DU Exhibition Game Moved To Pepsi Center

The University of Denver will play an exhibition game against the University of British Columbia on 10/6/2012.  The game is more intriguing than the usual exhibition because UBC has been rumored to be contemplating a move to the NCAA for some time and hockey is their flagship sport.

Denver Hockey reported today that the game will likely be played in the Pepsi Center near downtown Denver, home of the Colorado Avalanche.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes.

And I thought the Pepsi Center was empty for Avs games...

Anonymous said...

Gotta be because of the debate

Anonymous said...

Romney was fine with being out of Magness by then. Obama's the one who said screw DU...let them play elsewhere. Damn Democrats. You mean, no Pioneer Death Dogs will be served? I predict a massive crowd of 200 fans.

Anonymous said...

I kinda doubt an exhibition game was what DU had in mind for their first Pepsi Center showing.

Pack the house!
Raise the roof!
Fill 'er to the rafters!
Burn the muthaphucka down!
Shake the walls!

This chit is gonna be hot!!!

Seriously, though, DU should charge like $5 max for this...

dggoddard said...

I agree with the previous poster.

When DU gets Mile High Stadium or the Pepsi Center, the marketing needs to go into overdrive. Not because they need to raise revenue but because they need to learn how to market the brand.

The Lax games at Mike High need to be drawing 20,000+ and grow at 25% per year.

The goal for the Pepsi Center hockey game should be 5,000+ and the tailgating needs to be emphasized.

Anonymous said...

Thinking about college hockey in the Pepsi Center just reminds me of how good a job Denver did hosting the Frozen Four....

Granted, the participants were a promoter's wet dream. Excluding the local teams, you'd be hard pressed to find four teams that would draw more fan interest than Notre Dame, Boston College, Michigan, and North Dakota.

But still...seeing the Pepsi Center packed to the gills with college hockey fans was definitely gratifying.

Anonymous said...

First impressions are everything. I don't think I would market this game at all. A lot of the regulars don't even make the exhibition game at Magness. I would hate for an exhibition game against some Canadian school to be the first impression of DU hockey for somebody. If I'm taking somebody to their first DU hockey game with me I always make sure it's against CC, UND, Wisc, Minn, elite NC opponent like BC/BU, etc.

Market the hell out of a game in the Pepsi center against CC, UND, Minn or Wisc. That would be fun.

Aluuum said...

Anon's 5 bucks max for tickets is right on. Even something like a parent gets his kids in free or for something like two dollars.
D.U. should use this game to get exposure to the many Greater Denver area residents who know little or nothing about D.U. hockey. They should include promotional raffle items like free tickets to the D.U. games in December when the students are gone and empty seats are available. Other stuff like signed sweaters and hockey sticks drawings for the kids in attendence. Put some "zip" into it.Make this game an opportunity not a problem.

Anonymous said...

Who pays for this, I wonder? Does the debate fund it, or does DU need to pay up for using the building? Or Pepsi Center cut them a deal??? Combination of all 3?

Anonymous said...

Asmus, Butcher, Mermis and Shore are all part of the USA CCM All American Prospect Game

dggoddard said...

I don't know any details about this particular deal [sounds like they are still hammering out the fine print], but stadiums and arenas are usually "free or low cost" and the devil is in how or if they divide the parking, concessions and ticket revenue.

For NCAA Tournament events, the NCAA requires a free building, all existing sponsorship signage covered, no liquor/beer sales, the NCAA keeps all ticket revenue & a minimum # of tickets must be sold.

Its up to the host school, the community and the venue management company to make it work.

These stadiums and arenas are funded by the taxpayers and the dates need to be filled constantly to justify the expense. They don't and aren't expected to "make" money.

Consider arenas & stadiums to be community service venues.

Anonymous said...

Should be a double header with the Avs

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure that when DU played games at McNichols back in the '90s that they didn't get any concession or parking revenue at all. I'm also pretty sure that DU had to split the ticket revenue as well.

dggoddard said...

There's no way DU will get parking or concession revenue on this deal, but what's changed considerably since the 1990's in McNichols is arenas/stadiums going out of their way to find eclectic events to fulfill their mission statements.

Are they doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? Hardly.

They don't want the taxpayers to turn on them and vote down future improvements, bond issues or new arenas.

The NFL has specifically told their teams to get more events into the stadiums.

Anonymous said...

http://insidecollegehockey.com/inch/2012/08/01/az_didier/

Nice write up on J. Diddy. I'm thinking he's gonna have a great sophomore year.

Anonymous said...

Well DG, I thought it was a little silly to be worrying about what Metro called themselves, but clearly it does matter.

Forbes just came out with their college rankings. Click on DU's page, scroll to "Latest News" and guess what comes up?...an article about a murder suspect that tried to steal a plane and a professor from Metro was quoted. Wonderful.

http://www.forbes.com/colleges/university-of-denver/

Anyway, we got #150 this year. Not sure if this is good or not.

Anonymous said...

Anonymouse @4:38 said...
"Anyway, we got #150 this year. Not sure if this is good or not"

It's good! Overrated is always good!

vizoroo said...

CC at #29--Puhleeeeze!

vizoroo said...

BTW, didn't see any other current WCHA teams in the first 150

Anonymous said...

DU is the best academic institution in the WCHA. They also have the worst hockey fans in the WCHA.

Anonymous said...

We have great fans...just not enough of them. But, if all you're concerned about is sheer numbers, we'd rank in the bottom half of the WCHA. Certainly not last though.

dggoddard said...

As far as number of season ticket holders, DU is probably 4th in the WCHA. A vast majority of season ticket holders are either Friday or Saturday night only.

DU's average ticket prices are 2nd highest in the WCHA and are probably in the top three to five nationally

Anonymous said...

Not sure I agree with vizoroo about DU being the best school in WCHA. I think a Wisconsin degree is more valuable.

Anonymous said...

dggoddard -

Thank god all those season ticket holders sell their seats to Sioux fans for dirt cheap.

Anonymous said...

@ Anon 10:46 -

Comparing the relative "worth" of a degree from two schools like Wisconsin and DU is very difficult. Sure, you can find a table that tells you that, on average, a DU grad can expect to make X, while a Wisconsin grad can expect to make Y...but that doesn't tell the whole story.

In the end, a great deal of a degree's "worth" comes down to simple geographics.

Hiring managers at large companies will tell you that there are very few schools whose degrees are able to carry discernible weight far from their geographic origin. Really, it's the Ivies, the Service Academies, Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke...and that's about it.

The rest, it all depends on where you are, geographically. In Denver, Salt Lake City, and the rest of the Rocky Mountain West, a DU degree would probably be more valuable than a Wisconsin degree; simply by virtue of the fact that DU is a known commodity to hiring managers. For the exact same reason, a Wisconsin degree would be more valuable than a DU degree in Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, or the Midwest. In the South or either of the coasts, it's probably a wash...with a slight edge to DU on the West Coast and a slight edge to Wisconsin in the South and on the East Cost.

All of the above said, there's one very important thing to keep in mind, here: Once you get your first job out of school, the name on the top of your diploma becomes less and less relevant as you start getting judged on your body of work. Put differently, sure, a degree from Wisconsin may, on the whole, kick open a few more doors than a degree from DU...but eventually incidental details like "where you went to school" start to mean a hell of a lot less than "can you get the job done".

Anonymous said...

I wonder where a degree from the university of north dakota puts you...

Anonymous said...

unfortunately, all too often it puts them in Denver and looking for a job

Anonymous said...

Or it puts them in Denver employing DU alums with difficulty paying off their 100k in student loans.

DU's an awesome academic institution. This UND alum isn't going to dispute that at all. But comparing a public school in a STATE with less poeple than the CITY of Denver versus a private school that charges 30k plus a year in tution is apples and oranges?

achsdu17 said...

Finally an Pioneer game at Pepsi... just a shame it isn't against CC but hell I'll go.

Anonymous said...

Sure it's apples and oranges. Similar to how UND fans (in general) like to compare their fan support to DU's. They are comparing a state where hockey is a "natural" sport there (i.e. it's cold enough that lakes freeze everywhere and kids can go out and play all winter long). Skiing and snowboarding are Colorado's natural winter sport. And, a state where UND is essentially the only sports entertainment in the entire state. No pro teams, no semi-pro, no bigger colleges state schools to compete with. No anything, really. That's apples and oranges too.

And, in case it wasn't obvious, I was somewhat joking above when i said that all UND come to Denver looking for jobs. There's a lot of them, but North Dakota obviously has a great economy right now with the energy boom. I think I heard that people are actually moving to North Dakota to find work.

Anonymous said...

Or the succinct version:

Residents in north dakota have nothing else to do and no one else to cheer for. We, on the other hand, have plenty of both.

Or the even more succinct version:

Their state sucks. Ours doesn't. We sometimes have other chit to do.

Anonymous said...

You have the mtns. I'll give you that. Denver is has more to offer because they have more people. East of Denver sucks.

Anonymous said...

Hey, don't knock Burlington. There's lots of dirt there that can provide hours of entertainment.

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