Chicago, DePaul set staggering new heights in sports welfare chutzpah

McCormick Place has been a political quagmire and vacuum of public funding pretty much since it opened.

And yes, it's surrounded by highways and isolated from downtown Chicago.

 

If they bring back Al McGuire from the dead to rattle Comegys from his mike only to be overheard (I swear Comegys was shooting back at him as he passed his seat), I'd be in.

 

I still think this whole deal is crazy, and doesn't make sense for either side.

While the proposed new location is closer than Rosemont, it's still not close, and there's not a great public transit option from the Lincoln Park Campus. (Though I guess they're supposed to be building a new CTA stop nearby.)

I just don't see a lot of students attending a game there. The team hasn't been good in recent years. It's not close. And, there's nothing nearby.

I know real estate near their campus is expensive, but how much room would they need to build a right sized arena? If they're drawing less than 3,000 per game, they don't need a ton of room.

Loyola just built renovated and expanded a beautiful new arena that holds 4,500 on their campus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_J._Gentile_Arena

DePaul should do something like this, or if they weren't so fucking stubborn, they'd play their games there. It's a quick trip up the Red Line from DePaul. (When I was at BC, our hockey arena was under construction, and we played our home games at BU and Northeastern, so it's not unthinkable to play on another school's campus.)

Or they could take the United Center up on their offer of free rent for 10 years.

But, what i really don't get is why the Mayor is so determined to do this.

A huge expansion of the convention center opened in the last couple of years. The Hyatt just expanded by 50% to 1,200 rooms. And, there's a proposal to build a second 1,200 room hotel:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-19/chicago-to-get-hotel-near-mccormick-convention-center.html

Now, I realize the city wants some entertainment options near the connection center, and these hotels, but who the fuck gives a shit about DePaul basketball? They play 16 games, and not a single conventioneer is going to be interested in attending.

They're better off spending money (or offering tax breaks, as it were) to encourage businesses to open up in the Motor Row area:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-30/business/ct-biz-0930-motor-row-20120930_1_motor-row-mccormick-place-cheap-trick

One brewery has already committed:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/14513960-418/tif-funds-okd-for-microbrewery-in-motor-row-entertainment-district.html

All it takes is one big time restaurant success to bring more. Previously, Randolph St. had no restaurants, and was an industrial zone. Now it's restaurant row.

We have a lot of talented and famous chefs in Chicago, including Grant Achatz, Rick (brother of Skip) Bayless, Graham Elliott, Art Smith, Stephanie Izard, and more.

Make one or more of them an offer they can't refuse to open a restaurant. Get Buddy Guy to open a 2nd location of his Blues Club. Encourage some of the great breweries we have to open up.

But, DePaul basketball? What the fuck?

 

Mark Aguirre is not walking through that door. Ray (or Joey) Meyer is not walking through that door.

 

YF, I think the city wants DePaul because it answers the question of "Who is going to be in this arena we're paying $100 million for?" I think it also gets DePaul to kick in some cash toward it as well. This isn't unprecedented for a convention center project. The Hoosier Dome was built in Indianapolis to attract an NFL team, but it was sold as an add-on for the convention center so it could get larger events.

Interesting, too, that part of the impetus is to improve the area around Motor Row, but as you mentioned, it seems like there are means the city has that are cheaper and more practical than an arena.

 

I get that. But, if an arena is needed for convention purposes, then it should be justified on that basis. But, they're selling it as DePaul's arena, and i don't think DePaul is kicking in any money.

The Arie Crown Theater in the East Building, along the lake is an outdated dump, that is rarely booked for conventions or other uses (especially now that the Chicago Theater in the loop has been renovated, and is owned by Madison Square Garden).

I can see why they'd want a venue to replace it, that could also be used for other events. But, I'm still not convinced of the need, and think they're doing a terrible job of selling it.

And, let's be honest, high costs, and union rules, are still the biggest problem for Chicago as far as attracting convention business goes.

 

DePaul doesn't need to build a 3,000 seat arena. It already has Alumni Hall.

If they were smart they'd do what St. John's, Georgetown and Seton Hall used to do - and may still do for all I know - play their "marquee" games at the local NBA arena and play everything else at their bandbox on campus.

I don't care if DePaul becomes a annual Final Four fixture, they will never fill the Horizon, McPier or the United Center when they play Creighton, Providence, Seton Hall or Xavier.

 

There's a 3,000 seat arena, McGrath-Phillips Arena, where the women play, but obviously you can't claim that as your home and join the Big East, new or old. No power conference teams have gyms that small, MAC teams don't even have those. One of the reasons they draw so poorly is the reason they're moving in the first place, the location sucks. (Which is why it's so funny that people were touting the Rosemont Cubs). Kids couldn't get there.

The whole situation reeks, but you (not you, but critics) can't rip DePaul for being small potatoes and then tell them to play in 3,000 seat gym. They're trying to improve program, and this is a pretty good deal for them, given the circumstances. Not for the city taxpayers, of course, it's a disaster and a dumb use of TIF funds for a city closing public schools. But no one is naive enough to think the mayor and president of DePaul care about them.

I think they'd run into some interference to build a bigger arena in Lincoln Park, much like Cubs are fighting with aldermen, neighborhood groups, etc. But this is perfect for DePaul, because it'll just be a tenant, albeit with naming rights power that gets permanent signage.

The real problem is leadership, both the city and university are lacking in it.

 

DePaul is kicking in $70 million to build the arena:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-05-15/business/ct-biz-0515-mccormick-arena-20130515_1_arena-site-event-center-mccormick-place

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/depaul-arena-at-mccormick_n_3285276.html

 

You're right, and I remember this now. So, instead of playing for free at the United Center, they're going to spend $70M towards an arena that is nowhere near its campus.

I still don't get the appeal.

 

Obviously the Jesuits at Loyola are smarter than the Vincentians at DePaul. No surprise there. 8)

 

Wait, Rick and Skip Bayless are brothers?