Making just a general thread for this so it can encompass other schools also.

The Ohio Valley Conference is looking to add new members after losing 5 in the last 2 years. So far they have added 2 back and apparently are now looking at a local school. I assume it’s Lindenwood since there have been rumors they want to move up. Would be nice to add a 3rd D1 school to the metro. Only football one.

Pardon my ignorance, but three D1 schools in St. Louis? 

Saint Louis University, possibly Lindenwood, and...?

I can't think of who the other D1 school would be. UMSL, Washington, Fontbonne, Maryville, and Webster are all not D1. 

Whatever the case, this could be pretty cool news for a local college. 

^ I pardon your ignorance by the power vested in me by my superior sports knowledge.  

SIUE is D1 in basketball.

RockChalkSTL wrote: ↑

Feb 15, 2022

Pardon my ignorance, but three D1 schools in St. Louis? 

Saint Louis University, possibly Lindenwood, and...?

I can't think of who the other D1 school would be. UMSL, Washington, Fontbonne, Maryville, and Webster are all not D1. 

Whatever the case, this could be pretty cool news for a local college. 

SIUE is already in the Ohio valley.

SIUE is already in the OVC.

Lindenwood moving up to DI would be interesting, but unless they start making the NCAA regularly, not real impactful. Maybe their men's basketball attendance would creep up closer to the high three digits per game. But not much difference for the average fan. From a football perspective, you lose most local rivalries.

When Ja Morant  and Murray State played at SIUE a couple years ago, it got no coverage, not really any fan interest. You had to be a major basketball nerd to even know the significance of that.

Also makes you wonder what the long-term future of Division I basketball is. There are like 350-something teams. Way too many for the vast majority of fans to even understand or know the difference between the 100th-best team or the 350th-best.

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Feb 15, 2022

Making just a general thread for this so it can encompass other schools also.

The Ohio Valley Conference is looking to add new members after losing 5 in the last 2 years. So far they have added 2 back and apparently are now looking at a local school. I assume it’s Lindenwood since there have been rumors they want to move up. Would be nice to add a 3rd D1 school to the metro. Only football one.

I'd include Missouri S&T and UMSL in the mix. They may be a closer cultural fit as the OVC will be entirely public schools with the departure of Belmont.

Totally forgot about SIUE. Shouldn't have forgotten them, even if they haven't made the tournament in over fifteen years now. 

I focus far more on the bigger conferences. 

That said, one of my St. Louis bucket list items is attending a SLU basketball game. I'd like to see that program flourish even if my allegiances lie with the Kansas Jayhawks. 

Really Lindenwood and SIUE will only move the needle locally if they are good with a chance to make the tournament. Lindenwood might a tad more just because they are on the Missouri side.

SIUE hasn’t had a winning season since they moved to D1 so we haven’t seen much of a chance to see what kind of press they could get.

As an SIUE fan I would be more than happy to have Lindenwood added. SIUE has been on the outskirts of the conference geographically and with Southern Indiana being added and maybe Lindenwood it makes going to road games easier as it moves north a bit. If the rumors of Western Illinois moving over come to fruition… a division of SIUE, WIU, EIU, SEMO, Southern Indy, Lindenwood would be great.

Unfortunately, you kind of need to be a certain status in college basketball or you really just won't draw. 

I've been to several UMKC games in Kansas City (D1) and I don't think I ever saw capacity reach even 25% in the old Municipal Auditorium there. 

eee123 wrote: ↑

Feb 15, 2022

When Ja Morant  and Murray State played at SIUE a couple years ago, it got no coverage, not really any fan interest. You had to be a major basketball nerd to even know the significance of that.

It was pre-Ja days, but I went to an SIUE-Murray St game in either '11 or '12 when Murray St had the longest unbeaten streak in the country and was in the top 10.  The Vadalabene Center was sold out and there were actually scalpers outside.  ESPN or ESPN2 had the game live.  It was the fullest I'd ever seen the VC outside of an East St. Louis-Carbondale Super Sectional game in 2004.

How does SLU basketball do for attendance? 

I've seen the stadium sold out on TV, but I also don't know that I see much SLU energy around town since moving here. 

For this current season, they're averaging just over 5,500 per game (though COVID may also be keeping attendance lower like most sporting events). Over the last 5 years, the average attendance was:
21-22: 5,538
20-21: 0
19-20: 6,880
18-19: 6,890
17-18: 6,235

Honestly, SLU draws pretty well for a mid-tier program. Chaifetz's capacity is 10,600 so on average they're filling the arena more than 50%. Add in some variance between the low hanging fruit games that draw small crowds (e.g., Central Arkansas type opponents) and the sold-out games against programs like Dayton, and it's a fairly strong level of attendance imo.

I think that's pretty good, for sure. It's not 16,300 in Allen Fieldhouse, but nobody could possibly expect it to be. 

Just looked up UMKC's average attendance. They're averaging 595 fans per game this season. Back in 2019-20, it was 1,069 per game. Municipal Auditorium seats 7,300. 

Seems Missouri State might be the state's third biggest program, averaging around 3,900-5,200 fans per game going back five years. 

Laife Fulk wrote: ↑

Feb 16, 2022

For this current season, they're averaging just over 5,500 per game (though COVID may also be keeping attendance lower like most sporting events). Over the last 5 years, the average attendance was:
21-22: 5,538
20-21: 0
19-20: 6,880
18-19: 6,890
17-18: 6,235

Honestly, SLU draws pretty well for a mid-tier program. Chaifetz's capacity is 10,600 so on average they're filling the arena more than 50%. Add in some variance between the low hanging fruit games that draw small crowds (e.g., Central Arkansas type opponents) and the sold-out games against programs like Dayton, and it's a fairly strong level of attendance imo.

The addition of Loyola-Chicago to the A10 next season will add another great match-up for SLU.

Absolutely. Should make for some great road trips for each fan base. Plenty of SLU alum in Chicago too so I bet “The Joe” (their home arena on campus) will be packed.

I saw Fontbonne has gone from 3000 students to under a 1000 since 2012. I don’t know why they don’t just call it a day and sell to WashU

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Feb 18, 2022

I saw Fontbonne has gone from 3000 students to under a 1000 since 2012. I don’t know why they don’t just call it a day and sell to WashU

I for some reason thought they were closing about a year ago.

dweebe wrote: ↑

Feb 18, 2022

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Feb 18, 2022

I saw Fontbonne has gone from 3000 students to under a 1000 since 2012.  I don’t know why they don’t just call it a day and sell to WashU

At what point does Wash U offer enough money to Fontbonne to buy them out?

I think the more precise question is "At what point does Fontbonne become insolvent and Wash U offers to take on their debts?"

^ I get to claim my Master's Degree is from WashU if this happens, yes?

^Maybe if you make a donation to offset some of the acquisition costs? Make it big enough it might even get you a D.Litt. Hon. Causa. 

Anybody else think SLU men's soccer has a chance to become a little more popular in the years ahead?

First, the program seems like it might be on the rise. They made the national quarterfinals this year, were at one point ranked 2nd in the nation, played before record-setting crowds, and just had four 1st-round picks in the MLS Superdraft.

Hermann Stadium seats 6,050; an attendance record was set this year for 6,815.

It would be kind of neat to see SLU soccer become a bigger thing with MLS coming to town.

I'm not sure a new stadium or renovations are necessarily needed right now, but they may be in the coming years. Would be interesting to see what the University might decide to do.

Sent from my SM-F711U using Tapatalk

They are getting some nice new locker facilities on the south end of Hermann - and some field upgrades

https://slubillikens.com/news/2021/6/10 ... ility.aspx
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college ... 08db1.html

SLU led NCAA attendance last year at 2,748 average per game - So Hermann is probably big enough right now.