SiouxVolley

Last word their Prez was getting with consultants. This has bad optics for the Prez politically, as UI fans want to be indy.

Hockeyfuture boards had a prospect thread complete with twitters. Blackhawk fans denied the would ever trade Schmaltz but the Hawks have cap issues. With Stecher from BC, and Vancouver having some serious needs, they could be in the mood to spend some real cash for all four. Obviously if true Stephen and Schmaltz and Boeser would leave early but not until a trade can happen.

Some buzz on social media that Vancouver is making a play for Caggiula, Stecher, and will trade for Schmaltz. Since they already own Boeser's rights, the CBS line could stay intact.

There are UND football fans all over, but nothing has been going on for years to get them excited. Contrast that with the Frozen Four where there were tons of Sioux fans that just had a passing connection to UND and Grand Forks but make the Frozen Four an annual event. It's a mistake to just assume that Grand Forks and ND are the only places that UND fans will come from. FCS does not provide much opportunity for a big celebration at season end where UND football fans from all over the country can gather at the end of the season. That has happened with the school down south, and it builds on itself.

Even with an NHL quality rink now, the NCAA does not look kindly on Vegas because of gambling. The NCHC would though, as other conferences play tournaments there.

Carson has some Sioux influence in his family and on this board. That was a classy tweet that will pay dividends down the road as a spokesman in advertisements.

Would add that increased TV exposure and more dollars with that don't hurt either. Without hockey, UND's broadcast capabilities would be greatly diminished.

New England got a double whammy when the Flyers beat out the Bruins for the last spot. Congrats to Coach Hakstol too, as he had to win to convince alot of Flyer fans that hiring him was a good move. It's like in the stars that Hak would find a great fit in the NHL for his coaching style and Berry would fit the college world to a tee. Nice to see coaching moves work out for everybody, especially those with Sioux connections.

Would bet Glendale, Phoenix, Orlando, Dallas, and San Jose put in bids for the Frozen Four. The Tampa Bay Times had a story on the number of college Big Draws that were upcoming. Sounds like they are booked until 2020, but they hope to host again by 2022.

According to bisonville, ESPN is pushing the NCAA to allow NDSU to move up to FBS because they love the bizon so much. When was the last time a schools at the FBS level has ever dropped down a level or dropped football? UAB recanted and doesn't count.

Rental rates are still higher than Fargo's. More housing wouldn't hurt. If/when the fertilizer plant gets funding and begins construction, there won't be excess housing.

The Primus was Johnnyboy's, who was spouting off about Notre Dame hockey and NDSU basketball being great.

As said numerous times here, 2019 will be the year that FBS attendance requirements will kick in, but some bizon and jack posters think the whole idea of UND and some of the Big Sky going FBS is the most absurd thing ever. We get that, but it's not absurd for your own boards to discuss FBS.

Coming from a MAC fan, as the MAC is the B1G's hired bitch, this is pretty rich. Sure, the MAC gets an extra $1 mill per team because of the CFP, but if the Big Sky is FBS too, they wouldn't get shut out on the next contract. FBS means more than $1 mill in advertising per year, otherwise the MAC would go FCS itself. On the field, UND plays BGSU in September. We'll see if the MAC Champs can beat a lowly FCS school.

Simple math sequences say UND will win, but it will be close. 6-2 over Northeastern 5-2 over Michigan 4-2 over Denver So the score shall be 3-2 over Quinnipiac Quinnipiac scores also get closer as they go along 4-0 over Harvard +4 4-1 over Lowell +3 3-2 over BC +1 The trend is for Q to be at 0 or -1 for the championship game. 3-2 UND in ot

The NCAA will make a rule change this summer where orphan FBS teams can join FCS conferences and they can all move up to FBS if enough transition properly. That's why the Big Sky is so anxious to lock in Idaho football. Since its the Frozen Four weekend, their isn't a lot of enthusiasm to talk about it now. Bison and Jack fans are dead set against it and insist that it won't happen, because UND has a path to FBS then. UND would need a stadium expansion, and alot of fans see that as too much of a stretch goal. This summer will be huge in Big Sky history.

The Big Sky has been dependent on TV contracts that are Montana-centric since Nevada, Boise St, and Idaho left. We get a piece of that contract and we are free to broadcast whatever games are not picked up by Root. That can be pretty sweet if we can pick up the Twin Cities on our own.

Root Sports is limited to the Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh regions, so it wants games with local teams in those regions. Therefore, Montana, MSU, and EWU get heavy play. SUU, NAU, Weber, Sac St, Cal Poly, ISU, and UND aren't much interest to Root. We need to get football on Fox Sports North to get wider coverage.

A regional only has to bid a minimum of $150 k to get it, as long as there is some venue not bidding more. Typically, only 3000 tickets need to be sold for one session to cover the bid and one session of a couple thousand to cover the rentall of the arena, and then it's all profit assuming the facility rent is not too high. Most tickets got sold for the Excel Center but didn't get used. The Frozen Four is an entirely different matter, as the minimum bid is $2.5 mill. That kind of outlay needs a nearly full venue and a good economic impact from overnight visitors. Say Tampa's attendance is 18k a session, which would be 54k total, at $80 a ticket / session. That amounts to over $4.3 million just in tickets for the FF. The hotel, retail, eating would be order of magnitune higher in financial impact.

The Slummit does not have the budgets to be more than an entry level DI conference, in spite of what bizon trolls say.

I already admitted that the cost of a temporary rink was more than double what I had expected and it would be difficult for the Alerus to make it profitable without assurances that UND would be in. But somehow this is an existential threat to your postings?

Like another Cher concert?

According to Ice Rink Events, it costs around 850k to set up a temporary rink. But costs do not go up much once the rink is set up. The Alerus would have to charge around $100 per seat for the two sessions to break even on a regional what the Alerus costs to staff and the 150 k minimum the NCAA would take. If UND didn't make the regional, that would be a disaster, but most tickets would be sold. At $50 a pop, the NHL has to draw more than 25,000 to even dream of a profit. When Michigan got 100 in attendance at the Big House, every ticket sold after 25000 was profit.

The Fargo Dome has a much steeper incline and has had ice shows in the past.

The issue is the NCAA won't allow home rinks, but would allow the Alerus with temporary ice. A successful bid must be 150 k plus profit sharing. The Alerus almost put in permanent cooling coils for a hockey setup, but was advised not to by UND.