Tim Newman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
>I've always felt that
>UIC was mis-managing a golden opportunity.  Chicago is a decent hockey
>town.
>...  Yet UIC never seemed to be promoted adequately
>IMHO.  They never seemed to draw ample corporate support and never seemed
>to be able to collect much ink in the Chicago papers.
>...
>I think that the failure at UIC raises questions about their Athletic
>Department.
 
I strongly agree with this assessment.  I believe there is a market
in Chicago for a DI hockey team, and that a little marketing would
have gone a long way.  UIC claims their hockey program ran a $600,000
operating loss-- well, if they had invested $25,000/year in marketing,
they might have doubled their fan support.  I have no idea why they
spent NO money on marketing-- laziness, incompetence, or just being
penny-wise, pound-foolish?
 
There are inexpensive ways to advertise and reach your target
market...  The new Chicago Wolves pro hockey team regularly draws
large crowds, and I think in large part it's because they invested
some money and got the word out in the media-- portraying
themselves as inexpensive alternatives to Blackhawks tickets (and,
yes, playing up the violence in their game).  UIC should have run
ads on the sports-talk radio stations and on popular morning drive-time
radio shows.  The Chicago area is full of alumni from Big 10 and other
CCHA schools-- so every time UM, MSU, BGSU, OSU, and others came to
town, there's a natural market from which to draw another 1500 fans
per game or so.  Well, they might be anti-fans, but at least they
would buy a ticket!
 
Perhaps some more agressive recruiting from local high schools
would also help build a fan base of families who would come to
watch every game.
 
Now, the fact that the Chicago Tribune devotes almost zero space
to hockey, pro OR college, doesn't help.  Perhaps someone at UIC
could have convinced the Sun-Times (competitor paper) that they
would want exclusive coverage, interviews, etc...  but it would
have taken a little work.
 
That's really the maddening thing about UIC cutting hockey-- they
are claiming that it's because it's not financially successful,
but they have demonstrated over the years that they're not going
to lift a finger to help improve its success.  So it's just
a self-fulfilling prophecy-- if you don't support it, it will fail.
 
-Jeff.
 
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