On-Campus Arena Tidbit

[Benny B]

^^^^Needs some club seats or mini-luxury boxes though.

Ahhhhhhh..... Benny's thought this one through.


Think about the field-level suites at Cowboys stadium.  Now look at those half-oval areas behind the scorer's table and benches and imagine raising up the general seating area behind the scorer's table just a row or two.  There wouldn't be many, but there's just enough for maybe 5 or 6 on that side.  Alternatively, you could also put 3-4 behind the basket that MU shoots at 2nd half and still keep the students close to the court on the other (for FT defense, of course). 

So if needed, the Thunderdome could include a few more than a half-dozen suites at "floor" level, which would probably be enough.

[UWW2MU]

Why have I heard so many people mention capacity of 11,000-11,500? STH alone would cover that and leave people on the street during the worst buy games, let alone bigger (yet not marquee) games.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Why have I heard so many people mention capacity of 11,000-11,500? STH alone would cover that and leave people on the street during the worst buy games, let alone bigger (yet not marquee) games.

Create scarcity and raise prices. A lot of the top college basketball venues leave a lot of people on the street

[TallTitan34]

I think 14,000 would be ideal.

[MUfan12]

I think 14,000 would be ideal.

That's where I'm at.

[TallTitan34]

Average home attendance:

2019: 14,508
2018: 12,323 (includes 3 games at Al)
2017: 13,716
2016: 13,308
2015: 13,657 (includes 1 game at Al)
2014: 15,327
2013: 15,033
2012: 15,138
2011: 15,586
2010: 15,617
2009: ?
2008: 16,239
2007: 15,345

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I'm pretty confident that if (and its a huge if at this point) an on campus arena got built, it wouldn't be bigger than 12,000. Leave em wanting more.

[muwarrior69]

Does anyone know what our rent was over 29 years at the BC? Was it 120 Million?

[jsglow]

Back to my original point that some work so hard to avoid discussing.  I don't think anyone for one second was suggesting an addition to the Al that raises attendance to 10,000 or 12,000 allowing it to 'replace' the Fiserv.  What I was talking about was adding 2500 seats to get the Al's capacity to 6200 so it 'could' be used for a handful of dates (say 8) including low level weeknight buy games and Christmas break.  That itself provides the university some leverage.

[Galway Eagle]

Back to my original point that some work so hard to avoid discussing.  I don't think anyone for one second was suggesting an addition to the Al that raises attendance to 10,000 or 12,000 allowing it to 'replace' the Fiserv.  What I was talking about was adding 2500 seats to get the Al's capacity to 6200 so it 'could' be used for a handful of dates (say 8) including low level weeknight buy games and Christmas break.  That itself provides the university some leverage.

This. But zoning wise they'd need to get rid of the sidewalk on the south side of wells and the east side of 12th. then probably gut the foier to add room behind that basket and in the corner. all that and they'd have to add bathrooms and concessions as well. Just seems like a bigger task than just say raising the rough and adding 10 rows on every side.

[jsglow]

This. But zoning wise they'd need to get rid of the sidewalk on the south side of wells and the east side of 12th. then probably gut the foier to add room behind that basket and in the corner. all that and they'd have to add bathrooms and concessions as well. Just seems like a bigger task than just say raising the rough and adding 10 rows on every side.

That's why I told eng to figure it out!  I'm just a dumb Bus Adder but if you hung a real scoreboard and built a balcony on the south wall I think you'd get there.  Gold duct tape ought to handle it!

[warriorchick]

Does anyone know what our rent was over 29 years at the BC? Was it 120 Million?

$4 million a year?  Doubt it.

[Litehouse]

I say it every time these threads pop up, but I don't get the infatuation with an on-campus arena.  Hopefully we're in the Fiserv for the next 30 years.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I say it every time these threads pop up, but I don't get the infatuation with an on-campus arena.  Hopefully we're in the Fiserv for the next 30 years.

I think that's everyone's hope and will continue to be the case as long as it continues to be the most financially viable path for all parties.

[TheGym]

Does anyone know what our rent was over 29 years at the BC? Was it 120 Million?

I thought it was in the $100k per game range

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

My recollection was around $50k a game and mu got no revenue

[Mr. Nielsen]

Marquette’s lease at the BMO Harris Bradley Center includes $29,000 per-game rent, $285,000 per-season in suite rentals and a $1.50 to $2 per-ticket facility fee. Marquette retains some sponsorship rights in the venue and receives a payment from the Bradley Center of $19,000 per game for rights to suite season tickets.

[DegenerateDish]

Still trying to piece together the who and why on the timing. It would seem weird (?) for MU to leak this now. It seems there’s been a lot of turnover high up at MU, so maybe some birdie was willing to talk off the record with no fear of retaliation. If this story came out 4 years from now, I’d get it. The story itself isn’t odd by any stretch, but the timing sure is weird.

[jsglow]

Still trying to piece together the who and why on the timing. It would seem weird (?) for MU to leak this now. It seems there’s been a lot of turnover high up at MU, so maybe some birdie was willing to talk off the record with no fear of retaliation. If this story came out 4 years from now, I’d get it. The story itself isn’t odd by any stretch, but the timing sure is weird.

Maybe Dan Myers spilled the beans.  Just got his next gig at American so what can Lovell do to him?  And Dan would certainly know.  Look, we've all heard it's a little tense these past few months.

[skianth16]

Create scarcity and raise prices. A lot of the top college basketball venues leave a lot of people on the street

I don't see this working out. I think we're a lot better off in our current situation than taking the gamble of reducing seating by 25% or more. If we sold out regularly, then maybe there's an argument here. But when we still have a ton of open seats priced somewhere between 10-20 for the majority of our games, I don't think there's a strong case for raising prices. Plus, in a smaller, on-campus arena, you probably won't have the same frills that draw in some of the higher paying STHs. So you might have a hard time getting a higher price per seat if you can't maintain the current high end of the pricing spectrum.

As to what other colleges do, I took a quick look at attendance throughout D1, and without looking at all the arena sizes, it looks like most schools have an average attendance well below capacity. Sure, Duke can sell out Cameron every game, but that's not exactly the best example to build a business case off of.

[skianth16]

Marquette’s lease at the BMO Harris Bradley Center includes $29,000 per-game rent, $285,000 per-season in suite rentals and a $1.50 to $2 per-ticket facility fee. Marquette retains some sponsorship rights in the venue and receives a payment from the Bradley Center of $19,000 per game for rights to suite season tickets.

So ticket payers were covering $2-3 in rent per game and $1.50-2 in facility fees for a grand total of $5 per game? That seems like a decent trade-off to be in a pro arena with better amenities than even a good on campus arena.

[warriorchick]

So ticket payers were covering $2-3 in rent per game and $1.50-2 in facility fees for a grand total of $5 per game? That seems like a decent trade-off to be in a pro arena with better amenities than even a good on campus arena.

Decent trade-off?  The costs of an on-campus stadium would be way, way more than that.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I don't see this working out. I think we're a lot better off in our current situation than taking the gamble of reducing seating by 25% or more. If we sold out regularly, then maybe there's an argument here. But when we still have a ton of open seats priced somewhere between 10-20 for the majority of our games, I don't think there's a strong case for raising prices. Plus, in a smaller, on-campus arena, you probably won't have the same frills that draw in some of the higher paying STHs. So you might have a hard time getting a higher price per seat if you can't maintain the current high end of the pricing spectrum.

As to what other colleges do, I took a quick look at attendance throughout D1, and without looking at all the arena sizes, it looks like most schools have an average attendance well below capacity. Sure, Duke can sell out Cameron every game, but that's not exactly the best example to build a business case off of.

I think everyone agrees our current situation is better. The on campus arena would only happen if the current situation changed.

[MUfan12]

Maybe Dan Myers spilled the beans.  Just got his next gig at American so what can Lovell do to him?  And Dan would certainly know.  Look, we've all heard it's a little tense these past few months.

Or the EVP who left before that, who probably would have been the one working with Wintrust.

[MUfan12]

Marquette’s lease at the BMO Harris Bradley Center includes $29,000 per-game rent, $285,000 per-season in suite rentals and a $1.50 to $2 per-ticket facility fee. Marquette retains some sponsorship rights in the venue and receives a payment from the Bradley Center of $19,000 per game for rights to suite season tickets.

Have heard the number now is in the $50-60k per game range. Not sure about the other aspects (parking, concessions, suites, etc).