How many of you are going to buy IceGator season tickets?

[Turbine]

Note that the % of people who will not support the hockey team is now over 47%. I am sure that it is because many don't want hockey popularity to have any impact on Cajun attendance. The minute we lose one dollar due to this competition (including the rent we will receive), it is a bad thing. With so many weekend games, I bet there will be nights when hockey competes with football, basketball, and the diamond sports Cajun home games. I know you hockey fans don't think it will have any impact and I sure hope you are right.

Cultivating a sporting event going culture in ACADIANA would be the most valuable thing that could ever happen to UL Athletics.

igeaux.mobi

[Cajunsmike]

It will be interesting but hockey doesn't kick off until mid October and drags into May. Even if the Cajuns go to the New Orleans Bowl you are only talking about two months of conflict. I think it would be cool for the IceGators to schedule around Cajun football. How many of you guys would like to catch a hockey game and a Cajun football game on the same day! Wives would be in an uproar but sounds like a pretty good sports day to me.

There is the argument also that there are only so many sports dollars to go around. I inherently believe that competition is a good thing. You also have to consider that not everyone in Acadiana are Cajun fans and follow out of town teams on TV. Just thinking out loud but I hope the IceGators are successful and I don't believe it will take away from the Cajuns.

My comment was in regards to all Cajun sports, not just football. There will be basketball, baseball, and softball conflicts as the months move on. Recall, many of us are Cajun fans 1st (all athletics) and sports fans 2nd. We are concerned about the competition from that perspective. As you say, the competition may be a good thing though as it may force the teams the Cajuns field to improve. Of course, college sports is different as you are limited in how much you can improve by how quickly you upgrade facilities. That is why we are wary of the IceGators. As you have said, at least the school is getting rent money.

[T-1000]

For Clarification:

1. The SPHL is a weekend heavy league. There is a possibility of a few weekday games, so please purchase season tickets with this in mind.
2. A season ticket saves you $70 over buying game day tickets so you get almost 5 games free if missing a couple is a concern.
3. We will not play at home during any UL or LSU home football games as a courtesy and just plain old smart business.

Thank you for your continued support,

Danny Smith

Thanks for the clarification. It's good to see you scheduling around the football games, which I definitely think is a smart move. Do you have any idea when the schedule is going to be released?

[Cajunsmike]

For Clarification:

1. The SPHL is a weekend heavy league. There is a possibility of a few weekday games, so please purchase season tickets with this in mind.
2. A season ticket saves you $70 over buying game day tickets so you get almost 5 games free if missing a couple is a concern.
3. We will not play at home during any UL or LSU home football games as a courtesy and just plain old smart business.

Thank you for your continued support,

Danny Smith

Will you also not play at home on the same day as a Cajun basketball game? That would also be a good move. I know basketball was disappointing this year and people were upset with the coaching decision. That does not mean the team won't be improved next season. There will be 14 home basketball games next year meaning ~ 6 of them will be on a weekend. Hopefully you guys can work around that. How much rent will you pay to use Blackham? One way to alleviate the concern of taking away entertainment dollars from the Cajun program is to increase rent as attendance increases. For example, if $1 per ticket above an attendance threshold of 3000 were paid to the university, that might be an win-win situation for everyone. Would you consider something like this?

[Turbine]

Will you also not play at home on the same day as a Cajun basketball game? That would also be a good move. I know basketball was disappointing this year and people were upset with the coaching decision. That does not mean the team won't be improved next season. There will be 14 home basketball games next year meaning ~ 6 of them will be on a weekend. Hopefully you guys can work around that. How much rent will you pay to use Blackham? One way to alleviate the concern of taking away entertainment dollars from the Cajun program is to increase rent as attendance increases. For example, if $1 per ticket above an attendance threshold of 3000 were paid to the university, that might be an win-win situation for everyone. Would you consider something like this?

If you try to stifle sports in Acadiana you are doing UL Athletics a disservice.

I had a problem with scheduling in the same venue the first time around so my animosity was somewhat justified (I felt so) but what UL needs to do now is get the other 15,000 fans from football into the Cajun Dome and not kid itself with false scheduling requests.

[Cajunsmike]

If you try to stifle sports in Acadiana you are doing UL Athletics a disservice.

I had a problem with scheduling in the same venue the first time around so my animosity was somewhat justified (I felt so) but what UL needs to do now is get the other 15,000 fans from football into the Cajun Dome and not kid itself with false scheduling requests.

I don't think asking hockey to schedule around 6 home basketball games is an unreasonable request. That would be smart on their part. They could play on Friday and Sunday on such weekends. Another approach would be to play on Saturday afternoon if basketball plays at the Dome on Saturday night. I also don't think the university sharing more in the success of hockey by increased rent for larger attendances is a bad idea. University would perhaps help promote hockey in such an arrangement.

Don't forget the university has a hockey team. Playing in Blackham has to better for the sport then the hockeyplex.