OT: More Depaul Musings

[its_the_sauce]

I knew it was down but had no idea this bad. Averaged 1800 per game? Including 7 below 1,000 and 2 below 600?? We draw more more for lacrosse.



http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...-attendance-sinking-as-depaul-heads-downtown?

 

[D_C_B]

Reading this makes me wonder why NU is not playing next year at this new arena. This is a dire situation for DePaul and the State of Illinois.

If the state needs 9000 average attendance to break even, and DePaul is averaging 1500 or so, why not have DePaul play one more season at the Snoreizon, and we play at McCormick Place?

We're about to become the second coming of 80s heyday DePaul as it is.

Or if the schedules can be arranged, why can't both of us play there?

 

[GECat2]

DePaul needs to clean house in their Athletic Department starting with the AD. The present AD has been there for decades and her poor hiring decisions have singlehandedly made the BB program a national embarrassment. It is clear that she does not have the capacity to build a winning program. They need to pay up and bring in someone who knows how to run a successful program. They can build a new BB arena that levitates over the lake and no one will go until they start winning again.

 

[willycat]

Reading this makes me wonder why NU is not playing next year at this new arena. This is a dire situation for DePaul and the State of Illinois.

If the state needs 9000 average attendance to break even, and DePaul is averaging 1500 or so, why not have DePaul play one more season at the Snoreizon, and we play at McCormick Place?

We're about to become the second coming of 80s heyday DePaul as it is.

Or if the schedules can be arranged, why can't both of us play there?

Well because NU, as a private university can't play in a taxpayer funded arena. Oh, wait a minute, DePaul is also a priv...

 

[NURoseBowl]

Would McCormick Place be all that much easier to get to than Rosemont? Don't much care for either location, honestly. The opening of the new Welsh-Ryan can't get here fast enough.

 

[D_C_B]

I don't have a strong feeling either way on this because I get to games about as often as Haley's Comet, but it just seems to me that the more kids that hop on the L to head downtown, the better - as opposed to Rosemont. Much easier to smuggle contraband roadies on an L train than an NU-operated bus.

I hope nobody here is under the illusion that these kids at the games are stone-cold 0.00 without anything in them - Juuls at least.

 

[Catreporter]

You have to win and win big to succeed in a pro town. DePaul capitalized on a unique window of opportunity with the Bulls being bad and the Ray Meyer story catching national attention to become Chicago's college team in the 70s and 80s. Went to the Final Four in 1979 and got some really good Chicago players to stay home. A series of bad decisions and they have lost all of that momentum and it will be very difficult to get it back. It will be interesting to see the kind of crowds they can draw at their new building. One thing for sure: There is tremendous pressure on Dave Leitao to turn it around soon before the new arena shines wears off. He's a good coach but recruiting has been mediocre to poor so far and the Big East is as good as the Big Ten, maybe even a little better since it is just a basketball league.