DePaul moving to United Center?

[Da Coach]

DePaul is in discussions with the United Center and is serious about moving their home games to the Chicago arena after playing for the last 30 years in Rosemont at what is now called the Allstate Arena.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-0929-depaul-united-center--20120929,0,7457194.story

It seems like a good idea to move the games back into Chicago and closer to their campus. But the problem I see is that most of the desirable weekend dates and times won't be available to DePaul because the Bulls and Blackhawks will get priority.

[tornado]

they have an on-campus arena and do play a couple games a year there - but it holds only a little more than 3000

[AZ BU Fan]

Wonder if DP will be able to get enough people in the United Center to break even, or make a buck?

[Beninator]

Could be part of a plan for a new Depaul arena. --from the Depaul student newspaper--

http://www.depauliaonline.com/sports/men-s-basketball/plot-thickens-in-quest-for-new-depaul-basketball-arena-1.2914891?pagereq=1#.UGc8ZEJ9nzI

[Da Coach]

Could be part of a plan for a new Depaul arena. --from the Depaul student newspaper--
http://www.depauliaonline.com/sports...1#.UGc8ZEJ9nzI

The cost would be astronomical for DePaul to own and pay for this themselves. And I can't believe the City of Chicago has that kind of financial backing to build a $50 to $100 million arena in a blighted area, that would likely get very little use other than DePaul.

The article does make one error- they state-
The Chicago Sun-Times reported the school was in talks with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf about possibly building a west side arena that could serve as a Bulls practice facility and site for Blue Demon home games. The 22,000 seat arena would be a considerable step up from the 12,000 seat Allstate Arena in terms of capacity, which could present financial problems if the house isn’t packed on a game-by-game basis.

I'm not sure where they get their information, or if they just make it up. But the Allstate Arena (formerly the Rosemont Horizon), when set up for DePaul home games, has a capacity of 17,500. It can be set up for a maximum capacity of 18,500, not 12,000.

http://www.allstatearena.com/arena-info/

[Gary the Gargoyle]

If Bradley fans don't like the dates we get because of 35 Rivermen games, imagine being 3rd choice after roughly 80 NHL and NBA games.

[JMM28]

If Bradley fans don't like the dates we get because of 35 Rivermen games, imagine being 3rd choice after roughly 80 NHL and NBA games.

Plus the circus coming to town every year in the middle of non-conference season.

[Da Coach]

Plus the circus coming to town every year in the middle of non-conference season.

The circus isn't the biggest problem (it runs Nov. 14-25).
The Disney on Ice show takes over the UC for almost 2 weeks in late January and early February, right in the middle of their Big East schedule-

http://www.ticketnetwork.com/ticket/disney-on-ice-chicago-united-center-events.aspx

[SFP]

Rivermen is one team that I wish left Peoria! Why BU plays second fiddle to them in scheduling is beyond me? You would have to belive there could be some compromise?

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Rivermen is one team that I wish left Peoria! Why BU plays second fiddle to them in scheduling is beyond me? You would have to belive there could be some compromise?

Believe it or not, there's a lot of compromising that goes into scheduling for these two teams. It isn't so much that Bradley plays second fiddle as it is simple math. The Rivermen have more than twice as many dates to schedule at Carver Arena. They also play in a league that schedules for 30 teams versus the 10 team Missouri Valley Conference.