Bradley to move games to Renaissance Coliseum

[tornado]

..be prepared for the administration to start floating this concept to the public....

also on numerous occasions the local media and columnists have weighed in and they HATE the concept of moving games to the Ren-Col .. wonder if they will pull a 180 now...
I like playing a couple games there each season but moving most or all would thrust Bradley into the realm of a Summit League member or even worse - towards DIII (think IWU or Quincy)

"That was putrid ...
I interviewed BU athletics director Michael Cross about Bradley's use of Renaissance Coliseum ...Bradley fans have voted with their wallets.
They're deciding not to spend their money on tickets to Renaissance games.

"I wonder whether this is worth the risk.
Why then would you play a game in a gym that seats only 4,200? ..you can’t even fit half your season-ticket holders through the doors.
That’s potentially 3,000-4,000 ticked-off fans. Why would you risk that at a time when discontent with the program has been rising
..what if only 2,000 or so fans decide to buy tickets...Wouldn’t that severely devalue the product?
.. it’s a bit scary that nobody at Bradley seems to have considered the possibility.
.. it’s taking a step backwards, to a much smaller arena than it left in the first place....this one doesn’t look good."

Parking is also a big issue....

it will get worse - as gobs of cars took the shortcuts thru the upland neighborhoods - and those folks will begin complaining

..massive restructure in the NCAA which they felt was inevitably going to lower demand for the product anyway. ...

but like Wichita State, like Creighton, like Butler, VCU, Dayton, and lots of other similar schools -
just a few years ago when our admin first came on board - they were positioned to keep Bradley extremely STRONG within the upper echelons of Division I-
they had every chance but they chose to downsize and go small-time while irresponsibly trying to cover their bad choices by spending like one of the big boys.
As recently as 2007, 2008 Bradley's home attendance ranked around the TOP 40 in the nation - a huge passionate fan base that had been solid and buying tickets thru thick & thin and virtually always at games even if there was a blizzard. Plus we scheduled strong, played the big guys, and they were even afraid of us cuz we beat them sometimes.

But that's all changed and any chance we had to hang with the upper levels of DI -- or even the upper levels of the MVC are all but a distant memory.
There have been too many bad decisions that have cost Bradley way too much prestige, prowess, and certainly too much money and now we're bordering on broke and have run off or ticked off more than half the long-standing fans base.
Unfortunately it is what it is...it's like hanging in on a bus headed rapidly for the cliff - it will be painful but each fan has two choices - stay on board or get off ...many already have and a whole bunch more will when this hits the fan.

Finally- one other line from Dave Reynolds' article-
Considering how much attendance has declined in recent seasons, though, moving back to campus might well become a financial necessity for Bradley, which has run an athletics deficit of nearly $18 million the last three years...”

Had anyone heard this figure before? The athletic department ran a deficit of nearly $18 million the last 3 years!

yup - Dave has been reading it here for the last 4 months - in fact, a couple more times in just the past few days

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=300699#post300699

and btw- as far back as 2010 in his 1st chat..Dr. Cross actually hinted that a future move to Ren-Col was possible
"Was the Renaissance Coliseum built with the capability of adding seats... to have on-campus men's basketball on a regular basis?
Dr. Michael Cross: Anything is possible ..."

[tornado]

.. .. wonder if they will pull a 180 now.....

wow - that didn't take long, only about hour after I said that I get my newspaper and there it is...
after saying for the last four years that they hate the idea of moving games to the Ren-Col
...now the position of the PJS has taken a 180 -- now it seems they're open to the idea..

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141204/OPINION/141209538/10949/OPINION

[Da Coach]

It is an amazing turnaround. Compare that current editorial-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20141204/OPINION/141209538/10949/OPINION

...With these from the recent past-

http://www.pjstar.com/x1009570190/Wessler-BU-takes-big-risk-by-going-cozy

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131204/SPORTS/131209585?template=printart

Like I said, they may say one thing when they don't think it matters, but when the idea is floated by the admin, their opinions change dramatically. They have become nothing more than shills for the administration.

[AFrey]

wow - that didn't take long, only about hour after I said that I get my newspaper and there it is...
after saying for the last four years that they hate the idea of moving games to the Ren-Col
...now the position of the PJS has taken a 180 -- now it seems they're open to the idea..
http://www.pjstar.com/article/201412.../10949/OPINION

Being open to the idea is a far cry from supporting it. The article clearly states why it would make sense to make the move ... and also spells out the issues it could cause.

This hardly seems like supporting a move: We??™d just suggest that if Tuesday night was any indication, we have some concerns about whether the infrastructure surrounding Bradley can handle consistently big crowds anymore.

Also, the title of this thread is incredibly misleading. It's actually not true. I can only imagine what the reaction of some folks here would be if the PJStar had run the same thing in a headline.

[molar50]

If a move is made to the RC, I will no longer be a season ticket holder. If this happens, they can go to Div III and compete at that level. I am hopeful that this news is to give notice to the Civic Center that Bradley needs a better contract with the CC. I know Bradley has not been happy with the CC for several years.

[Buesch N Chips]

If a move is made to the RC, I will no longer be a season ticket holder. If this happens, they can go to Div III and compete at that level. I am hopeful that this news is to give notice to the Civic Center that Bradley needs a better contract with the CC. I know Bradley has not been happy with the CC for several years.

I would not be either, but I don't say that to threaten BU in any way. I just would not choose to go to RenCol. It might be the best thing for the university at this time, I have no idea, and I wish them the best if it happens. Attending games at the RenCol exceeds my patience level as a fan in terms of the logistics of attending a game, so I would choose to stay home, and feel very content about it. I'd pay for the video feed and watch from my recliner, drinking my not-$8 soda and my eating my not-$8 popcorn.

[Da Coach]

If a move is made to the RC, I will no longer be a season ticket holder. If this happens, they can go to Div III and compete at that level. I am hopeful that this news is to give notice to the Civic Center that Bradley needs a better contract with the CC. I know Bradley has not been happy with the CC for several years.

Molar, Buesch- I have talked to dozens of long time fans like yourself, and unanimously, that is their sentiments. It is obvious with this and many previous actions (dropping several popular preseason and postseason events, huge raises in ticket prices, kicking several rows of big-time donors out of the seats to create the platinum seating, the massive downgrading of the schedule, eliminating any employee who has previous ties to the university, trying to change everything from the logo to the, mascot, to the name "Braves", etc.) that this administration simply doesn't care about you, or me, or any of the long time, loyal and generous fans or alumni. They'd rather cater to the students, who don't even care about basketball, or try to market and sell the program to the "new" or "young" customers, forsaking all the tens of thousands who have always been there to support it.


We might as well get used to it- Bradley basketball as we knew it just a few years ago, will never be that way again. It's sad, but as fans have seen here, this massive fallout was all predicted when people took over who never cared or did not know about Bradley's history and traditions. There is nothing they haven't already tried to change, and now they are discarding all the old fans, and going for a new set of fans.

[ancona flash]

I also would not renew. My loyalties are with BU first, (proven by my pocketbook for years now) but I also to root for the Illini (unless they are playing BU). One of the beauties of playing downtown is that I can usually count on being able to work a full day, get home, maybe even grab a quick bite, get downtown, parked, settled in to my seats 10 minutes before tip. Then on the flipside I usually pull into my driveway between 9:30-10pm. I can take my kids on a school night and not worry about it being too late. and I live 25 minutes away on the east side of the area. Move on campus and I'm adding 20-30 minutes on either side of that process, which may not sound like alot, but it's enough for me to bail. Especially if we continue to suck.

I love watching college basketball, plain and simple. If I wanted to kill that much time I'd drive to Champaign and watch better basketball. I'll pick and choose the individual BU games I feel are worth investing the time for, and stay home for the rest of the ho hum games with my cheap concessions, comfortable chair. Like BNC said, it would exceed my patience level.

[tornado]

you will see even more things happening as a result of two Board meetings within the past month on these financial issues...
The reports from those meetings are interesting and suggest that the finances have not been "transparent"

btw - those long time loyal BU fans were loyal to the bone and didn't have to be bought with some sort of deal...
the current batch of fans includes largely those who are fans because they were finally able to score courtside seats or they have a deal to get their names up on the scoreboard or in the program to help their businesses....those "fans" won't be around when crowds of 1800 are what we draw for IUPUI at Ren-Col

[TheAsianSensation]

I'm not sure about this idea. This is really the first time I've raised my eyebrows at what the admins are doing.

[CubbieBear]

There actually are some of us "blue hairs" who had season tickets at Robertson and have never been fans of the downtown ice rink as our venue. I (for one) WOULD go back to purchasing season tickets IF BU expands the RC by 2K or so and moves back on campus. I believe it would benefit our student body and the University's image in general to play on campus and over time attract growth in the area for students and fans who attend events on campus. I understand the concerns posted by others--but I believe there are more pros than cons to this proposal (and it will make financial sense in the long run to downsize a little now as numbers have shrunk- and will not balloon back as others have said)--eliminate travel & rental to practice--our own concessions/parking etc). Parking and traffic were issues back in the day (as it is at Wrigley)--but that adds to the unique experience of a neighborhood ballpark (campus basketball venue) IMO help with recruiting in a true home court advantage. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[bradleyfan124]

Here is a thought: What with the lack of action by the Board of Trustees and uncaring attitude of the Administration is this a grand plan to purposely downgrade Bradley Athletics? They don't think they can compete? That is sad because the NCAA landscape is not causing this it is the Administration itself causing this. Bradley could compete if they wanted but they are choosing not too. Moving to the campus facility is downsizing. They would not be able to draw the big time recruits. The Coliseum is not that great of a facility. I have seen better Division III facilities that are equal to that. I also would not renew my tickets. If the Board of Trustees does not do anything to remove the powers that be then I will be sending my ticket application to the Board directly and mark VOID on it

[Buesch N Chips]

I don't think they want the blue hairs at RenCol. I think they want 5,000 students in there. It would make for an outstanding atmosphere, that's for sure.

[Da Coach]

It would take a ton of free sodas and bacon for that to happen.

Here is one thing to consider-
What experiences made each of you into a Bradley fan? Chances are, regardless of which era, it was great basketball, great players, good competition, and an experience in an arena with loud supportive fans.

I feel sorry for the students and young fans these last 3+ seasons. Nothing they have experienced will likely make them want to keep returning to watch Bradley games, and least of all, donate to BU. These changes this administration is forcing on fans will lead to far fewer lifelong, loyal fans when the rest of us are gone.

[tornado]

Bradley's home attendance average over the past decade....
and recall many began predicting exactly what you see each year since 2010-11, and it's gonna happen again this year and next year until we're under 4000....
If you choose not to believe that then point to one single thing that would argue otherwise?

2004-05 9338
2005-06 9220
2006-07 9728
2007-08 9600
2008-09 9110
2009-10 9339
2010-11 8447
2011-12 7640
2012-13 6557
2013-14 6608 (and was also right at 6600 at this point after 5 home games)
2014-15 5261 so far but lots of empty seats - something rarely ever seen prior to 2011 also have dropped behind both Illinois State & Missouri State for the first time ever and at risk of falling behind Indiana State, SIU, Evansville & UNI

contrary to some bogus claims that the "free fall" or "slide" started in 2008 or 2009...
it can clearly be seen that the entire problem, whatever it is, did not start until 2011 then accelerated rapidly thereafter...

If you wanna find a scapegoat - look to the people in charge from 2009 up top the present and look at the decisions made since then to eliminate multiple long time favorite fan events, force long time ticketholders out of their seats and jack up prices, fire popular members of the Athletic Department, schedule ridiculously poorly, move games to alternate arenas, spend recklessly for little or no gain, screw up the long time TV relationships and drop the ball on televised games, hamper the successes of the programs by manipulating staffs, and multiple other decisions and changes in that interval that match precisely with the huge dropoff in attendance.