Bearcats to US Bank

[TheLongHaul]

The other sports are there to make the University more appealing (to students and other conferences). That is why the University is fully funding all of them now. They want to be appealing to the ACC and Big 12.

The other sports have been there way before they ever cared to appeal to other conferences. Of course by saying they aren't important but are only there because they are appealing is a huge contradiction in itself.

Obviously money is a huge driving factor for athletic departments. But in this decision, it isn't solely about bottom line financial gain. There are many other factors involved.

 

[JasonS]

The other sports have been there way before they ever cared to appeal to other conferences. Of course by saying they aren't important but are only there because they are appealing is a huge contradiction in itself.

Obviously money is a huge driving factor for athletic departments. But in this decision, it isn't solely about bottom line financial gain. There are many other factors involved.

Not surprisingly you completely missed my point. Take baseball as an example. Baseball used to hand out some half scholarships because the University didn't fully fund baseball. The University has committed to refund and bring back any Olympic sports they had previously cut. This was done for one reason and one reason only: Be more appealing to the ACC and Big 12.

 

[JasonS]

The other sports have been there way before they ever cared to appeal to other conferences. Of course by saying they aren't important but are only there because they are appealing is a huge contradiction in itself.

Obviously money is a huge driving factor for athletic departments. But in this decision, it isn't solely about bottom line financial gain. There are many other factors involved.

What other factors are involved? Money is factor 1, 2 and 3 (at least). It's all about money in some shape and form. The University will not move downtown if it does not make sense financially. End of story.

 

[TheLongHaul]

What other factors are involved? Money is factor 1, 2 and 3 (at least). It's all about money in some shape and form. The University will not move downtown if it does not make sense financially. End of story.

Of course they won't move downtown if it doesn't make financial sense. Money is the only reason they would even look into moving downtown b/c they have an on campus arena that better fits their students, student-athletes, and the university. However, there are other factors/reasons to stay on campus even if it doesn't have the bottom line increase that the stadium does. Some factors include the effect of students at games, the atmosphere on campus during games, the effect it will have on local businesses near campus which is a huge part of the overall university atmosphere (and some of those owners are bigger donors).

 

[TheLongHaul]

Not surprisingly you completely missed my point. Take baseball as an example. Baseball used to hand out some half scholarships because the University didn't fully fund baseball. The University has committed to refund and bring back any Olympic sports they had previously cut. This was done for one reason and one reason only: Be more appealing to the ACC and Big 12.

No, it was you that completely missed the point. Why would that be more appealing to the ACC and Big 12 if the ACC and Big 12 only cared about the bottom line? Baseball doesn't add to the bottom line so in your view the ACC and Big 12 shouldn't care less if they have them or not. You are contradicting yourself.

 

[JasonS]

No, it was you that completely missed the point. Why would that be more appealing to the ACC and Big 12 if the ACC and Big 12 only cared about the bottom line? Baseball doesn't add to the bottom line so in your view the ACC and Big 12 shouldn't care less if they have them or not. You are contradicting yourself.

So, fully funding all sports doesn't matter? Of course it does! It shows commitment to athletics as a whole which is what these conferences want. Go back and read some articles from this latest round of realignment and it will all make sense. You obviously don't understand the whole picture.

 

[TheLongHaul]

So, fully funding all sports doesn't matter? Of course it does! It shows commitment to athletics as a whole which is what these conferences want. Go back and read some articles from this latest round of realignment and it will all make sense. You obviously don't understand the whole picture.

Fully funding all sports hurts the bottom line, which you argue is the only thing the athletic department should care about. And that simply isn't true as you ironically keep pointing out.

 

[L-T]

Exactly. I trust our administration (feels good to say that) will make the correct decision for the program as well as financially. The students have been great the last few years; LT, you are mis-remembering. If there are busses to transport them downtown, and the team keeps winning, they will continue to be a homecourt presence.

Com'on Scheids. I've been at every game for years. I have great sideline seats close to the floor, but I'm also right next to the student section. Because of the close proximity, I'm always checking out everything going on with the students. The student section I sit closest to is 75% empty for most games. As you move toward the sections behind the basket, it gets fuller, but to say the students have been great the last couple years is not accurate at all. We were a Big East program and if you can't fill your student sections, that's embarrassing. If I look at the other end of the court at that student section, there are always plenty of empty seats as well. Yes, we'll pack them in for a few of the big games, but consistently, that's not the case.

If we have to spend significant bucks to go downtown, then that would be stupid in my opinion. There's no way the students will go down there in significant numbers. The scenario I heard months ago was that someone else was going to spend huge bucks to upgrade the arena. That sounded promising and made a move there more appealing. I just think the crowd support downtown won't be there. A renovated arena with the other awesome things going on with the Banks is a big plus, but there is a trade-off with the potential low support of students and other fans who won't go down there, plus the overall negative of games not being on campus.

I would have rather renovated 5/3 instead of Nippert, but that's just me. We're just kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place at the present moment.....no rock solid options....just options that have as many negatives as positives.

 

[ucdave]

Could this be the 10-year deal that was talked about earlier in this thread?

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/10/16/uc-health-strikes-deal-to-be-team.html

 

[JumpinJack5]

I talked to my guy again. He said the deal is signed but they are working out some details, including paying for the renovations. They want UC to pay for them. Now I won't pretend to be an expert on negotiating, but I don't know how a deal is signed if contingencies are not laid out. Also I'd be hard-pressed to believe UC puts forth a dime for renovations to an off-campus arena that isn't their own.

After some other discussion, I guess part of the deal is that UC medical is taking over for all the medical staff down there, replacing Beacon. This includes for the Cyclones. He said that deal is done. I'm wondering if there's some confusion on what deal is done and maybe it's just the medical staff deal that is done and they are still in negotiations about moving down there. To me, if UC is going to spend money to renovate something for basketball it needs to be 5/3rd. I imagine the cost would be similar as would the results. He did elaborate further as to what the plans are for renovations. Basically they want to drop the club seats down to the concourse level. They would blow out the south side of the arena facing the river and put in a glass front. He said they've had these plans for years, but obviously haven't had the money or tenants to go forward with it. He said he would keep me posted when he hears something and I will do the same in return.

Brownie points for you, sir. Now lets hope the rest of the scenario plays out........

 

[ralph1950]

Brownie points for you, sir. Now lets hope the rest of the scenario plays out........

Except for the one game a year that has been played for many seasons, UC is not going to play its home schedule at US Bank Arena. The games will, and should, remain on campus.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Com'on Scheids. I've been at every game for years. I have great sideline seats close to the floor, but I'm also right next to the student section. Because of the close proximity, I'm always checking out everything going on with the students. The student section I sit closest to is 75% empty for most games. As you move toward the sections behind the basket, it gets fuller, but to say the students have been great the last couple years is not accurate at all. We were a Big East program and if you can't fill your student sections, that's embarrassing. If I look at the other end of the court at that student section, there are always plenty of empty seats as well. Yes, we'll pack them in for a few of the big games, but consistently, that's not the case.

If we have to spend significant bucks to go downtown, then that would be stupid in my opinion. There's no way the students will go down there in significant numbers. The scenario I heard months ago was that someone else was going to spend huge bucks to upgrade the arena. That sounded promising and made a move there more appealing. I just think the crowd support downtown won't be there. A renovated arena with the other awesome things going on with the Banks is a big plus, but there is a trade-off with the potential low support of students and other fans who won't go down there, plus the overall negative of games not being on campus.

I would have rather renovated 5/3 instead of Nippert, but that's just me. We're just kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place at the present moment.....no rock solid options....just options that have as many negatives as positives.

Some publication recently did an article on the decline in student attendance at sporting events and this is not only an issue at Cincinnati. Because of the decline in student attendance it is even more essential to market to the city as a whole, something that has been woefully lacking in teems of the basketball program.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Could this be the 10-year deal that was talked about earlier in this thread?

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/10/16/uc-health-strikes-deal-to-be-team.html

He did say that this was part of the deal and I was questioning if this was the full deal and he was just going on assumptions (or his son that works there going on assumptions) that UC moving down there was part of it as well. I did initially ask clarification on that and he said that the medical deal was part of the whole deal to get them down there. I asked him again about it a couple weeks ago and he said he would find out more when the Cyclones season started and he gets down to the Arena, which is this weekend, so hopefully I hear more info next week. If I do I will certainly pass it along. I for one am hoping they don't move down there.