Arena Plan Criticized at Student Town Hall

• Students question plan as Crain's report challenges attendance data

by Dylan McHugh, News Editor

Vol. #97, Issue #27
June 3, 2013
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Since the announcement of a new DePaul basketball arena and construction partnership with the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (MPEA), the public and university response has been anything but unanimous. The proposal hit another bump on Thursday, as students openly criticized and questioned the plan at a Student Town Hall, while Crain’s Chicago Business reported that DePaul’s actual attendance numbers at Allstate Arena
are only about a third of what records.

Student Town Hall claps for critics

DePaul athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto, treasurer Jeff Bethke, men’s basketball assistant head coach Ron Bradley and women’s basketball head coach Doug Bruno formed the Student Town Hall panel and fielded questions about the new arena plan in the McGrath-Philips arena, moderated by Student Government Association president Caroline Winsett and vice president Casey Clemmons. As some students waved a banner that read “Kids need schools, not stadiums,” about 60 students and community members listened to Ponsetto and Bethke briefly explaining the proposal and the new arena’s benefits, including a potential “winter FEST in the colder months,” according to Bethke, and using the arena for commencement ceremonies.

“We negotiated a deal that is self-funding,” said Bethke. “We’re going to realize a healthy portion of additional sources of revenue.” This includes an unspecified amount for internal naming rights for arena clubhouses and rooms, $1.5 million in television rights from a FOX Sports contract, and $2 million in projected ticket sales.

However, DePaul graduate student Joy Ellison set the tone of the town hall with the first question. “How is something like this justified when we’re talking about closing 50 (Chicago Public) schools?” said Ellison. “It doesn’t fit into the context of our Vincentian values to build a stadium when we were offered one for free (at United Center). This is something I will pay for no matter what as a taxpayer in the city of Chicago. So just explain why this is worth my money?”

About half of the students attending cheered and applauded the question. Bethke said the City of Chicago’s portion of the arena plan is funded through a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) fund designated for “economic stimulus” that was set aside 15 years ago.

“It’s very easy to say, ‘well, we’re just closing schools to make this happen,’ but the reality is it’s not a zero-sum game,” said Bethke. “The city is interested in economic development and this is one strategy they’re doing to economically revitalize one area of the city. That’s the perspective on that.”

Later, Bethke addressed the United Center proposal, which would have allowed the men’s basketball team to play at the stadium rent-free. Bethke said the United Center offer was not viable because it would have incurred $500,000 worth of expenses per year, and caused difficulty in scheduling practices for the men’s team. This $500,000 is more than what DePaul currently pays to play at Allstate, and United Center would not have allowed DePaul to host commencement ceremonies and other events.

“You can agree with it or not, but with this notion of ‘Is there a solution for men’s basketball other than Allstate?’ you want to pursue something that’s a different solution than what we’re doing now,” said Bethke.

In terms of the men's basketball program itself, one student noted that DePaul has won only seven Big East games in his entire time at DePaul. Bradley said Allstate Arena was "the biggest obstacle" in attracting new prospects to DePaul.

“We’re at a huge recruiting disadvantage because our arena is not on campus,” said Bradley. “Kids come back to us and say the facilities are so much better somewhere else.”

Other students pointed out that the $70 million DePaul is putting toward the new arena could be used instead for 524 four-year full tuition scholarships, or raise adjunct teacher salaries and provide heath insurance, among other options. Bethke said that these suggestions were largely recurring costs, and that the arena proposal is designed to be self-funding through additional revenue streams.

“This will not have an impact on tuition rates or the underlying operating structure of the university,” said Bethke. “We will not raise tuition because of this project.”

In response to one student who asked why students were not consulted about the plan beforehand, Ponsetto said she hosts a meeting with student leaders once a month.

"It's very difficult for the university, any time they’re involved in any sort of a business deal, or any sort of transaction that is confidential in nature, to engage the entire university governing structure,” said Ponsetto.

Another issue students had with the arena plan is the possible addition of a casino to the McCormick expansion.
Bethke said it was “highly unlikely” that a casino plan would go through, as the MPEA is against the motion. "We've made it clear that it is DePaul's preference that a casino should not be built near by," said Bethke.

After about an hour — halfway through the two-hour meeting — Clemmons said the panel would take a couple more questions. “What happened to staying as long as we had questions?” a student called out. “Questions are starting to get repeated,” said Winsett. However, the town hall proceeded as planned.

In response to a question about the feasibility of the projected revenue from the arena, Bethke said that the arena is not a riskless decision.

“No decision is riskless, particularly when you’re talking about tens of millions of dollars,” said Bethke. “I don’t want to minimize that. That’s why we’ve gone through as thorough and diligent a review process possible, including members of our Board of Trustees and outside sources.

“In an ideal world, we would’ve built an arena half a block north of here at Sheffield and Fullerton,” said Bethke. “Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have that in the middle of campus, and have that be a foundational part of the DePaul student experience? But economically that doesn’t make sense. If you want to talk about risk, that’s investing $250 million a year for 17 home games a year ... what we tried to do is come up with a balanced solution to this issue, that yes, does have some risk ... but we can do it in a way that won't impact student tuition, and hopefully at the other side of this create a vibrancy around DePaul athletics and DePaul as an institution that reverberates across the country."

But senior Amanda Walsh, a women's and gender studies major, said the new arena is not a wise move, and that she would prefer to see DePaul's $70 million contribution go toward need- based scholarships. Walsh told the panel that the arena plan “would make (St. Vincent) de Paul roll in his grave.”

“We talk about how much our values mean to us, but we do things that directly contradict those values,” said Walsh.

Attendance numbers based on "common practice"

It is no secret that DePaul has struggled to draw students to men’s basketball games at Allstate Arena. A May 29 report from Crain’s Chicago Business, however, states that the actual average attendance at the games is less than half of what DePaul reports as attendance, which is based on ticket sales rather than turnstile counts.

According to Crain’s data, based on the Ticketmaster scan system which tracks how many people enter the arena, DePaul averaged just 2,610 people per home game as opposed to its stated 7,938 average. In addition, DePaul’s reported total attendance last year was 127,020, while Crain’s data states that the actual total was less than a third of that number: 41,771.

DePaul president Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M. said that the numbers are the difference between seats that were sold and actual attendance.

"Most of it is season ticket holders who bought seats for the entire season, but did not come to individual games,” said Holtschneider. “Others are student seats that are reserved for their use but were not used. Stadiums and arenas generally report the ‘tickets sold’ number, rather than the actual foot traffic. DePaul follows the same common practice.”

Greg Greenwell, DePaul’s director of Athletic Communications, said DePaul’s ticket figures are reported “like they are in all sports” with tickets sold as opposed to turnstile counts.

“Counting only turnstile is the narrowest attendance measure in the industry,” said Greenwell. The analysis for projected ticket sales at the new arena, according to Greenwell, is based on long-term attendance trends that included seasons with more wins and postseason success. “Not just the last three seasons,” said Greenwell.

In the past three years, DePaul men's basketball has a 6-48 record against Big East teams. Their last NCAA tournament appearance was in 2004, and five players have transferred from DePaul in the past two months.
When asked if DePaul would section off areas of the new arena in case of low attendance, as DePaul currently does at Allstate Arena, Holtschneider said the stadium design had not yet begun.

“But remember that the new arena is intended to have 10,000 seats, whereas the Allstate has somewhere around 18,000, I believe,” said Holtschneider. “The university believes that a more convenient location, combined with a stronger W-L ratio, will work wonders for attendance. We are already grateful and proud that our fans have stuck with us by continuing to purchase season tickets. That says something about the pride and loyalty of DePaul alumni and fans.”

Editor-in-chief Elizabeth Schuetz, Sports editor Julian Zeng and assistant Sports editor David Webber contributed to this report.