Good news - Bradley University's incoming Freshman Enrollment

[houstonbrave]

But the Civic Center and Peoria need all - its not either or….

 

[JMM28]

Just to play devil's advocate...

I'm pretty sure that the 108k tickets brought in by concerts spend more $/ticket sold than Bradley and the Rivermen combined. Not only in the average price per ticket, but hotel rooms, more restaurant spend, increased parking charges, etc....all a big economic driver. Comes at a higher cost for those major concerts, but the margin is likely better for most every concert. I'm not minimizing Bradley or the Rivermen as strong revenue drivers, but I would not be surprised if the profit margin for concerts in the arena far surpassed Bradley and Rivermen games combined...not to mention the bigger economic impacts.

Bradley and Rivermen games produce quite a few hotel night rooms from just visiting teams alone. The folks that come to Bradley and Rivermen games spend a lot of money at the concession stands. Hell, there is even a ton of money left on the table in concessions by the poor staffing at any Rivermen or Bradley game over about 4000 in attendance.

Historically the Rivermen games had a higher per cap concession number than the Bradley games. I'd assume thats partly because the Rivermen are always playing on the weekends versus Bradley playing about half their games on weekday nights. Bradley pays A LOT more than the Rivermen in catering/hospitality bills as well.

In the grand scheme of things, there are very few concerts in the arena over the course of the year. The vast majority are not close to sell outs.

$0.00 rent for Bradley basketball!

 

[yoda]

https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/prairie-home-alliance-theater-ranking/

Minus BU and Rivermen, Carver Arena sold 108,909 tickets last year. In that same calendar year, BU alone brought in about 100,000 fans. Rivermen, I'm guessing, brought in a similar number across more dates, 95% on weekend dates.

Bradley and Rivermen should be treated like kings at that facility. Instead, they get treated like shit.

Amen


and for the record....
The Rivermen set their all time home attendance record LAST YEAR in 2024-25 - at 123,173 fans total

How the Peoria Rivermen went from near-exit to breaking attendance record

“It’s been an amazing transformation over at least the last four years since I’ve been here.”

www.25newsnow.com

Their average attendance was slightly DOWN this past season, 2025-26, 4,399 --> 4,253

 

[JD1960]

Amen


and for the record....
The Rivermen set their all time home attendance record LAST YEAR in 2024-25 - at 123,173 fans total

How the Peoria Rivermen went from near-exit to breaking attendance record

“It’s been an amazing transformation over at least the last four years since I’ve been here.”

www.25newsnow.com

Their average attendance was slightly DOWN this past season, 2025-26, 4,399 --> 4,253

I was looking at the year before. The 144, 000 included the playoffs this year.

 

[yoda]

Forbes just revealed their ratings for colleges and universities (private)....

Bradley University made an enormous jump from the last rating - thanks to the initiatives of President Shadid
and the improved enrollment.
Better than Drake, the other MVC private schools, Marquette, Georgetown and a lot of other top Universities.

Forbes College Financial Grades 2026

Forbes annual College Financial Grades assesses the financial health of more than 900 private not-for-profit colleges with enrollment of more than 500 students.

www.forbes.com

Forbes gives Bradley University a higher financial grade this year

Forbes has released their 2026 report card for the financial state of private colleges.

www.25newsnow.com