RenCol here we come?

[Dub]

The game notes for Wednesday's game at RenCol have a strong emphasis once again on the UNDEFEATED record for the men's team in the new building, and the inferior record at off-campus arenas including the armory, the PCC, woodruff hs, YMCA, even Pekin hs. The # of games in RenCol has obviously continued to increase each year. Dave Snell seems to be bringing up routinely in post game interviews how much of a shooter's gym it is, and how tough of a place for opponents to play in.

Is there any remaining doubt that the current long term plan is to move the men's team out of the PCC and into RenCol? Does anyone else besides me feel they are slowly being conditioned to accept this as an inevitable and overwhelmingly positive outcome?

[Chico]

The game notes for Wednesday's game at RenCol have a strong emphasis once again on the UNDEFEATED record for the men's team in the new building, and the inferior record at off-campus arenas including the armory, the PCC, woodruff hs, YMCA, even Pekin hs. The # of games in RenCol has obviously continued to increase each year. Dave Snell seems to be bringing up routinely in post game interviews how much of a shooter's gym it is, and how tough of a place for opponents to play in.

Is there any remaining doubt that the current long term plan is to move the men's team out of the PCC and into RenCol? Does anyone else besides me feel they are slowly being conditioned to accept this as an inevitable and overwhelmingly positive outcome?

I agree. But why should the RenCol be a tough place for opponents to play in? Most of them are already used to playing in high school gyms.

[LongTimeFan]

I would add that the quality of opponents in the RenCol is not at the same level as the conference games played at the Carver Center. Increase the quality of opponents at the RenCol and the winning percentage will fall.

Look at the preseason record the last two years, and we have a great winning percentage. You have to compare apples to apples to make a valid comparison.

FWIW, I would think moving all games to the RenCol would reduce the fan base. Many who sit home watching occasional games on the TV will not give large donations. If they had built a 7,000 or 8,000 seat stadium, moving games there would have made sense. However, the city was not going to lose the revenue.

[Da Coach]

I don't think it means much that this is discussed in the Game Notes. Bobby looks for any interesting twist to discuss in game notes, and everyone knows the quality of teams we have played there is greatly inferior to the teams played at the Civic Center.

[tornado]

I hope they also see that of all the events held at the Ren-Col - and this will be the 16th, including games, preseason events, post-season games, scrimmages, Hoopla, Spaghetti suppers, and Red-White's -
all but one had rather disappointingly low attendance - the only one that was satisfactory was this game against SEMO on 11/16/11,
so if we can find a way to recreate this atmosphere - I am all for it..... (as an alternate arena)

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205334749

[Old Coach]

I hope they also see that of all the events held at the Ren-Col - and this will be the 16th, including games, preseason events, post-season games, scrimmages, Hoopla, Spaghetti suppers, and Red-White's -
all but one had rather disappointingly low attendance - the only one that was satisfactory was this game against SEMO on 11/16/11,
so if we can find a way to recreate this atmosphere - I am all for it..... (as an alternate arena)

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205334749

I would contend that '5 O'Clock on the Hilltop' was a wonderful event and extremely well attended.

[Dub]

I would bet some good coin that there's an active profit model on the desks at BU that involves limiting supply, increasing demand, a nearly full RenCol with higher ticket prices, the elimitation of rent downtown, and more.

I'm going on record right now that I believe there's a plan to move the games back on campus in the next 5 yrs. whether it ever works out we'll see.

Looking forward to tomorrow night!

[Canton BU fan]

I hope they also see that of all the events held at the Ren-Col - and this will be the 16th, including games, preseason events, post-season games, scrimmages, Hoopla, Spaghetti suppers, and Red-White's -
all but one had rather disappointingly low attendance - the only one that was satisfactory was this game against SEMO on 11/16/11,
so if we can find a way to recreate this atmosphere - I am all for it..... (as an alternate arena)

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205334749

That is a great photo. I can see myself and family in the lower left quarter of the picture. Proof that I am one of those who attend games at the RC.

[Old Coach]

I would bet some good coin that there's an active profit model on the desks at BU that involves limiting supply, increasing demand, a nearly full RenCol with higher ticket prices, the elimitation of rent downtown, and more.

I'm going on record right now that I believe there's a plan to move the games back on campus in the next 5 yrs. whether it ever works out we'll see.

Looking forward to tomorrow night!

I am certain that there is not.

[bigjimmy]

The only way we move out of the Civic Center is if BU is losing money and the attendance falls under 4500. I know what Bobby Parker is doing is hype, that's his job. But to hype the fact we're undefeated at the Ren Con, considering who we've played, is just silly.

[Bradleyfan1]

Does a sold out Carver make BU more money than a sold out RC?

[Da Coach]

Does a sold out Carver make BU more money than a sold out RC?

From what I have heard- No. BU makes little or nothing from the parking and food/drink sales, and the cost to use the facility cancels out much of the profits from ticket sales. There is very little overhead at the RC, so it's almost all profit.

[Chico]

From what I have heard- No. BU makes little or nothing from the parking and food/drink sales, and the cost to use the facility cancels out much of the profits from ticket sales. There is very little overhead at the RC, so it's almost all profit.

So let's just drop down to Div2 or NAIA and make this admin happy.

[Bobby Parker]

I think sometimes too much is read into things. Not everything is a conspiracy, but sometimes just an option. No more, no less.

Renaissance Coliseum simply provides an ALTERNATIVE site to play home games. As stated before, Carver Arena was not available Nov. 10 (concert despite Bradley's request to hold the date), nor is it available Wednesday night (Farm Show). If we had been unable to play a home game Nov. 10, our ability to play in the Global Sports Invitational, which culminated with a chance to play Illinois, would have been severely compromised. Without the ability to play at Renaissance Coliseum Wednesday night, we would most definitely be playing a road game.

We are committed to playing the bulk of our home games at Carver Arena and have no intention of de-valuing our product to the point that we move exclusively into a 4,200-seat home venue. There is nothing we want more than to play in front of sold-out crowds at Carver Arena (at a minimum of $4 each - group rate - though, but that's a whole other topic). However, if we have met our commitment to play at least 15 games at Carver Arena (and AT LEAST 15 games at Carver Arena is our commitment) and there is an opportunity to play a home game at RenCol that would not be available at CA, we will consider the option.

It really is very simple and not particularly sinister.

And to clear up another point that I see raised occassionally - Bradley does not receive a cent of parking or concessions sales at Carver Arena. That has been the case for at least my 15 years at Bradley and I assume from the beginning. Nor do we have say in the prices charged for those amenities. Apparently, Phil Luciano has great influence in that regard, though (see his column this morning).

We all realize RenCol is not a perfect solution, but what in this world is perfect? We find playing an occassional game on campus in which our student-athletes spend the bulk of their time a better alternative than simply throwing our hands in the air and playing a road game simply because our primary home venue is unavailable.

And one last point: the Peoria Civic Center is a valuable commodity for our community. We are proud to call Carver Arena home, but also recognize its value to the community as a multi-purpose facility. While we would love to have complete control of the available dates, the operators have bills to pay and cannot always afford to wait for our schedule to be completed before they fill dates on their calendar. Thus we run into situations when the arena is not available to us, but now we have an option. Maybe not a perfect option, but an option none-the-less.

Besides who wouldn't like to have a second home?

[Da Coach]

Are you saying Illinois would not be willing to play Bradley in Champaign with no return game? That the only way we could get a game in Champaign would be via this tournament format? Their non-conference schedule appears to have a lot of buy games, including UIC, Valpo, IPFW, and others. Why wouldn't they play Bradley as a buy game if we are willing to play them without a return.?