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Post by Jazzfan on Mar 30, 2009 15:53:27 GMT -5
Bombers won't play next season; cite declining supportBy Debbie Juniewicz Monday, March 30, 2009 The Dayton Bombers will not play the 2009-10 ECHL season, the league confirmed today, March 30. The Bombers, who had the second longest tenure in the ECHL with 18 seasons, played their final home game Saturday, March 28, at the Nutter Center, where they have played since the 1996-97 season. Dayton will wrap up the regular season on the road at Reading on April 4. The Bombers organization must inform the ECHL Board of Governors of its future plans at the annual meeting on June 24. "From the board's point of view it's a done deal, there won't be hockey in Dayton next season," ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna said. "There have been discussions about and rumors of possible owners, but nothing has come to fruition." Costa Papista has owned the team since 2004, in a partnership with Don MacAdam until MacAdam left the organization in 2008. "I am incredibly grateful to the season-ticket holders and sponsors who have been so loyal to us over the years but, financially, it's become too difficult to continue without a major capital infusion," Papista said. According to Papista, the team has not made a profit during his tenure, nor has the owner drawn a single paycheck. "Our first year was the toughest, but it got progressively better," he said. "This year, we were on target to break even or, possibly show a modest profit. But because of the economy, several sponsors reduced their commitments or took the year off altogether and group sales took a beating, too." Group sales numbers were down about 150,000 this season, according to Papista. Average attendance, according to the ECHL, has remained steady as the Bombers averaged 3,679 per game this season and 3,663 during the 2007-08 season. But Dayton consistently fall short of the league average, which this season is 4,218. "It has been very disappointing, not being able to bring the team to the point of self-sufficiency, but it's not from a lack of effort," Papista said. "Everybody in the organization has worked hard to make the Bombers work financially, but I believe that our facility challenges were bigger hurdles than we anticipated." Papista remains committed to a downtown arena project, which he pitched several weeks ago. "Whether it's for the Dayton Bombers or an ECHL expansion team, I still think the project makes an abundant amount of sense," he said. "And it's a great economic fit for the community." With an ECHL team currently in Cincinnati and the return of the Toledo team next season, it also would be a good fit for the league, according to McKenna. "We very much would like to be back in Dayton and, hopefully, some day we will be," McKenna said. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/bombers/2009/03/30/ddn033009bombersweb.html
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Post by Raider Grad on Mar 30, 2009 16:00:37 GMT -5
Is this good for WSU? I know none of us like the bombers, but they do bring in revenue to the Nutter Center. Did they bring in enough to make it worthwhile? Will losing them as a tenant hurt us?
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Post by Doliboabros on Mar 30, 2009 16:08:23 GMT -5
In the short term, I think this hurts WSU and will increase operational costs in the Nutter Center. In the long run I think it's a good thing. We spend a lot of money constantly pulling up/putting down the basketball floor over the ice in between games. The Nutter Center has also had a lot more wear and tear on it due to bomber's fans. I think those costs alone make it worthwhile to get rid of them in the long run. In the long run, I also think we can bring in more people for other events (concerts, high school games) than we ever could for bomber games, so we can better utilize the Nutter Center and bring in more revenue.
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Post by OG Raiderfan on Mar 30, 2009 16:20:15 GMT -5
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 30, 2009 20:04:15 GMT -5
About damn time. We shouldn't have anymore scheduling conflicts for the Nutt House.
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Post by thatbaldraiderfan on Mar 30, 2009 21:54:18 GMT -5
I still never got why the Dayton Dragons do so well? Why would anyone want season tickets to Low A Minor League Baseball? They have a nice stadium and do a pretty good job with fan interaction but at the end of the day its like watching Junior College baseball. When I lived in Dayton I went to like 10 Reds games a year and maybe like 3 Dragons games total. I guess my point really was you have to stretch to make it a day going to downtown. You can get a meal or a drink but other than that there isn't nothing. I think the Bombers look at the Dragons success and they assume moving downtown is gonna change their fortunes. Their problems are there are about 2,500 people in the Dayton area who care if they exist. Dayton isn't the Northeast or Buffalo or border Canada. Nobody's kids are playing hockey in the Miami Valley. Hell I even enjoyed the Indoor Football that lasted for 3 weeks more than the Bombers or Dragons. You must have never even seen a 4 year college baseball game... The level of competition is very high... Its very common for A Dayton to lose a player to AAA Louisville for a day or two because of injury and most of the time they do very well... Sure, AA, and AAA ball is better but pro baseball is very high level of competition About the Bombers... I wish they find a new home.. renovate Hara and play there... they just can't do well @ the Nutter Center.. This does help much of the scheduling conflicts between 2 teams
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Post by Big D on Mar 31, 2009 6:12:05 GMT -5
What everyone forgets every time the topic of the Bombers comes up is we NEED the revenue they bring to the Nutter Center. Without the rent they pay and the money we take off of concession sales, we cannot cover the operational costs of the Nutter Center. So instead of having the Bombers next year, we are going to have to schedule around whoever we rent the Nutter Center to on a nightly basis. At least with the Bombers, we know what we are dealing with on a nightly basis. It will be much harder to convert the arena back to basketball after all of the monster truck shows and concerts we are going to have to book now. I'm all for getting rid of the Bombers, but we have to find a way to replace the revenue they bring in.
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Post by wolf41 on Mar 31, 2009 9:38:43 GMT -5
BigD, Perhaps you could do us a favor and get a straight answer on how much money we collect from the Bombers each year. Then, as a second step, find out how much our costs were each year in generating that revenue. That has always been data that didn't get reported. I suspect WSU can make more net income off one or two major concerts than we ever made off the Bombers in a given year.
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Post by Big D on Mar 31, 2009 18:08:51 GMT -5
BigD, Perhaps you could do us a favor and get a straight answer on how much money we collect from the Bombers each year. Then, as a second step, find out how much our costs were each year in generating that revenue. That has always been data that didn't get reported. I suspect WSU can make more net income off one or two major concerts than we ever made off the Bombers in a given year. Wolf, I don't know exactly how much we make off of renting out the Nutter Center. The info I have is from a conversation I had with Cusack last season. You are wrong about us making more off of 2 major concerts than what we get from the bombers. What most people don't realize is we rent out the Nutter Center to the bombers, HS basketball organizers, concert promoters, etc for a set rental fee. The money we get is a set fee no matter who we are renting to. Attendance at these events doesn't change the rental fee. Our second source of revenue is concession sales. We split the profit from concession sales with whoever is renting out the Nutter Center, so we will make more on concession sales from bigger events like concerts than we will from HS basketball games or hockey games. But overall, our main source of revenue is the rental fee.
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Post by wolf41 on Apr 1, 2009 11:18:41 GMT -5
All this conversation has stimulated my interest enough to go to the WSU library to look at the FY08 annual report. I'll be curious to see what the revenue and expenses were for the Nutter last year. I'll be curious to see the biggest revenues for the Nutter. I just don't know how much "detail" will be in a one or two page summary of the Nutter.
While at the Nutter yesterday I checked out the Bomber schedule for this season. There were 22 home dates during the basketball season. Six of those were on Sundays, so the Bombers only occupied 16 dates from mid-Nov. to early March. So in that sense the Bombers were not a huge obstacle to our scheduling of games.
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Post by wolf41 on Apr 1, 2009 15:47:43 GMT -5
The trip to the Library was futile. The annual report now consists mostly of text with a macro summary of the university. I tried the Controller's Office, but he was off for the afternoon and no one there could think of any way to answer my question. So I may try calling or visiting tomorrow to talk to the Controller.
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Post by Sixth Man on Apr 23, 2009 19:09:27 GMT -5
Bombers aiming for 2010 returnBy Debbie Juniewicz Wednesday, April 22, 2009 FAIRBORN – Toby Tietge’s sweatshirt said it all: “Suffering Hockey Withdrawal.” But the New Lebanon resident added a masking-taped “Really” to the shirt to make her point. Tietge’s sentiments were echoed by many of the more than 200 Dayton Bombers fans who attended an informational meeting at the Holiday Inn Fairborn on Wednesday, April 22. Bombers president and owner Costa Papista presented the team’s plan for a 2010-11 ECHL re-entry. The clock is ticking as the Bombers have 63 days to devise a viable plan to present to the ECHL Board of Governors in Las Vegas on June 25 in order to return to the ice in Dayton in 2010. The league announced that the Bombers would not play during the 2009-10 season on March 30. “We want to reorganize, regroup and recapitalize the team,” Papista said to the standing-room-only crowd. “If we use this time wisely, I think it will make for a long-term successful organization.” The first step, according to Papista, is to increase the number of season-ticket holders from less than 1,000 to at least 1,500. “A healthy number of season-ticket holders will go a long way toward getting a deal approved by the league and make potential investors feel more confident,” Papista said. More than half of those in attendance Wednesday signed season-ticket pledge forms and made the $50 per seat deposit for the 2010-11 season, which would be refunded if the plan is not approved by the league. Papista plans to simultaneously offer minority investors the opportunity to buy into the team at the $5,000 level through a private placement memorandum. The final piece of the puzzle would be securing a majority owner, as Papista would become a minority investor. “I’ve already had several conversations and I believe I can find that person if I can demonstrate a growing season-ticket base and strong minority ownership,” Papista said. Those in attendance were surveyed about their arena preferences, with Hobart and Hara as well as the Nutter Center mentioned as options. Opinions were mixed. “The atmosphere is better at Hara,” Xenia resident Cyndamarie Gunn said. “The crowd roars out there, you know you’re at a hockey game.” Others like the location of the Nutter Center. “There are lots of restaurants and bars close by and ample parking,” Centerville resident Kim Myers said of the Bombers’ current home. Most in attendance seemed hopeful that whatever arena the Bombers returned to would be temporary. “Downtown would be the smartest move,” Centerville resident Katie Schock said. Many didn’t care where the Bombers played as long as they played. “I’ve supported the team from the first game they played and I’ll support them wherever they play,” Riverside resident Andy Kavalauskas said. Kavalauskas plans to buy season tickets for the Ohio State hockey team next season to get his hockey fix. www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/dayton-bombers/bombers-aiming-for-2010-return-91862.html
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Post by Raider Grad on Apr 23, 2009 19:13:12 GMT -5
Bombers aiming for 2010 returnBy Debbie Juniewicz Wednesday, April 22, 2009 FAIRBORN – Toby Tietge’s sweatshirt said it all: “Suffering Hockey Withdrawal.” But the New Lebanon resident added a masking-taped “Really” to the shirt to make her point. Tietge’s sentiments were echoed by many of the more than 200 Dayton Bombers fans who attended an informational meeting at the Holiday Inn Fairborn on Wednesday, April 22. Bombers president and owner Costa Papista presented the team’s plan for a 2010-11 ECHL re-entry. The clock is ticking as the Bombers have 63 days to devise a viable plan to present to the ECHL Board of Governors in Las Vegas on June 25 in order to return to the ice in Dayton in 2010. The league announced that the Bombers would not play during the 2009-10 season on March 30. “We want to reorganize, regroup and recapitalize the team,” Papista said to the standing-room-only crowd. “If we use this time wisely, I think it will make for a long-term successful organization.” The first step, according to Papista, is to increase the number of season-ticket holders from less than 1,000 to at least 1,500. “A healthy number of season-ticket holders will go a long way toward getting a deal approved by the league and make potential investors feel more confident,” Papista said. More than half of those in attendance Wednesday signed season-ticket pledge forms and made the $50 per seat deposit for the 2010-11 season, which would be refunded if the plan is not approved by the league. Papista plans to simultaneously offer minority investors the opportunity to buy into the team at the $5,000 level through a private placement memorandum. The final piece of the puzzle would be securing a majority owner, as Papista would become a minority investor. “I’ve already had several conversations and I believe I can find that person if I can demonstrate a growing season-ticket base and strong minority ownership,” Papista said. Those in attendance were surveyed about their arena preferences, with Hobart and Hara as well as the Nutter Center mentioned as options. Opinions were mixed. “The atmosphere is better at Hara,” Xenia resident Cyndamarie Gunn said. “The crowd roars out there, you know you’re at a hockey game.” Others like the location of the Nutter Center. “There are lots of restaurants and bars close by and ample parking,” Centerville resident Kim Myers said of the Bombers’ current home. Most in attendance seemed hopeful that whatever arena the Bombers returned to would be temporary. “Downtown would be the smartest move,” Centerville resident Katie Schock said. Many didn’t care where the Bombers played as long as they played. “I’ve supported the team from the first game they played and I’ll support them wherever they play,” Riverside resident Andy Kavalauskas said. Kavalauskas plans to buy season tickets for the Ohio State hockey team next season to get his hockey fix. www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/dayton-bombers/bombers-aiming-for-2010-return-91862.html Die bombers! Die!
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Post by Tipp City Raider on Apr 23, 2009 19:18:13 GMT -5
Wow. They found 200 people still interested in the bombers. Impressive. I would have guessed 15-20 people at most.
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Post by Raider Alumni on Apr 24, 2009 19:08:22 GMT -5
Why does their owner want to bring them back? He has never turned a profit with the team.
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