[NU Sports] Phillips eyeing Chicago venues, Yankee Stadium and 7-win requirement

[Beamsley, Jeff]

Tom,

I agree that a 10 win NU team is going to generate a lot of excitement in Chicago.  

But I think the fans of a 7 win team are just as vulnerable to ticket fatigue as a 6 win team as long as the team doesn't do much better than 7 wins every season.  You still end up getting last choice of BT bowls (if 7 wins is the minimum qualification), you probably end up playing better teams from other leagues, and you aren't really in the hunt for a league championship.  

It will be interesting to see if NU engages in the athletic facilities "arms" race that we see at other institutions, particularly when the whole business model of higher education is being seriously questioned.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Tom Maycock
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 3:04 PM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Phillips eyeing Chicago venues,Yankee Stadium and 7-win requirement

> The
>inference is that requiring seven wins would reduce the number of bowls
>NU qualifies for and fewer bowls would improve ticket sales.  

Is it that, or is the fact that fans just aren't as excited about a 6 win team? If the Cats win 10, 11, or 12 games next year, a gazillion people will show up for the bowl game regardless of whether they've gone the last 4 years. If they only win 6...not so much. 

>The other interesting tidbit was that there might be a board vote on
>upgrading athletic facilities in June.  Does anyone have a list of what
>those upgrades might be?


Things that have been discussed include a major redo (if not total tear-down/rebuild) of Welsh-Ryan, major upgrades at Ryan Field, and some sort of on-campus practice facility for the football team. After a lot of discussion and rumors and surveys early on, I haven't heard much chatter lately about whether any of those will make the final cut. I'd be surprised not to see major upgrades to Welsh-Ryan and the football stadium. The on-campus facility seems less likely to me. Those are just guesses though.

Tom


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