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While I think USC has some sort of Ice Hockey team, it certainly is not a major spectator sport at USC, so competition with a pro team would seem to be minimal. The largest metro in the state should be able to support an Ice Hockey team like the Inferno.
The original question remains....after three years of non play, does the Inferno really still exist?
The reason they were unable to get back into the Coliseum or allowed access to the Colonial Center is that the University of South Carolina wants nothing to do with any sporting event that would detract attention from them. That is why we lost the Capitol City Bombers and why the Carolina Panthers played in Clemson instead of Columbia. For some reason the brain-trust of USC athletics does not seem to realize the revenue the school could earn by working with these franchise teams.
The reason they were unable to get back into the Coliseum or allowed access to the Colonial Center is that the University of South Carolina wants nothing to do with any sporting event that would detract attention from them. That is why we lost the Capitol City Bombers and why the Carolina Panthers played in Clemson instead of Columbia. For some reason the brain-trust of USC athletics does not seem to realize the revenue the school could earn by working with these franchise teams.
The Inferno used the Coliseum for free - all USC got was revenue from concessions. Why should it be up to the University to subsidize for-profit businesses?
The reason they were unable to get back into the Coliseum or allowed access to the Colonial Center is that the University of South Carolina wants nothing to do with any sporting event that would detract attention from them. That is why we lost the Capitol City Bombers and why the Carolina Panthers played in Clemson instead of Columbia. For some reason the brain-trust of USC athletics does not seem to realize the revenue the school could earn by working with these franchise teams.
Carolina's athletic department has revenues in excess of $80m annually, and this figure is likely to go up a lot with the new SEC contract. Any revenue generated by renting Carolina facilities to a minor league team is not going to make a lot for Carolina. Besides, it's not worth the scheduling hassle to fit a minor league team into a university building. As WAC said, it is not Carolina's goal to assist a minor league team financially. I think minor league baseball would work, minor league hockey has struggled in other SC cities.
The Greenville Road Warriors are a professional minor league ice hockey team located in Greenville, South Carolina. The team is a member of the ECHL and play their home games at the BI-LO Center in downtown Greenville.The franchise had previously played as the Johnstown Chiefs from the ECHL's inception in 1988 until the team's relocation in 2010. The Road Warriors are the second ECHL franchise to play in Greenville, as the city hosted the Greenville Grrrowl from 1998 until 2006. The team is affiliated with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League and the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League.
The South Carolina Stingrays are a professional minor league ice hockey team located in Charleston, South Carolina. The Stingrays play in the South Division of the ECHL’s Eastern Conference. They play their home games at the North Charleston Coliseum. Established in 1993, the team has been owned by a conglomerate of local business owners since 1995. The team was affiliated with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League starting in 2004 and ending in July 2012 when the Capitals announced their affiliation with the ECHL's Reading Royals. On July 25, 2012, the Stingrays announced an affiliation deal with the NHL's Boston Bruins and their AHL affiliate Providence Bruins.
I say USC does not want any other game(s) in town except theirs. I say USC goes behind the scenes to stop other sport teams.
Were I in USC's shoes, I would do the same thing. It is Economics 101.
I agree with your reasoning with one exception. I don't think USC goes out of their way to stop other minor league teams, I think its more along the lines of USC does nothing to assist a minor league team. These minor league teams come into town looking for a handout, and everyone immediately says, "Oh, USC should share their facilities with them!". You're absolutely right in that USC has nothing to gain from another team in town, but more importantly, they have nothing to gain from sharing their own facilities. They don't need the small revenue another team would provide and it isn't worth the hassle with scheduling. I think it's less that they are actively going behind the scenes to stop them, and more that they just flat out refuse to even consider assisting, and that's an important distinction.
The Inferno used the Coliseum for free - all USC got was revenue from concessions. Why should it be up to the University to subsidize for-profit businesses?
I'd be interested for you to source this as that's the complete opposite of what I've heard from friends who worked for the team's front office. According to them, the breakdown was that the Inferno paid rent to the University and USC took all concessions and parking revenues and a portion of the ticket revenues. The team kept all revenues from corporate signage. The only real subsidy they got from the University was that the University covered the water bill.
I'd be interested for you to source this as that's the complete opposite of what I've heard from friends who worked for the team's front office. According to them, the breakdown was that the Inferno paid rent to the University and USC took all concessions and parking revenues and a portion of the ticket revenues. The team kept all revenues from corporate signage. The only real subsidy they got from the University was that the University covered the water bill.
The coliseum generates about $200,000 in annual revenue, Kenyon said.
That’s up from about $50,000 a year during the time when the Inferno was a tenant. The hockey team tied up dates and, under their agreement with the school, were not paying rent, Kenyon said.
USC may have received parking and concession revenue, but obviously it wasn't much. It makes more money now without the Inferno.
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