I don't know if the Conferences are unfair (?) but I've been trying to
follow the home ice/neutral ice venue discussion and wanted to ask a few
questions and make a few comments.
 
1) Attendance (or possible attendance) is listed as a reason for staying at
campus sites.  However, it seems that discussion concerning "campus sites"
has only included two campuses: Mich St. and Mich. Does anyone have a
feeling for what attendance would be at these sites if neither MSU or UM
made the tournament?  I know people on this list would say "sure" but there
was a lot of discussion about a large percentage of the fans really being
there to only see "their" team, ie leaving after the first game or not
coming in until the second game was starting (in both the East and West).
 
2)  It seems like the arguments against "neutral sites" are stronger in the
West than the East.  Once you're West of the Mississippi, its a lot easier
to be in the middle of nowhere. However, in discussing "campus sites" there
seems to be an unspoken bias against Western teams outside the Great Lakes
area.  I looked over the list of home ice in the WCHA and CCHA and there
are a number of other rinks with capacities in the 6000 range.
 
St Cloud           6000
North Dakota       6607
Alaska-Anch        6409
Neb-Omaha          8314
Denver(new arena) ~7000
Colorado Coll      7400
 
The fans from these schools are being asked to travel if they want to see
their teams.  Would the fans from other schools be willing to travel?
Could this years regional have done well at North Dakota?  It seems
reasonable to believe that NoDak fans would have shown up to watch their
defending champions.  Would Colorado College have enjoyed staying home in
their new rink instead of going to Albany?  Does someone from the Springs
have an idea how the attendance might have been there?
 
3) I'd hate to bring this up, but does the over-hyped roundball tourney
keep the "average sports fan" home watching TV and not going out to maybe
see a hockey game.  Maybe this is why the GLI draws well in December(?) but
Regionals at the Joe (end of March) don't do well.
 
4) Finally, are tickets sold as package only(?) or can you get single game
tix?  If its package only, that certainly would eliminate walk-ups just
interested in seeing a single game.
 
Anyway, any comments are appreciated.  This did seem like an interesting topic.
 
Dave Naghski
 
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