same thing that kills most leagues, including the NHL almost) was rampant spending on player contracts. A couple owners decided to go into a bidding war for college grads and then NFL free agents. The same thing killed otehr leagues like the NASL, WFL, ABA, MISL-1, that and overexpansion killed the IHL (home of the Cleveland Lumberjacks). If you go back to the Federal League, it's killed leagues in every sport. The decision to go to the fall was the last straw. Attendance was increasing in most markets, ratings were edging upward. But the attendace didn't jump with the player salaries. Some, like Donald, thought going head to head with the NFL would force a merger. it worked for the AFL, ABA, and WHA, right? Wrong. They did win an anti-trust case against the NFL and was awarded $3.76.

I see college football heading more and more toward a 32 team league, probably with paid players. Traditional bowl games will be gone. So will the conferences (seriously, does anyone really believe the Indianas and Kentuckys and Colorados are REALLY going to be allowed in just because they were in a legacy conference???). There's going to be mass realignment when those left out are going to finally look at geography and travel expenses when the big boys leave. I think it's kind of fun thinking about a conference/division made up of Akron, Can't, Miami, Ohio, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Marshall, BG, and Toledo. Dang that would be fun, something Akron could grow into and one day seriously compete for the whole thing. Hell we might even play on cable systems other than TimeWarner To the east there would be about 10 schools to make up another conference. To the west, a midwestern division amde up of the remnants of the B1G and MAC. I would guess tOSU, Michigan, NWern, Nebraska, and maybe Wisconsin of Penn State sucked up into the superleague. That's how I see it playing out. The moral of the story is there are several ways this brave new world could work out, and none of them include Akron or any other MAC school being invited. If you're building for bowl games and the money schools lose at most of them,. and an invite to a legacy conference someday, that's all going to be gone. What will be left are the real college football programs, without the professionalized "college" football programs. The real college programs are going to pick up a lot of fans turned off by the NFL's minor league. If that's the scenario, a 32 team superleague (minor league NFL), then I don't see any reason to jump to spring football. If they do keep the conferences intact, including the ragtag Illini and Demon Deacons, leaving the MAC, WAC, CUSA, and Mountain West, that would be a different story,..

That's a whole different angle there. How about I build an arena off campus, and I let the Zips play there and schedule whenever they wanted. But the university has to pay me if it's otherwise a money loser? Hell yeah I want in on that deal!!!

Multipurpose meaning a floor space big enough to host any arena event. I'm looking at the sustainability of the arena itself, in either case a venue that does not cost the university much needed funds. The rec part is a good selling point for a new arena, and also something very few universities are able to provide prospective students. You have to sell this to a wide audience. But since they haven't tried that route yet and seem hell bent on getting in bed with the county (at an unknown cost), that whole concept is moot.

Agreed. Best case scenario is a university built university owned structure that not only has a first class basketball arena but also educational and recreational facilities for all students. It would be ON CAMPUS, accessible to all students, and would also bring alumni ON CAMPUS. It would also be capable of holding non-university events which would bring revenue into the building's budget to help pay for it. Bringing more outsiders ON CAMPUS to show them we are not Buchtel College anymore. There's talk of needing more classroom space and the need for more building. I attended class in Memorial, the JAR, and the Info. My class at Memorial had to be moved as there were too many students for the room size. Multipurpose is a key. It needs to be for recreational purposes. Use it for rec soccer one night a week in the winter. Intramural and open. I had some great times as a teen at the Force Fitness Institute playing open soccer. Students (even those less-athletic) love that chance to get out and play. Other events, been over that ad nauseum what you could host. The indoor soccer thing got me thinking of youth soccer leagues. Open the thing up on Satuday mornings in the winter, charge each participant and fan, and run tournaments for all the different age groups. It's the perfect demographic to do this with, and it gets a lot more eyes on the campus itself. So, how do we pay for it? Sponsorships helped pay for the football and soccer stadiums. If you have a venue that's open 200 times a year, that's a lot more exposure for a sponsor. How else? US. Nobody has tried this idea. How do I know? I HAVE NEVER BEEN ASKED!!! Have any of you been approached by the U to donate money to a new arena project??? I would much rather help build a facilty for the U by the U at the U, and will never support a limited use county run waste.

Yep, Zips Hockey had a heck of a time scheduling games, often starting at 11pm and running well past midnight. Even when we hosted the conference tournament. They still packed the house BTW. I've seen public skates late at night that were absolutely packed. But I try not to mention ice or hockey because that causes heads to explode here for some reason.

Guess you missed my posts earlier in the thread where I showed the different events that require a bigger floor, and how it all works without hockey (which I don't care if they had ice or not). If you're going to criticize other posters, at least know what the hell they're talking about.

I wouldn't mind it if they designed it so it was capable of holding the events the typical arena can handle. But they're not, so it can't handle a fraction of the events, and they want me and you to pay for it. Earlier in the thread I laid out how many events Youngstown's arena needed to break even, how many events you can host on a full size arena floor, and how many events you can host on a basketball gym floor. If the university, the city, or the county want to do it right, I am all for it. I'll gladly pay the tax or make a contribution to a proper university-built facility on campus. If they want to get in my pockets for their typical myopic half-assed waste of money, they're going to have a fight.

I thought that too. Pair that up with the limited events that you can have with the limited design, and the U could wind up eating a LOT more than they bargained for..

There are two different costs of the building. The cost of building it The cost of operating it, if the income doesn't cover the expenses. No matter what the taxpayers are paying the loan on the cost of building it. When (if) the operating company loses money, the U will cover those costs. So let's say the building needs to book 100 dates to cover expenses and break even. If it only books, say, 20, it's operating at a loss. The University would cover those losses. Meanwhile the building loan is still being paid by the taxpayer.

The argument is they/we don't want to pay for it in the first place. That's what you have to counter. The initial construction cost.

The anti-gym groups have a hell of a head start. I haven't heard anything pro- outside of this forum.

https://www.facebook.com/nonewtaxes2014 http://www.the-news-leader.com/opinion/2014/07/16/letter-opposes-summit-county-sales-tax-increase http://www.twinsburgbulletin.com/opinion/2014/06/26/letter-author-opposes-summit-county-sales-tax-hike http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2014/04/24/7190/akron-proposes-spending-7m-on-college-arena-getting-less-than-nothing-in-return/

We knew this was coming... "Two groups oppose Summit County sales tax increase" http://www.ohio.com/news/local/two-groups-oppose-summit-county-sales-tax-increase-1.504138

What can be measured is how much more people are spending on jerseys and T-shirts and all that other crap. Then figure in what the ticket agencies are going to make now, when in the past few years they couldn't get face value from Cavs duckets. That's not a transference of money from outside the region. I didn't see a lot of people spending that cash on Cleveland Indians and Canton Charge gear. Or being raped by ticket agents to go see the games.

I was never as pissed about the Decision as everyone else. For months the Cleveland media talked about how LeBron never had a "college signing day" where he sat behind four baseball hats, and they showed highlights and everyone talked him up, and then he picked one up and put it on. They kept saying he missed out on that and should do it for his Decision. His people were obviously listening. They just thought he was going to put on a Cavs hat. Of course those same media members crucified him when he did what they said he should do.

I decided a long time ago that with pro sports, I root for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back. And today my NBA team is a hell of a lot better than it was last week. The best player in the NBA is on my team now. Is Cleveland big enough for Johnny Football AND Mr. Basketball???

Just imagine how big a circus it will be in two years... I don't see any of these guys signing for more than two years. Why? The CBA is up, and the teams are looking at a much higher salary cap because of the increased TV revenue. Which should also increase the amount of caish a maxed player makes. When a conversation on the Mike and Mike show makes Fox8 news, you know the world is going to hell.

Just imagine how big a circus it will be in two years... I don't see any of these guys signing for more than two years. Why? The CBA is up, and the teams are looking at a much higher salary cap because of the increased TV revenue. Which should also increase the amount of caish a maxed player makes. When a conversation on the Mike and Mike show makes Fox8 news, you know the world is going to hell.

And he's n the game at 32 minutes!!!

Answer #3. Student engagement.

The new rags are out. Lindy's and USA Today have us finishing second in the East behind BGSU. Athlon has us third behind BGSU and Ohio. Lindys and Athlon has us winning 6, USA Today says we win 7. I think we win 6 based on an easier schdule, the rest is up to the players improving. Could be 7, could be 8.

So, when you rant about the sport How are we suppose to enjoy it for what (you think) it is, when you're constantly ranting all your excuses about why you think people are watching? After telling us we shouldn't be researching ratings that prove your first rant is full of shit. Did you learn those debate "strategies" in college?

"He played for the Akron Zips before he was TRADED to Seattle."