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Post by captaincoyote on Jun 17, 2021 5:53:18 GMT -6
I always hoped the Yotes would make the jump to hockey, because of the revenue potential but I think Title IX might have held them back not sure. Now the fight for SF market gets interesting. I think baseball would be awesome to get into. (ducks) The SF market is definitely tightening, but has not ever been a mainstay for USD since I started paying attention 10 years ago. |
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Post by Yote 53 on Jun 17, 2021 8:09:03 GMT -6
Augustana hockey is going to own the Sioux Falls market inside 15 years. USD and SDSU are going to regret not starting the first program in the state. All Sioux Falls wants is to be a D1 town and now they have a program they can throw their support behind. D1 hockey is a different animal too, where small schools can compete and win against the big time schools. Add in Sanford money and in very short order we'll be reading front page of the Argus about the weekend series Augie has with the visiting Notre Dame team, or a complete breakdown of the NCAA regionals in Sioux Falls that Augie is playing in for a trip to the Frozen Four. Heck, Sioux Falls has already hosted NCAA Regionals, they might just get a Frozen Four someday.
I have to give Augustana credit, this is a brilliant move. I don't think it will lead to being full fledged D1 because I think they are going to find out this niche their carving out is a pretty good one, but also agree that this is a great way to build those corporate relationships, build some D1 legitimacy, and help pave the path for the rest of the athletic department.
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Post by nodak651 on Jun 18, 2021 16:19:02 GMT -6
I'm curious to see how Midco handles their TV scheduling now. Will Midco pick up all home Augastana hockey games?
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Post by kiyoat on Jun 18, 2021 23:51:03 GMT -6
I'm curious to see how Midco handles their TV scheduling now. Will Midco pick up all home Augastana hockey games? I don’t see why not. It’s not like they don’t cover sports outside of the Summit and MVFC already. |
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Post by Coyote Fan on Jun 19, 2021 12:01:53 GMT -6
There goes USD's chance to make their own path. Augie does it instead. If Augie goes D1 fully they will eventually surpass USD in relevance. The media will cover Augustana more and what will suffer is the USD coverage, not the SDSU coverage.
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Post by Yotes on Jun 19, 2021 13:22:05 GMT -6
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Post by kiyoat on Jun 19, 2021 13:46:18 GMT -6
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Post by fightsd on Jun 21, 2021 7:54:26 GMT -6
There goes USD's chance to make their own path. Augie does it instead. If Augie goes D1 fully they will eventually surpass USD in relevance. The media will cover Augustana more and what will suffer is the USD coverage, not the SDSU coverage. LOL. |
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ndfan
Freshman Member
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Post by ndfan on Jun 21, 2021 12:40:30 GMT -6
I think this going to change sports scene in the Sioux Falls area if it is anything like it is here at Grand Forks and Eastern North Dakota hockey will soon garner a lot of media attention because the nature of Division I Hockey young fans are attracted to the game because of pace of the game and it also being physical game like football. It season is very long compared to other college sports in that it starts in October and runs till beginning of April so it also takes away from football and basketball seasons. The beginning of season in hockey is when teams across the nation play each other so you get big name schools and schools from different regions coming playing games and these games are important in that it helps set your pairwise rankings which will later set the field for NCAA tournament. Then around end of December or beginning starts your conference season like all other sports your playing for conference championship and seating into conference tournament which if you win would give automatic berth in NCAA tournament. All this creates interest in the games and also lots for media to talk about and gets fans interest. Then you come to the games fan participation is much more than in basketball with more playing music and cheering when the game is going on if it is done right it becomes like going party almost. I know your going to say you have it at basketball and football games but its different i can't explain it totally but if you go to a game like UND you would experience it would know what i am talking about. If program has success in Sioux Falls you will notice how it effects the other sports in fan following and interest. The more success it has more likely you will see how it competes with other sports for interest, donations, and how media becomes attracted to it because it will be followed in other big markets that have college hockey. I think this is perfect fit for Augustana they will have Division I sport unique to the area and then will be able to stay Division II for other sports where they are able to maintain there existing sports and with size of Sioux Falls they should be able to find donors to help fund and establish the Division I hockey program. Also they are close to number of other Division I hockey programs making travel demands for the sport less while they are trying to establish new sport plus creating regional rivals. I think both USD and USDU may see a change in how sports programs are followed in the future.
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Post by fightsd on Jun 21, 2021 12:58:38 GMT -6
I think this going to change sports scene in the Sioux Falls area if it is anything like it is here at Grand Forks and Eastern North Dakota hockey will soon garner a lot of media attention because the nature of Division I Hockey young fans are attracted to the game because of pace of the game and it also being physical game like football. It season is very long compared to other college sports in that it starts in October and runs till beginning of April so it also takes away from football and basketball seasons. The beginning of season in hockey is when teams across the nation play each other so you get big name schools and schools from different regions coming playing games and these games are important in that it helps set your pairwise rankings which will later set the field for NCAA tournament. Then around end of December or beginning starts your conference season like all other sports your playing for conference championship and seating into conference tournament which if you win would give automatic berth in NCAA tournament. All this creates interest in the games and also lots for media to talk about and gets fans interest. Then you come to the games fan participation is much more than in basketball with more playing music and cheering when the game is going on if it is done right it becomes like going party almost. I know your going to say you have it at basketball and football games but its different i can't explain it totally but if you go to a game like UND you would experience it would know what i am talking about. If program has success in Sioux Falls you will notice how it effects the other sports in fan following and interest. The more success it has more likely you will see how it competes with other sports for interest, donations, and how media becomes attracted to it because it will be followed in other big markets that have college hockey. I think this is perfect fit for Augustana they will have Division I sport unique to the area and then will be able to stay Division II for other sports where they are able to maintain there existing sports and with size of Sioux Falls they should be able to find donors to help fund and establish the Division I hockey program. Also they are close to number of other Division I hockey programs making travel demands for the sport less while they are trying to establish new sport plus creating regional rivals. I think both USD and USDU may see a change in how sports programs are followed in the future. It is definitely a good move for Augustana to build a D1 hockey program. If they want that to be their niche, good for them. I'm a hockey fan, I'll probably follow the team at least passively. But I don't think we need to be worrying about this taking away from either of the state schools really. This would bother me if USD had a hockey program, but I just don't see a scenario where people have to choose between supporting USD or supporting Augie hockey. The fan bases in Sioux Falls for both USD and SDSU are pretty loyal to their respective schools and adding a hockey team in town isn't going to effect that. The other thing is, I don't feel like the majority of Sioux Falls has some burning desire to support Augustana. As someone that lives here, it seems to me that Augie has more of a reputation as the silver spoon school for the country club kids. It doesn't have that hometown school vibe like a lot of the other hockey towns (Mankato, St. Cloud, Duluth). It's an expensive private school in a town of a quarter million people. They will have their following, but it won't be the biggest show in town. |
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yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 578
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Post by yote18 on Jun 23, 2021 22:15:56 GMT -6
I think it’s a smart move on Augustana’s part, corner a market not being served. But Sioux Falls isn't a major hockey market so I’m skeptical on how well it’ll play out. Outside of the city the state of SD is not a hockey state except the black hills region. And even with that there’s no way Augie captures any support from Rapid City when they already hate most things Sioux Falls. If they can put a competitive team on the ice and compete within the first 5-7 years they’ll be able to grow a fan base I think. But it’ll take much longer than their 2030 goal imo to become competitive enough to have fans care for more then one game a year.
To be honest I would’ve rather seen Black Hills state develop a D1 hockey team while remaining d2 in the rest. Rapid City is building the new arena and BHSU already has a rapid city campus. Plus if it’s a state school and they do well it benefits the entire state through recognition not just a small private school with a god complex.
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fssd
Freshman Member
Posts: 58 
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Post by fssd on Jun 24, 2021 20:28:42 GMT -6
I think it’s a smart move on Augustana’s part, corner a market not being served. But Sioux Falls isn't a major hockey market so I’m skeptical on how well it’ll play out. Outside of the city the state of SD is not a hockey state except the black hills region. And even with that there’s no way Augie captures any support from Rapid City when they already hate most things Sioux Falls. If they can put a competitive team on the ice and compete within the first 5-7 years they’ll be able to grow a fan base I think. But it’ll take much longer than their 2030 goal imo to become competitive enough to have fans care for more then one game a year. To be honest I would’ve rather seen Black Hills state develop a D1 hockey team while remaining d2 in the rest. Rapid City is building the new arena and BHSU already has a rapid city campus. Plus if it’s a state school and they do well it benefits the entire state through recognition not just a small private school with a god complex. The Sioux Falls Stampede a USHL team (high schools age) as the following attendance records: 2014-15 - 6,376 2015-16 - 6,687 2016-17 - 6,345 2017-18 - 6,563 2018-19 - 6,359 2019-20 - 5,692 Sioux Falls has a hockey following. USHL team has been very successful for the last 20 years. But, it does open a question about the USHL team. Does it go head to head with Augie and DI hockey or does it move to another location. One other topic that people has not talked about is the Hockey gets Augie into Twin Cities market where hockey is very popular and if they end up in the CCHA - St. Thomas could be a rival. This helps to grow enrollment. |
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Post by GoYotes on Jun 25, 2021 8:07:19 GMT -6
The Stampede has a decent following, but a lot of the attendance is driven by a ton of giveaway and cheap ticket promotions.
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Post by gopheryote on Jun 25, 2021 10:01:44 GMT -6
If Augie's hockey program is bad for anyone, it is bad for the Stampede. D1 hockey will generally be higher skilled, more mature players. Bigger, better, faster, though a different style. I'm not sure that I completely agree that SF (or SD more broadly) is a hockey focused area. I think that the Stampede fans will also be the Augie fans - it will be the same people in the stands, not a great awakening of hockey for Sioux Falls. What will be interesting is if the corporate dollars that the Stampede currently uses (including large blocks of tickets) will keep flowing or be split between the two programs. Only so many dollars and hours to go around.
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Post by Yote 53 on Jun 25, 2021 14:07:40 GMT -6
There is a youth hockey program in every "large" city in South Dakota, except Vermillion.
Yankton
Sioux Falls
Mitchell
Brookings
Watertown
Huron
Pierre
Aberdeen
Rapid City
Brandon
I talk to people in some of these towns and they have 50-75 players trying out for the HS team. Boys, that's a lot. Sioux Falls has an extremely large youth association. Very large, by the numbers, as large as many Minnesota towns. The Stampede have the best attendance for a Junior franchise in the country.
Point is, many of you don't run in these circles, but SD has a very healthy hockey culture that gets stronger every year.
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