Creighton to play Baseball Downtown and Sarpy Stadiums

Post by **Brad** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:18 pm

Creighton to Play Baseball Downtown and Sarpy Stadiums

Trenton and Jeff said on Saturday's Grow Omaha Radio Program that Creighton will play baseball at the downtown stadium and a few games at the Royals new stadium... Interesting.

DTO Luv · Post by **DTO Luv** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:25 pm

thenewguy · Post by **thenewguy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:03 pm

you know, they don't HAVE to play out there to make anyone happy. Â It's ok if they just play downtown, really.

Post by **Brad** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:05 pm

Its called GROWING your fan base...

You have a couple of smaller series, why not play them out there. Â Its a chance to show people in LaVista, Papillion and Gretna what you offer... Â There are a lot of people in Omaha who will not go downtown for any reason because they are still mad at the Qwest Center and TDA Stadium.

OmahaJaysCU · Post by **OmahaJaysCU** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:17 pm

I absolutely hate this idea. Â Quite possibly one of the worst ideas ever if you ask me. Â They need a home on campus, not a traveling side show.

StreetsOfOmaha · Post by **StreetsOfOmaha** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:34 pm

Brad wrote:Its called GROWING your fan base...

You have a couple of smaller series, why not play them out there. Its a chance to show people in LaVista, Papillion and Gretna what you offer... There are a lot of people in Omaha who will not go downtown for any reason because they are still mad at the Qwest Center and TDA Stadium.

Right, and those types of attitudes should not be rewarded.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:08 am

THIS IDEA SUCKS!!!!

And Im not a DT or surburbs supporter Im just a Creighton baseball fan and this sucks. We can't be playing games at two different home fields, not only will it be a disadvantage but it will be a hassle on the players and horrible for practicing. We need a home, not two homes.

Im all for playing a game or 2 in Sarpy to grow the fan base but traveling 20 miles of campus to play half the schedule is the worst idea Creighton athletics has had in a long time. Its bad enough we have to play in a 24,000 seat stadium but to make it worse we have to travel now for the other half of the games.

S33 · Post by **S33** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:09 am

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
Brad wrote:Its called GROWING your fan base...

You have a couple of smaller series, why not play them out there. Its a chance to show people in LaVista, Papillion and Gretna what you offer... There are a lot of people in Omaha who will not go downtown for any reason because they are still mad at the Qwest Center and TDA Stadium.
Right, and those types of attitudes should not be rewarded.

They're not rewarding attitudes. They are trying to run a business. (yes, college athletics is a business)

Bosco55David · Post by **Bosco55David** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:17 am

StreetsOfOmaha wrote:
Brad wrote:Its called GROWING your fan base...

You have a couple of smaller series, why not play them out there. Its a chance to show people in LaVista, Papillion and Gretna what you offer... There are a lot of people in Omaha who will not go downtown for any reason because they are still mad at the Qwest Center and TDA Stadium.
Right, and those types of attitudes should not be rewarded.

I agree. If they're so anti-progressive then they can stay out in their little suburban podunk towns. We Omaha people will take and enjoy all the cool stuff. Â :yes:

Post by **Brad** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 9:48 am

But looking at the glass half full, what if they were able to go out to Sarpy County and convince people its worth driving downtown to see a game.

More importantly, I just thought of this. Â There are a lot of people in Sarpy county that drive all the way to Lincoln to watch NU baseball, what if they are trying to convince them to support the local team? Â Might be a smart move…

Post by **nebugeater** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:06 am

....What if it works so well that after a year or two they play all their games in Sarpy County.....

Brad wrote:But looking at the glass half full, what if they were able to go out to Sarpy County and convince people its worth driving downtown to see a game.

More importantly, I just thought of this. There are a lot of people in Sarpy county that drive all the way to Lincoln to watch NU baseball, what if they are trying to convince them to support the local team? Might be a smart move…

OmahaJaysCU · Post by **OmahaJaysCU** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:33 am

The fact that the athletic department is actually taking this idea seriously is laughable. Â A true home field advantage is more important in baseball than any other sport. Â Players need to be able to practice on their home field every day, learn the wind patterns, learn the bounces off of the dirt, learn how the field plays. Â Right now it looks like the team will practice on an on campus facility, play some of its games downtown, and some of its games in Sarpy County. Â This is just a recipe for disaster. Â

The marketing guys on the Hilltop need to realize that you absolutely cannot market baseball in the same way that they have marketed CU Basketball. Â For 3 of the 4 months of the season, home games are played in very cold conditions. Â What family will want to bring their kids to a ballpark on a cold March afternoon to see Creighton take on South Dakota State? Â No one. Â The fact is that the athletic department needs to be more focused on building a program that wins consistently rather than try and market the game. Â That is how Nebraska did it. Â They built a strong baseball fan base almost completely out of thin air several years ago because they won games. Â They didn't try and market the team to build support, they simply went out and won. Â

Creighton needs to do that and the absolute best way to get that done is through building a small, 2,000 seat stadium on campus with the indoor cage, video rooms, the works. Â Yeah it takes a lot of money to get things like that done, but look at the support they received for the Sokol Arena. Â No one really gave a $hit about women's basketball and volleyball at Creighton. Â But yet they were able to build support for the arena and now the fans are coming. Â There is no doubt in my mind that baseball would be the same way.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:56 am

Creighton baseball just isn't consistant enough to get people that excited about their team. I honestly don't think it matters where they play, with the exception of one week a year, Omaha isn't a baseball town.

OmahaBen · Post by **OmahaBen** » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:18 am

OmahaJaysCU wrote:No one really gave a $hit about women's basketball and volleyball at Creighton. But yet they were able to build support for the arena and now the fans are coming. There is no doubt in my mind that baseball would be the same way.

Of course an on-campus arena can be used for a multitude of other events (such as winter graduation), it lets men's basketball claim the entire old gym as their own, and it can help consolidate the remaining athletic offices. Oh yeah, it finally provides locker rooms for Morrison Stadium so Creighton can host NCAA soccer games.

And on-campus baseball stadium can only be used for one thing, and the money just isn't there at this point in time.