Carver arena

[Dubl R 1]

Great idea. Put more supply in when you are complaining about demand being bad. That should fix things right up.

That area has actually helped drive new ticket sales and Braves Club membership.

The halftime shows have been little kids basketball games. Thats for that other part you complained about - "no group sales!" Those are specifically that. Your group buys X amount of tickets, you get to see your kids play at Carver Arena at halftime of that game. Pretty simple.

I don't agree with this. I as well think the braves club in its current location is awful. The seats in that area were pretty well occupied when we decided to eliminate them, and mostly were season ticket holders. I'd like to see the amount of those people who relocated vs didn't renew the tickets because they were frustrated that bradley took their seats away.

Also, the access to the braves club is restrictive, not to mention I'd hate to have the seats right next to the entrance where people are constantly walking in front of them to go in and out of the club.

By midway thru the second half the braves club looks like a daycare for kids.....I have watched kids do backflips, somersaults, play tag, crawl on their hands and knees thru the triangular marketing boxes at the base of the court, play tag that extended to the row BEHIND THE TEAM BENCH AND INTO FANS SEATS, all while bumping into adults trying to enjoy the braves club area. Its absurd, and it happens almost every game.

It looks like amateur hour at best.

Just my opinion.

[JMM28]

You both must know all of the same people because there were 35 season tickets sold in that entire area. That is seats, not accounts. The rest were staff/freebies.

Access is restricted because it is a club area with free popcorn and drinks. It is supposed to be that way. Access for Braves Club members only(which includes most season ticket holders automatically besides fresh or special section folks.)

The Braves Club area was also supposed to somewhat right a 'wrong' of a previous administration taking the old Braves Club area away from the membership so that they could convert that into the BSS room. A move that was smart, but also upset a lot of those fans giving $500-5000 a year to the Braves Club.

DM me and I'd be happy to give you more info on getting involved with the Braves Club. There is a lot of good being done for the athletic department and always in need of new ideas and more hands to help.

[BUfan17]

Three points on this topic:

1. Attendance decline is a systemic issue among mid major conferences. It's happening everywhere. And success does not mean greater attendance with these programs. Look at Loyola. Many games, they barely fill half of a 5,000 seat arena.

This is a few years old (2018 ), but a good snapshot of what is going on. The departure of WSU and Creighton has hurt the MVC - both in losing programs that fill their arenas and draw strong crowds at away games. Next year, Belmont will replace Loyola as far as % of seats filled (a wash). Murray will help the MVC, UIC will hurt the conference.


Full article is here: https://athleticdirectoru.com/articl...bb-attendance/

I think part of this reason is now games are streamed, lots of people enjoy watching games from the comfort of their homes. Some people also don't have/want to spend the money to attend games in person.

Also there are just way more entertainment options now. I can steam just about any movie or TV show I want, anytime I want. There are lots of other things to keep people busy besides going to college basketball games.

Add in the fact that the kids sports industry has really exploded in the past 15-20 years. Personally I think it has gone too far but nowadays kids are busy practicing and traveling for tournaments year round. Many of the fans who might come to games are now chasing their kids around with their sports leagues.

Combine all these factors together and that is how we get declining attendance despite a steadily growing US population. Marketing for Bradley games could be better, but we have a lot of factors working against us.

[Dubl R 1]

You both must know all of the same people because there were 35 season tickets sold in that entire area. That is seats, not accounts. The rest were staff/freebies.

Access is restricted because it is a club area with free popcorn and drinks. It is supposed to be that way. Access for Braves Club members only(which includes most season ticket holders automatically besides fresh or special section folks.)

The Braves Club area was also supposed to somewhat right a 'wrong' of a previous administration taking the old Braves Club area away from the membership so that they could convert that into the BSS room. A move that was smart, but also upset a lot of those fans giving $500-5000 a year to the Braves Club.

DM me and I'd be happy to give you more info on getting involved with the Braves Club. There is a lot of good being done for the athletic department and always in need of new ideas and more hands to help.

It is surprising to hear that of all those seats removed that only 35 of them were season ticket holders? I do know about 15-20 ppl who sat down there that were season ticket holders...Idk where or if those ppl relocated, but again, where does bradley put those freebies and staff now that used to sit there? Just out of curiosity.

Also, by restrictive I meant physical access to the braves club is restrictive. Should be able to access it by more than 1 stairwell, really not worth walking all the way around the arena to have to navigate about 50 steps to get the popcorn and soda. Again, I don't mind, but for many older people I would assume it isn't worth it.

I have Braves Club access, and personally for me could care less about it....I still think it looks awful, cavernous, make shift,...again just my opinion.

Bradley definitely needs to do something to hook people on Bradley Basketball, and by that you need to get them to the game somehow, then make it an experience that makes them want to return.

At this point if we are paying rent to the Civic Center, what would giving away 1000 tickets to the game hurt? They were going to go unsold anyway!

Also, as long as Im ranting, off topic, but why is the Sound so god awful on the bradley Pre game hype video?....I seriously could do better with my iphone and the sound system in my theater room at home...it is embarrasing.

[Tommy]

Should be able to access it by more than 1 stairwell, really not worth walking all the way around the arena to have to navigate about 50 steps to get the popcorn and soda.

Agreed. It's kept me from going there much this year, and I really don't see how filtering everyone into less access points is helpful for any reason whatsoever.

[JMM28]

At the beginning of the season, the access was restricted to just the non-bench side entrance, but after about the 4th game the other side was opened back up. The security protocols changed this year so folks aren't allowed to walk behind the benches anymore. The entrance on that side is an entrance off the stairway.

I believe most of those freebie-staff seats were relocated to the corner end zone sections or the section behind the BU bench.

The Carver Arena sound system is atrocious, I will agree.

[Bradley3342]

It is surprising to hear that of all those seats removed that only 35 of them were season ticket holders? I do know about 15-20 ppl who sat down there that were season ticket holders...Idk where or if those ppl relocated, but again, where does bradley put those freebies and staff now that used to sit there? Just out of curiosity.

Also, by restrictive I meant physical access to the braves club is restrictive. Should be able to access it by more than 1 stairwell, really not worth walking all the way around the arena to have to navigate about 50 steps to get the popcorn and soda. Again, I don't mind, but for many older people I would assume it isn't worth it.

I have Braves Club access, and personally for me could care less about it....I still think it looks awful, cavernous, make shift,...again just my opinion.

Bradley definitely needs to do something to hook people on Bradley Basketball, and by that you need to get them to the game somehow, then make it an experience that makes them want to return.

At this point if we are paying rent to the Civic Center, what would giving away 1000 tickets to the game hurt? They were going to go unsold anyway!

Also, as long as Im ranting, off topic, but why is the Sound so god awful on the bradley Pre game hype video?....I seriously could do better with my iphone and the sound system in my theater room at home...it is embarrasing.

I don’t know where the 35 season ticket holder’s information came from either Dubl R 1 but I had aisle seats in section 18 under the basket before they transformed it into the Braves Club area and I personally knew way more than that just around me. My wife and I are now seated in section 116 behind the Bradley bench and most of the players parents and recruits with their families sit to the left of us. I don’t mind the Braves club personally but I didn’t mind the Lexus room before the games either. As to getting more people to the games why don’t they do the Peoria district 150 school night again or free tickets to military families? Like you said. Those tickets are going unsold anyway. Put the fans in the seats and give them a great experience. All said. If we go on a long winning streak things will definitely improve. Nothing like having a winning program…

[braves16]

Do we have a yearly contract with Carver, or is it set up for multiple years?

[Da Coach]

Do we have a yearly contract with Carver, or is it set up for multiple years?

It has always been a multiple year contract, usually 5 years, although the current contract, signed in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic year, runs for 4-years from 2020 through 2024.
Actual financial details have never been made public, though obviously some people at Bradley (now and in the past), as well as the Civic Center, know what those details are. I suspect if we had real journalists locally, those details would be obtainable by FOIA requests.

Here is what is known...
In 2014, as an earlier deal was getting close to expiring in 2015, Joanne Glasser moved some games to the Renaissance Coliseum, and she and Geno Ford made public comments about favoring moving all of Bradley's games to the campus arena.
https://www.pjstar.com/story/opinion...l/35803599007/

Bradley had legitimate grievances with the Civic Center. They felt the Civic Center was giving preference of playing dates and times to the Rivermen. Also, the Civic Center was negotiating with the University of Illinois basketball program, about playing in the Civic Center as a temporary home while the campus Assembly Hall was being renovated. Bradley officials felt they were not being given the preferred dates and times.

There were reports that Civic Center people got nervous about the threats by Bradley and from what I have heard, it lead to some concessions by the Civic Center.
Then, suddenly there was a total change in Bradley's administration in early 2015. Glasser and Ford were gone, and new AD Chris Reynolds' promised to keep Bradley downtown.
Eventually, there was agreement on a new 5-year deal in 2015.

Then that deal ended in 2020, and Bradley exercised an option to renew the deal through the 2023-24 season.
It is mentioned on page 2 of these minutes from the December 10, 2020 Civic Center Authority meeting (under the heading General Manager Report)-
https://cdn.saffire.com/files.ashx?t...s_12.10.20.pdf

General Manager Report:
General Manager Rik Edgar stated that Bradley exercised its option to extend the
current contract through the 2023-24 season.

So looks like Bradley is committed to playing at the Civic Center through the 2023-24 season.

[braves16]

Thanks for the info.

[Buesch N Chips]

The "blue hairs" fading away has been a concern for years, and COVID has exacerbated that. The golden era is dead.

[carter]

I believe another reason for lack of attendance is no more bus transportation.I used to take the bus with an elderly friend and it's a hassle to get to the game very early to find a handicap parking space.I understand the security check but waiting to go through that is a hassle as well.

[IBleedRed87]

After reading all these post- they sure hit the nail on the head. Bradley basketball isn’t what it used to be and unfortunately it seems the people who are in the positions to make a change are failing to make a positive change at all.
I agree the Braves Club behind the basket looks like a daycare. Our music/hype video for the line ups is amateur hour, I’ve witnessed more hype and better energy at a grade school game. Prices for beverages/ food is ridiculously high, I mean really besides have a professional stage to play on we really don’t have much going for Us as Braves fans at Carver Arena.
If anyone attended the ISU vs BU game in Bloomington this year- you would of witnessed what a Missouri Valley Game basketball game should be like. Their fan base was rocking, not to mention most of the lower bowl was packed,
music was loud and the selection was good, their line ups got the crowd going.. as I sat there I wondered why can’t Bradley get this back?? Carver Arena only has 860 more seats than Red Bird Arena- they didn’t seem to have a problem filling the place and their tickets were more expensive than Carvers.
Bradleys marketing team needs to take notes! Get rid of these mediocre people who are in charge nowadays because clearly they’re not doing much to change the attendance or experience. They’ve had plenty of time to do so- hell we’ve won 2
MVC titles in 3 years and our attendance keeps dropping. How is that even possible?

[MacabreMob]

After reading all these post- they sure hit the nail on the head. Bradley basketball isn’t what it used to be and unfortunately it seems the people who are in the positions to make a change are failing to make a positive change at all.
I agree the Braves Club behind the basket looks like a daycare. Our music/hype video for the line ups is amateur hour, I’ve witnessed more hype and better energy at a grade school game. Prices for beverages/ food is ridiculously high, I mean really besides have a professional stage to play on we really don’t have much going for Us as Braves fans at Carver Arena.
If anyone attended the ISU vs BU game in Bloomington this year- you would of witnessed what a Missouri Valley Game basketball game should be like. Their fan base was rocking, not to mention most of the lower bowl was packed,
music was loud and the selection was good, their line ups got the crowd going.. as I sat there I wondered why can’t Bradley get this back?? Carver Arena only has 860 more seats than Red Bird Arena- they didn’t seem to have a problem filling the place and their tickets were more expensive than Carvers.
Bradleys marketing team needs to take notes! Get rid of these mediocre people who are in charge nowadays because clearly they’re not doing much to change the attendance or experience. They’ve had plenty of time to do so- hell we’ve won 2
MVC titles in 3 years and our attendance keeps dropping. How is that even possible?

I wasn't at the ISU/Bradley game and I only watched part of the game on tv and I coulda sworn it looked like the upper bowl was pretty empty. I checked the boxscore and stats of the game at ESPN's website and it said attendance was 4,072 (with a capacity of 10,000). I personally don't think 41% capacity is what a Bradley game should look like. I also don't consider 41% capacity "filling the place". As for rocking the house with their fans, well of course... it's ISU's "National Championship" game to play and beat Bradley. I wouldn't be surprised if the fans rushed the court after that win.

[Da Coach]

I wasn't at the ISU/Bradley game and I only watched part of the game on tv and I coulda sworn it looked like the upper bowl was pretty empty. I checked the boxscore and stats of the game at ESPN's website and it said attendance was 4,072 (with a capacity of 10,000). I personally don't think 41% capacity is what a Bradley game should look like. I also don't consider 41% capacity "filling the place". As for rocking the house with their fans, well of course... it's ISU's "National Championship" game to play and beat Bradley. I wouldn't be surprised if the fans rushed the court after that win.

A little schadenfreude from MacabreMob.