Spin

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."

You mentioned kids home from school with nothing else to watch as the reason the World Cup is so popular. There are more sports on TV, which may be one reason baseball and basketball ratings are dropping. You don't have to watch the NBA circus to watch sports now. It wasn't long ago a hockey fan was SOL, it was basketball or shitty sitcoms. Now you have more choices, and we get a much better picture of what people want to watch.

Unlike the other sports where flopping is a strategy (hello, NBA?? NFL??) the clock in soccer doesn't stop. You either get your ass up or you watch your team play a man down while you lick your wounds. The injury reports from this tournament reads like an NFL injury report.

The problem is the season is three months long. You would be going to soccer games in March in northeast Ohio. Ask any college baseball fan about that. OTOH that would open the north up to hosting the tournament.

Funny, the biggest demographic of MLS and EPL broadcasts are white males 35-54 making 40K-75K. True, both are seeing increased ratings, while baseball, basketball, and auto racing ratings are dropping.

When ratings keep increasing for weekly broadcasts of American and English league track or gymnastics, I'll buy that.

And then the D hangs out at the midfield and allows Portugal to tie.

Yedlin getting lots of kudos for a great play and pinpoint cross. US up 2-1.

Right now the MAC champion goes to the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile, although NIU showed a couple years ago we could go to a BCS bowl if ranked high enough. We're also contracted with the Little Caesars's Bowl in Detroit and Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. I don't know how long those contracts are for. I wish we could get into higher profile bowls, but not if we're going to be embarassed (like NIU was in the 2012 Orange Bowl).

Nothing good ever happens after 1am...

It's the size of the floor that matters. A hockey sized floor opens up a LOT of events that you can't hold in a basketball court. I laid that all out in a previous message that must have been a waste of my time. Anyway that's the decider for me. Having hockey would be nice. If it never happens I still have my Zips hockey. But I think its a money pit for the U if they're trying to find acts for a gymnasium-size floor.

http://zipsnation.org/forums/topic/31430-downtown-arena/page-3#entry222523

No arena the size that Akron wants to build is going to book those shows. The WWE shows that play in smaller arenas aren't the headliner shows that play in the 20,000 seat arenas. The smaller arenas in smaller cities still book them. The sporting events played at Canal Park and Classic Park and All Pro Freight Stadium and Eastwood Field and the Pipe Yard aren't at the same level as those at Progressive Field. But they are sustainable here in NEOhio, with baseball teams that have been there for years. If you don't like going to Cleveland for shows, keep an eye on the Rocksino. http://www.hrrocksinonorthfieldpark.com/ (One more reason to not bank on filling a lot of dates with concerts,)

I was just throwing out a couple of examples. You really have to look at the events other arenas bring in during the winter. Some of those events run over 3-4 days. Just for shits and giggles lets say we book 5 of them, and fill 12 dates. Fair? Then figure in the other sports that can be played there. Indoor soccer. Stark and Summit counties had two successful indoor soccer teams AT THE SAME TIME. Add 12-24 dates (plus playoffs). Hockey. I could go on all day about how each of Cleveland's hockey teams were screwed and it had nothing to do with popularity. Except the Monsters, of course. Wooster, Ohio has hockey. Add in 34 or 36 dates plus playoffs.. Arena football, Canton had a team for several years. Add in 8 dates. Erie Insurance Arena is home to three sports teams. That's right, Erie Pa sustains hockey, D-League basketball, and arena football. Add in either hockey, or football+soccer, and we'll add 34 dates. That's a total of 46 dates. That's a LOT of concerts!!! Throw in the Zips' 14 or so dates, and you're VERY close to the Clovelli Center's break-even point, before you add concerts. NOW, let's look at how many dates you have to add to Akron's new gymnasium (a very nice, big gymnasium) to make up that difference. The Zips are good for 18 dates give or take. IF the Charge wanted to move to Akron, and IF they didn't have a long term lease with the CCC, they would add 25 more dates, A little math tells me you have to come up with 24 concerts to make up the difference. And,as you say, you';re competing against Blossom, The Q, The Wolstein, the downtown theatre, the two pavilions in Cleveland, the Rocksino, etc for those concerts. Good luck with that. If it's not going to be a burden to the taxpayers, or the University (in other words, the students and the taxpayers), you better be able to fill those dates, I can fill a lot more dates with all those options in front of me than you can with basketball and concerts.

1. Are the Zips making a "profit" now? We need something to compare with. 2. It won't be in competition with Youngstown's arena (or those in Toledo, Erie, Wheeling, etc) because the myopic planners are making the floor space too freaking small. You're not getting their (or any other)sports teams, the circus, Disney on Ice, or anything else that requires a full sized arena floor. Without all those acts, even IF the Canton Charge isn't contracted to the Civic Center long term and they want to move to Akron, you're looking at 24 dates. Add what, 14 for the Zips, and a handful of concerts, and earning a profit is a pipe dream. Whether or not you bring in a building manager to get your dates filled. Nobody here will address that obvious shortcoming, but there's no way in hell I'm voting for that. With or without the University tied to it.

Look at the events that arena holds. That arena was designed to host a wide variety of events. They didn't limit themselves by going with a ridiculously small floor size. The university is going to eat serious losses, for a handful of basketball fans who have never seen (or want to see) the sight lines of a modern multi-purpose facility.