IS IT TRUE JANUARY 9 and 10, 2016

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IS IT TRUE the Evansville IceMen bring people downtown with a frequency like few other attractions which helps add to downtown revitalization?

IS IT TRUE that the Owner of the Evansville IceMen Ron Geary has invested a lot of money in the IceMen and it has had a very positive impact on the City?

IS IT TRUE that the someone needs to tell the Mayor that NHL and the AHL would not be attracted to the Evansville market because it is not large enough?

IS IT TRUE if the IceMen decides to leave that the only other professional hockey league left is the ECHL and we doubt it would install a team in Evansville after the IceMen’s negative experience with the Mayor?

IS IT TRUE its obvious that the Ford Center is considered to be an Economic Development tool by the city that loses money every year? …the city feels investing City money in professional sports teams like the Evansville IceMen seems like a worthy economic stimulus project given the social and economic benefits the team brings to the area?

IS IT TRUE that we are sure that the Evansville IceMen have more options than the City of Evansville and we need to be reasonable in negotiating with them in order to keep them here?

IS IT TRUE todays “Readers Poll” question is; Do you feel that the Mayor playing hard ball with the Evansville Icemen is the best way to encourage them to stay in Evansville?

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22 COMMENTS

  1. Good luck telling the mayor anything,it’s evident he doesn’t give a darn about Evansville,only what’s in it for himself and his cronies

  2. The City played financial hardball with Mesker Amphitheater and we know how that turned out.

  3. I could not care less about bush league hockey. I have my doubts as to how many people who were born and raised in southern Indiana care about the game.

    Why not start up something like the “Midwest Cities Amateur Basketball League”? Any city in the defined area can field a team. Then we can schedule games for the arena and back a REAL HOME TEAM.

    • ” I have my doubts as to how many people who were born and raised in southern Indiana care about the game.”

      I’m not a fan either, but it seems like the Icemen have a pretty solid following, especially since (as you indirectly point out) there isn’t exactly a ready-made hockey tradition in this part of the country. Anectdotally, it appears that the development of junior and other recreational league hockey teams is rather robust, and Swonder is as busy as ever. It would be interesting to see if there has been substantial increase in Swonder’s attendance since the Icemen came to town.

      As far as basketball, I genuinely think it is ‘yesterday’s sport’ in this part of Indiana. Football, soccer, and upcoming sports like lacrosse seem much more on the radar nowadays. Lots of people still follow IU and UK, etc., but those are very established, traditional programs. I wouldn’t want to bet much money that a non-university affiliated amateur basketball league would be self-sufficient.

      • Amateur sports would be great, and would give each citizen a chance to cut the government out of the equation. Imagine an amateur basketball team supported by individual donations of money, supplies, and possibly even transportation for away games. They would play in a league that they created, and under their agreed upon rules and regulations. Hometown pride in the team would fill the seats in every city. How much amateur talent do you think we have right here in Vanderburgh county? I think we could field a team as good or better than any other county in Indiana, and it sure as hell would be a lot more fun to watch and root for your team.

  4. I will combine my previous posts concerning the Ford Center and Mr. Geary—

    Geary –now wants the taxpayers to subsidize his Icemen Business,–that is to say–PAY him to so he can keep his failing business afloat with the Hard Earned Money that the citizenry WORKS for everyday to pay their bills,–Food, Clothing, Shelter, Schooling for their Children, gas for their car, Medical bills,–and yes, Taxes.
    The CCO is correct in their observation of the never changing situation,–The Ford Center continues to be a Rat Hole for the Public Treasury,–No matter how you cut the Cheese,–but Taxpayers be Damned,–Geary deserves HIS Cheese from the “Deal”,—and that’s the important thing.—Isn’t it?
    The CCO’s rational for Bending Over the Taxpayers even further to pay Mr. Geary “Tribute” to keep his business failure going, on the backs of the Citizenry, is nothing less than Cheer leading for Corporate Welfare.
    I find it Disgusting!

    • Agree. He’s a businessman and if his product isn’t good enough to sustain itself, he should move it to wherever he wants. I don’t care anything about hockey and sure don’t want my tax dollars propping us his business.

  5. I’d bet my life Geary is a right winger who routinely makes fun of the less fortunate and calls them lazy freeloaders. Now here he is ready to suckle on the taxpayer funded tit.

    • Bob, there is plenty of taxpayer blood and milk to go around. There is no reason to fear that you will lose your place at the udder.

      J. Coddington “Comrade Hugo” Fetlock IV
      Maximum co-coordinator
      Organizing for Idiocy
      Evansville Cell

      • MJG, you are a pro at getting freebies. Are you still masquerading as a clergyman? Get clean, sober, and get a real job! Say “hi” to your Log Cabin Republican pals!

  7. I believe I read that the Ice Men are drawing fewer and fewer people to downtown as time goes by. It appears to me that with only twenty some occasions per year that they play at the Ford Center, their overall impact is negligible. I suspect they are falling victim to the free market, and Mr. Geary is beating a dead horse, at least in this location. He can’t squeeze enough money out of the City to make it a paying enterprise and the fans aren’t here. I wish him good luck finding a venue with more profit potential and I wish the Mayor good luck finding another “pigeon” to attempt to save face for the City for another year or two.

    • The Icemen report an average attendance of 4,880 through 18 games this year. We know that 1,000 of those are giveaways from the interviews. Here is the reality. The Icemen need additional revenue to survive and not bleed the city dry. Piecing together some statements that they have made they seem to need about $600,000 per year extra to be able to sustain the operation. So if they have a 33 game schedule there are just over 100,000 paying customers per year. Geary needs $6 more from each attendee or he needs to double the paid attendance at current pricing. Evansville will not fill the Ford Center every game for hockey so #2 is a pipe dream. Simple solution is to double the ticket prices for the rest of this year and see what happens. If gate receipts double, they have a business model. If not, hockey will end in Evansville. Finally, any new owner would have to be an idiot to follow this 5 years experiment to town.

      • I checked the league website, which gave a figure of 4160 people per game this year. That is down from 5019 in 2014-15. I wonder if the disparity in the figures has anything to do with “comped” tickets. I know they give away tons of them.

  8. Does anybody know how much rent the Aces pay per game to play compared to the Icemen? Icemen avg. attendence is 1000 more per game … who brings more money downtown????

    • Geary is rich. If he wants a pet hockey team, he should pay for it. Leave it to somebody like him to want us to pay for his hobby.

    • I doubt that either of them bring enough money downtown to matter. Have you noticed that only a couple of bars seem to be on solid financial ground down there? Josh Armstrong and the Chamber failed at the big restaurant give-away. I wonder if the new burger joint in the old Greyhound station might have fallen heir to some of those goodies, and I hope it “makes it.” There is no doubt in my mind that it would succeed on the far east, north, or maybe even west sides. I think you’ll find that the majority of the crowds for the Ice Men and the Aces get the hell out of downtown after the game and go to their regular haunts for drinks and/or a bite to eat.

  10. So Mr. Geary got between 72,000 and 75,000 people downtown at night to spend money. None of the other boondoggles the city has spent money on has done that.

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