Yesterday SDSU and USD (alphabetical order) Presidents, David Chicoine and Jim Abbott endorsed a Yes vote in Tuesday’s Event Center election.
It is understandable they would unite to come to Sioux Falls for a presser as part of the campaign to say Yes to Build It Now. While there is much that unites and divides their Universities, both Universities are united by the generous support provided them by the principal financial supporters of Build It Now; First Premier Bank and Sanford Health. To wit: Sanford School of Medicine USD, Beacom of School of Business, Dykehouse Student-Athlete Center.
The Presidents said a Sioux Falls Events Center would be good for their students, a good place for events, and good for South Dakota.
To be generous they came up short in promising any real or specific support for a new EC in Sioux Falls.
Rather than just say, we support it, Los Presidentes could have come to the table with real support. Say for example they could have said: We plan to play half our women’s and men’s basketball games at a new Events Center. That would be a show of real support that perhaps makes an EC more viable. It would bring another 30 or 40 events to the Center per year and inject some serious cash into the operating coffers.
Playing hoops in Sioux Falls would benefit the Universities financially as well. Sioux Falls is a far bigger market than Vermillion or Brookings. More alumni live in Sioux Falls. Holding games in Sioux Falls would increase their fan base and attendance. Increased attendance means increased revenues. In fact this is a scenario where a 12000 seats or larger EC makes sense. One of the unsuspected cash cows of the Omaha Center (Quest – Century Link?) is the 15,000 season tickets that were sold for Creighton Basketball when the Omaha Palace was built. It is not lost on anyone the relationship between North Dakota State and the Fargodome.
A Commitment to Play would be REAL support.
A colleague used to often tell me that that talk is cheap but it takes real money to buy whiskey. Perhaps they should put their money where oh well you know….
It is understandable they would unite to come to Sioux Falls for a presser as part of the campaign to say Yes to Build It Now. While there is much that unites and divides their Universities, both Universities are united by the generous support provided them by the principal financial supporters of Build It Now; First Premier Bank and Sanford Health. To wit: Sanford School of Medicine USD, Beacom of School of Business, Dykehouse Student-Athlete Center.
The Presidents said a Sioux Falls Events Center would be good for their students, a good place for events, and good for South Dakota.
To be generous they came up short in promising any real or specific support for a new EC in Sioux Falls.
Rather than just say, we support it, Los Presidentes could have come to the table with real support. Say for example they could have said: We plan to play half our women’s and men’s basketball games at a new Events Center. That would be a show of real support that perhaps makes an EC more viable. It would bring another 30 or 40 events to the Center per year and inject some serious cash into the operating coffers.
Playing hoops in Sioux Falls would benefit the Universities financially as well. Sioux Falls is a far bigger market than Vermillion or Brookings. More alumni live in Sioux Falls. Holding games in Sioux Falls would increase their fan base and attendance. Increased attendance means increased revenues. In fact this is a scenario where a 12000 seats or larger EC makes sense. One of the unsuspected cash cows of the Omaha Center (Quest – Century Link?) is the 15,000 season tickets that were sold for Creighton Basketball when the Omaha Palace was built. It is not lost on anyone the relationship between North Dakota State and the Fargodome.
A Commitment to Play would be REAL support.
A colleague used to often tell me that that talk is cheap but it takes real money to buy whiskey. Perhaps they should put their money where oh well you know….
