(03-28-2018 06:15 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 06:10 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 05:48 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 05:07 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 12:27 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  Yes it is. Even more bizarro is we are spending 100+ million to turn the interior into a parking lot.

As for the HOD game--there are very few bowl games filling 95K stadiums these days. Nothing wrong with the HOD game other than it doesnt fit the venue. Unless they are going to ante up 4-5 million to attract the top draws available after the CFP is filled, its never going to fill that venue (given the venue--4-5 million may not even be enough to get top teams to commit to an old outdoor stadium).

I'm not sure what the venue size has to do with it. Would the HoD be a success if they were playing the game in the Dallas soccer team's stadium and selling it's 21,000 seats out? It's not like the HoD loses money on those empty Cotton Bowl seats.

The game just has limited appeal in a big-time city like Dallas. They've got Jerry World and the Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl game and the Red River Shootout game for crissakes. Texans like to be affiliated with big time things, and it's just too small potatoes for the area.

IMO the HoD just needs to be in a smaller city where it would be a bigger deal. That would attract more local interest, sponsors, etc.

The answer is---yes. Plenty of bowls getting by just fine with 20-30K in attendance. The HOD is being viewed as a failure because it cant fill 95K seats.

Oftentimes, city council meetings are filled with bluster, but the banter at the one the OP linked rings true: The Hotel association said that the HoD just doesn't fill up enough rooms to justify a subsidy. That will remain true if 21,000 attendance represents a venue sellout or 25% capacity. It's the hotel capacity not venue capacity that is the HoD's problem.

The game needs to go to a city where the traffic it brings in is important enough to warrant public support.

Or--build a budget that doesnt require a $800K subsidy like every other small bowl. This bowl is owned by ESPN---so frankly, I doubt the $800K is a make-or-break-proposition. That said, I dont blame the city council for not putting $800K into something that doesnt make good business sense----thats what they are supposed to do.

I just noticed your name bathed in the blue-light 'mod' designation.

Congratulations.

But regarding the point ... ESPN has its financial targets to hit as well, and as we've seen, they are under corporate pressure from Disney to rein costs in. So maybe they would have been flippant about 800k five years ago, but not now.

(03-29-2018 09:38 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 06:15 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 06:10 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 05:48 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(03-28-2018 05:07 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  I'm not sure what the venue size has to do with it. Would the HoD be a success if they were playing the game in the Dallas soccer team's stadium and selling it's 21,000 seats out? It's not like the HoD loses money on those empty Cotton Bowl seats.

The game just has limited appeal in a big-time city like Dallas. They've got Jerry World and the Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl game and the Red River Shootout game for crissakes. Texans like to be affiliated with big time things, and it's just too small potatoes for the area.

IMO the HoD just needs to be in a smaller city where it would be a bigger deal. That would attract more local interest, sponsors, etc.

The answer is---yes. Plenty of bowls getting by just fine with 20-30K in attendance. The HOD is being viewed as a failure because it cant fill 95K seats.

Oftentimes, city council meetings are filled with bluster, but the banter at the one the OP linked rings true: The Hotel association said that the HoD just doesn't fill up enough rooms to justify a subsidy. That will remain true if 21,000 attendance represents a venue sellout or 25% capacity. It's the hotel capacity not venue capacity that is the HoD's problem.

The game needs to go to a city where the traffic it brings in is important enough to warrant public support.

Or--build a budget that doesnt require a $800K subsidy like every other small bowl. This bowl is owned by ESPN---so frankly, I doubt the $800K is a make-or-break-proposition. That said, I dont blame the city council for not putting $800K into something that doesnt make good business sense----thats what they are supposed to do.

I just noticed your name bathed in the blue-light 'mod' designation.

Congratulations.

But regarding the point ... ESPN has its financial targets to hit as well, and as we've seen, they are under corporate pressure from Disney to rein costs in. So maybe they would have been flippant about 800k five years ago, but not now.

lol...thanks for the congrats.

Yup. ESPN absolutely does have performance metrics to hit. Lucky for them they also effectively set the date for the bowls. It didnt go unnoticed by me that the Miami Bowl suddenly got a better time slot when ESPN owned it. No more Monday at 2 in the afternoon a day or two before Christmas. Instead it was on Dec 20th at 7pm.

This year the Heart of Dallas got the day after Christmas (a Tuesday and a work day for many) at 2:30 PM CT. Moving the bowl to a better time slot is a fairly easy quick way to improve the bowl's attendance over current levels...and probably gets that $800K pay check from the City of Dallas rolling again.

That said, there are now 4 bowls in the Dallas Ft Worth area. That is a lot for any single community. I dont think Dallas is bad place for a bowl like the HOD, but I think maybe the area's saturation point has been reached.

HOD-20,507
Frisco-14,419
Cotton Bowl-67,510
Armed Forces Bowl-35,986

The Dallas area put 138,422 butts in seats for bowls. Just thinking out loud---maybe that number works better divided by 3 instead of 4.