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Post by uwmfutbol on Jun 13, 2012 18:17:53 GMT -6
In 8 years of visiting this board, through sad and disappointing seasons as well as exhilarating ones, the saddest and most disappointing of all is to visit the "UWM basketball" messageboard and find people talking for a month about football. I guess you've all given up on basketball here. It's June 13. You want to talk basketball? Start a thread and talk basketball. In my eight years of visiting this board, this is the most activity I've seen in the month of June. ... and that's a good thing. +1. People disappear every year after the season is over. Would you prefer we did that?
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Post by uwmfutbol on Jun 13, 2012 18:18:36 GMT -6
And by the way, it should not have taken you eight years to discover that we discuss more than basketball on this board.
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Post by gman2 on Jun 14, 2012 7:16:01 GMT -6
In 8 years of visiting this board, through sad and disappointing seasons as well as exhilarating ones, the saddest and most disappointing of all is to visit the "UWM basketball" messageboard and find people talking for a month about football. I guess you've all given up on basketball here. The existence of this thread does not mean anyone has given up on basketball. This weekend will be a big test of the future of the mile. It is being heavily promoted and all the local news outlets have and are continuing to run stories. I'm personally not a race fan, so I won't be attending and my son hasn't asked to go. It will be interesting to see if the race fan base supports this, as well as the general public.
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Post by The Green Gull on Jun 14, 2012 14:58:11 GMT -6
The promoters of the Milwaukee IndyFest are confident of a big crowd for the return of Indy racing to the Milwaukee Mile this weekend. www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2012/06/promoters-ready-for-indyfest-at.htmlBut the question that needs to be asked is: Can one big racing crowd once a year be profitable and sustainable for the long-term viability of the Milwaukee Mile? I would love to take a look at the financials. It appears that the promoters, Andretti Sports Marketing, have invested quite a bit of capital in promoting and marketing the Milwaukee IndyFest.
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Post by PantherU on Jun 16, 2012 9:58:45 GMT -6
Just drove past the Mile. Pretty bare. Race in 3 hours. Normally wouldn't be a big deal, but they have a whole "Fest" going on right now.
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Post by Hack on Jun 16, 2012 14:31:56 GMT -6
Actually sounds like they are pretty satisfied at this year's crowd, which is over 20,000 ... noting that this is a building year: www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/159305695.htmlLooks like the wet dream of turning this into a football stadium going to keep going for a few more years as they already announced that the race is returning next year.
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Post by gman2 on Jun 17, 2012 9:50:42 GMT -6
In the long run, does one yearly event at 50% capacity warrant displacing all the the other potential uses for that land, even if there is no sports complex there. The development potential on that parcel is huge.
The announcement that the race coming back next year should have no bearing on future discussions for the mile. Realistically, football in the near term wouldn't happen. So you can still discuss and put forward ideas for the mile while racing continues for the next few years.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2012 12:02:20 GMT -6
How about a whole season of basketball at the US Cellular arena at less than 50% capacity? Does that warrant continuing UWM basketball?
One of the reasons UWM is trying to move basketball games back to campus is to be closer to the student body. Why would we move a sporting event even further from campus?
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Post by illwauk on Jun 17, 2012 18:11:35 GMT -6
How about a whole season of basketball at the US Cellular arena at less than 50% capacity? Does that warrant continuing UWM basketball? That's the major difference here... UWM isn't just playing one game at the Cell and drawing less than half the capacity like Indy is, and there's not another basketball arena comparable to Road America for racing that could host Milwaukee hoops. One of the reasons UWM is trying to move basketball games back to campus is to be closer to the student body. Why would we move a sporting event even further from campus? Football is played almost entirely on weekends, when people are willing to travel longer distances to go to a game. Basketball games are played mainly during the week when people are less likely to spend a significant portion of their night traveling. There's also a finite amount of space in Milwaukee County that could feasibly be used as a moderately-sized football stadium.
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Post by gman2 on Jun 17, 2012 18:34:02 GMT -6
How about a whole season of basketball at the US Cellular arena at less than 50% capacity? Does that warrant continuing UWM basketball? One of the reasons UWM is trying to move basketball games back to campus is to be closer to the student body. Why would we move a sporting event even further from campus? Not quite sure what you are getting at, you're comparison doesn't make sense. My point is do you continue the existence of a facility simply for the sake of one event that cannot draw 50% capacity.
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Post by The Green Gull on Jun 17, 2012 20:04:44 GMT -6
Saving Milwaukee Mile Race a Labor of Love for AndrettiJune 15, 2012|By Jack McCarthy, Special to the Tribune articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-15/sports/ct-spt-0616-indycar-autos--20120616_1_indycar-ceo-randy-bernard-milwaukee-mile-indycar-seriesThis article is an interesting read. But there is a reason that the headline isn’t: Saving Milwaukee Mile Race a Keen Business Decision for Andretti, or Saving Milwaukee Mile Race a Profitable Endeavor for Andretti. The Milwaukee Mile is used one weekend a year for a major event. And when the Milwaukee Mile is used its only major event, an Indy Series race, it has a difficult time drawing attendance. For example, the attendance for the Indy Series race was 15,000 people in 2011, and in the low 20,000’s in 2012. The Milwaukee Mile has a capacity of around 38,000 people.
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Post by PantherU on Jun 17, 2012 21:49:06 GMT -6
How about a whole season of basketball at the US Cellular arena at less than 50% capacity? Does that warrant continuing UWM basketball? One of the reasons UWM is trying to move basketball games back to campus is to be closer to the student body. Why would we move a sporting event even further from campus? Preferably, a football stadium would be in the immediate campus area. This thread is merely a discussion of an interesting option should the university want to save money in starting a program. Because, after all, when it all boils down to it, money is the only thing that stands in the way if Milwaukee playing football. Title IX issues, which I've proved to be unfounded and yet people still press on about adding women's sports, would need money to solve (unless you listen to me and my research). The stadium, as well as its location, would be paid for with money. And the team's expenses would be paid for with money. At the end of the day, our discussion should be moving towards two things. One, we need to understand that the goal is not to simply play football but be financially secure enough that football is a legitimate and desirable option for the university, and two, we need to figure out how to make that happen. Think of this as a way to brainstorm and give Clare Thompson a playbook so she can raise the scratch to make our dreams come true.
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Post by illwauk on Jul 9, 2012 21:14:49 GMT -6
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Boyd_StadiumAccording to this, UNLV's (off-campus) Sam Boyd Stadium was built at a cost of less than $10 million. At what point do we have to admit it might actually be more practical to start a football program and get a new home for our soccer and vagabond track programs in the process?
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Post by PantherU on Jul 9, 2012 21:21:07 GMT -6
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Boyd_StadiumAccording to this, UNLV's (off-campus) Sam Boyd Stadium was built at a cost of less than $10 million. At what point do we have to admit it might actually be more practical to start a football program and get a new home for our soccer and vagabond track programs in the process? Adjusting for inflation, Sam Boyd Stadium would cost $3.5 million in 1971 (at construction) and $18.6 million in 2010.
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Post by nohopspanther on Jul 9, 2012 22:11:17 GMT -6
Sam Boyd Stadium was built in the middle of nowhere and the land was virtually free because of it. If you've ever gone to a game there, you'd hope UWM doesn't build a stadium that sucks in the middle of nowhere which kills their attendance. Barry Alvarez continues scheduling that game every few years to appease the heavy hitting donors who can tie a game into a Vegas trip.
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