Dave Reynolds 5/25/10

[BradleyJD]

No one has a problem with the exhibitions being there. It's the regular season and postseason considerations that have people irritated.

Exactly correct. This is a huge slap in the face to season ticket holders. You buy tickets thinking you get ALL the home games and now you find out you need to pay $1,000 more for 1 more home game.

I do not see how that is fair or wise.

[amckillip]

Ya I don't understand why they didn't put at least the number you suggested if they wanted flexibility. Was there a reason we did not want to play men's games on campus? I think an on campus arena would have been a good thing, but it would have needed to have a lot bigger capacity. Why didn't we go that route?

I like the idea of playing a game on campus, but I wish they would have just built the arena to suit the men's team to do so.

We didn't have the land, parking, or demand (it would take far more than BU basketball to have a positive, or even flat ROI) for such a venue.

[BradleyJD]

We didn't have the land, parking, or demand (it would take far more than BU basketball to have a positive, or even flat ROI) for such a venue.

BU could have and should have built a men's facility on campus. I know Bradley did studies on it as far back the mid to late 90's. I saw at least one of the reports myself.

But now it will never happen.

[tornado]

They're just considering and exploring options...
please everyone...move back from the ledge.....

[amckillip]

BU could have and should have built a men's facility on campus. I know Bradley did studies on it as far back the mid to late 90's. I saw at least one of the reports myself.

But now it will never happen.

DEFINITELY should not have. It isn't justified. The arena itself should would have been 3 times as large. BU already has parking and housing issues, as well as space issues. All of these would have been extremely exacerbated with this project, on something the school would lose tons of money on. In no way shape or form would this be a good business decision. Show me one comparable school who has built an 11,000+ seat modern stadium? There aren't any. While I understand your desire for an on-campus arena, this is not an educated opinion.

[real fan]

No one has a problem with the exhibitions being there. It's the regular season and postseason considerations that have people irritated.

You are correct because if you screw over your season ticket holders on any regular or post season game there will be major problems, this new facility should have seated at least 6000 people.

[LG281]

I see no problem with this and agree that Cross' logic seems pretty solid.

Can't schedule competitively because we don't have a venue due to Snoopy on Ice or whatever...now we can.

I'm with Boogie on this'n - think it'd be pretty cool to see people scrambling to find a Bradley ticket. Could do a lot to boost student excitement as well. Plus think of the home court advantage it would give us. Man-o-man.

Oh, and you don't have to pay an extra $1,000 just to see one more game. That is for just the best (closest) 500 seats in the arena. The other 3,700 seats will be up for grabs. Plus, its a 4,200 seat arena - it isn't like you are going to be in the nose bleeds.

I guess I don't see why people are all bent out of shape. This seems like a good thing.

[Da Coach]

I agree amckillip, this has been discussed before, but at the end of the property acquisition to the west of the BU campus, Bradley was paying over $500,000 each for individual properties. The real value of those properties was more like a quarter of that. To acquire enough property to build a bigger arena for men's games would have been impossible for Bradley to afford.
But even if that was possible, the infrastructure in that area would not have allowed for a larger facility, and the greater traffic and parking needs. And realize that there is only one main street leading to that area, Main Street, and the traffic issues would have been impossible to overcome.
Like Drake or UNI, maybe it might have been designed for slightly more capacity, like 5,500-6,000, but that still wouldn't have solved the problem, and we'd still be having this discussion. The fact is the new arena was never designed for or intended for men's basketball.

[Air Petey]

Exactly correct. This is a huge slap in the face to season ticket holders. You buy tickets thinking you get ALL the home games and now you find out you need to pay $1,000 more for 1 more home game.

I do not see how that is fair or wise.

Bradley JD = I Totally Agree!!

[BuAlum03]

We didn't have the land, parking, or demand (it would take far more than BU basketball to have a positive, or even flat ROI) for such a venue.

Exactly right. And also consider that downtown Peoria offers hotels, restaurants, and bars all within walking distance, as well as a variety of ways to easily get in and out (I-74, 24/29, Kumpf, Main, etc...). To get to campus you have University / McArthur, Main, and 74. The chokepoints at Main and University, Western & Moss, and University and Columbia Terrace would be epic as 11,000 or even 8,000 try to get home after a game.

Unless a new Interstate is built that runs right next door to campus, or Peoria invests in a subway or elevated shuttle train, we won't see a men's basketball arena on campus.

[BUfan14]

I agree amckillip, this has been discussed before, but at the end of the property acquisition to the west of the BU campus, Bradley was paying over $500,000 each for individual properties. The real value of those properties was more like a quarter of that. To acquire enough property to build a bigger arena for men's games would have been impossible for Bradley to afford.
But even if that was possible, the infrastructure in that area would not have allowed for a larger facility, and the greater traffic and parking needs. And realize that there is only one main street leading to that area, Main Street, and the traffic issues would have been impossible to overcome.
Like Drake or UNI, maybe it might have been designed for slightly more capacity, like 5,500-6,000, but that still wouldn't have solved the problem, and we'd still be having this discussion. The fact is the new arena was never designed for or intended for men's basketball.

We didn't have the land, parking, or demand (it would take far more than BU basketball to have a positive, or even flat ROI) for such a venue.

Ok Thanks guys, that explains it. I really don't care where it is at really, in fact I usually go eat before hand when I go down to games because restaurants are so close to the civic center.

An on campus arena would be cool, but I can see why those problems would arise now, and I'm going to go to the games I can no matter what so it really don't matter to me. I'd still think a game would be cool to have there just cause its new and different, but I'm not sure how to get around those problems other than for exhibitions. I like that we have some leverage against the CC now at least.

Just curious since I was not around for the old Fieldhouse days when the men played there, but that held about 8,000 I believe? Did they have the problems you are mentioning for an on campus arena?

[shaunguth]

I see no problem with this and agree that Cross' logic seems pretty solid.

Really? I saw quite a few contradictory statements.....

"We don’t want to limit people’s ability to see games."

Then keep all games at the Civic Center.


"For a particular opponent, a smaller venue might make sense."

"There are some practical reasons for doing this, and scheduling is No. 1"

Sounds to me like all games are an option, not just a "particular opponent" where "a smaller venue might make sense".


The PSO press release says this.....

"In addition, the men's basketball team will host one of its two preseason exhibition games and all potential home games in campus-site postseason tournaments on campus."

Michael Cross says this regarding postseason tournament games.....

"We’re not locked into the perspective that it’s one place or the other."

Which is it?

[BradleyJD]

DEFINITELY should not have. It isn't justified. Show me one comparable school who has built an 11,000+ seat modern stadium? There aren't any. While I understand your desire for an on-campus arena, this is not an educated opinion.

I don't care what comparable schools do or don't do really. I thought this was about Bradley.

I am glad you find my opinion uneducated. I'll be sure to share that with my employer in the morning.

Again, I saw at least one of the studies Bradley conducted on this very topic. It didn't seem to them that it was impossible at all.

One could argue the outrageous fees Bradley is charged for rent at the CC are not justified either. But it really doesn't matter.

[BradleyBrave]

They did have the land. But in order to finally, after all these years, get the support of the neighborhood and city, they had to likely agree to a bigger parking deck, which in turn made building a bigger arena impossible.

And I would probably tend to believe what JD says. He's been around the BU program longer than several 'educated' posters have been alive.

[Chico]

Ok Thanks guys, that explains it. I really don't care where it is at really, in fact I usually go eat before hand when I go down to games because restaurants are so close to the civic center.

An on campus arena would be cool, but I can see why those problems would arise now, and I'm going to go to the games I can no matter what so it really don't matter to me. I'd still think a game would be cool to have there just cause its new and different, but I'm not sure how to get around those problems other than for exhibitions. I like that we have some leverage against the CC now at least.

Just curious since I was not around for the old Fieldhouse days when the men played there, but that held about 8,000 I believe? Did they have the problems you are mentioning for an on campus arena?

I would say most of the crowd parked on the streets at Fieldhouse games. What a nightmare on snowy nights. Can't imagine having an 11,000 seat arena on campus.