Dear Tim Kenney,
It comes as no surprise that the overwhelming majority of fans are disappointed with the courtside seats. Hidden in the outburst of frustration was the fact that the fans are excited about most of the seating plan with obvious exception to the row blocking students. The goal of this letter is to shed light onto real concerns and a solution that may have been incorrectly categorized as “fear of change”.
Few Bonaventure fans deny the A-10 pressure, even though Saint Joseph’s University appears to be ok with not doing anything. We have to trust “status quo is not an option”. We understand the need to explore all paths of revenue. Tim, the anger is not against change in tradition or change in general. The anger is against the idea that there is no other option but to destroy the one strategic advantage the Reilly Center has. Below is a plan that will resolve these issues.
•Keep almost everything about the current proposal with only a minor adjustment to about 20 seats.
•Dedicate all of the 20 seats in front of the student section for student use only.
•Give away or even charge $5 per ticket per game for these seats, tickets can be sold in packs of 2 or 4 and students get right to purchase through lottery system
•Alternatively: only allow student groups to purchase tickets (honor society, rugby, ROTC)
•All tickets will be sold with name of group or individual and will not be transferable
•When school is not in session offer tickets to the public for market price.
The Benefits:
•All Bona faithful are ecstatic that students keep their court.
•Appeases “A-10 pressure”
•Athletic Department has an incredible new tool to control the most visible part of our student section in controlling who is in the front row.
•Provides a great way to invigorate students. Imagine the excitement of student competitions during a “midnight madness” event to show Bona loyalty with the winner(s) getting season courtside seats in front of their peers.
•During a court storm situation we don’t have to worry about a 70-year-old donor and his grandson getting trampled by inebriated 20 year olds.
•Athletic Department is not put in a situation where they won’t have to weigh wealthy donors complaints about behavior against a rowdy student section.
The above plan is a huge opportunity for the entire athletic department to bring fans together, build our brand and satisfy the A-10.
Ultimately, without the changes stated above, the new seating proposal will only exacerbate already trying times for St. Bonaventure. Barring a miraculous $10 million donation, it is the sum of seemingly small decisions like this one that will define our university’s future. Unfortunately, your decision is “status quo” in the history of the school’s all-too-common shortsighted decisions.
Some have suggested waiting and seeing the results of your decision through this upcoming season. The problem is your decision will, in all likelihood, not have a measurable impact in just one season. However, after the confusion and anger has quelled is when the perils of your decision will appear and by then it might be too late. Your new seat plan creates a culture that significantly depreciates the student’s priority. The students will feel this, which will overtime crush the energy and lead to lower attendance. Simply put, your new seat plan is telling current and prospective students “loud and clear” that they don’t matter.
At The University of Massachusetts, where they have the advantage of an urban economy, state funding, large enrollment, football and a myriad of other revenue streams, students may not have necessarily mattered for revenue. An example of this is the lack-luster and energy-less general seating and student sections of the Mullins Center. Despite this reputation, because of its other advantages. The Mullins Center brings in a lot of revenue. For St. Bonaventure, without the benefit of UMass- type advantages, students need to be the soul and financial marketing point for any sort of successful Reilly Center revenue strategy.
I hope you understand the unique role as an athletic director for St. Bonaventure. We are a school that has forever been the punching bag and the odd one out in a NCAA Division I environment figuratively built against us. We will never get the A-10 versus ACC game at The Barclays Center, we will never get Syracuse to play in the RC and we have never received the best conference prime-time television games. We understand Bonaventure’s position and know that at times we need to fall in line, but we are tired of being the whipping post of the big-boys club. We need someone to fight and show we are not going to bend over backwards every time a big brother comes crying. Time to focus on our few advantages and stand by them. Time to tell the revenue darlings of the A-10 that we will adjust but we are not going to just give away our one last competitive advantage.
The Reilly Center is not Cameron Indoor Stadium, nor will it ever be. The country is filled with universities making feeble attempts to be weaker, much less exciting, versions of Cameron Indoor. Why strive for this? Having a rowdy student section on the court the Reilly Center has something awesome and a competitive advantage Cameron Indoor does not. With students on the court, we have something that is innately Bonaventure, something we can market as different. Why give that up? While not directly quantifiable it’s foolish to undervalue the incredible competitive edge and long-term financial benefit of students on the court.
The real problem with your decision is when you get down to the reality of the situation. This not about safety. The athletic department by its own admission says nothing will stop a court storm. This is not about misleading revenue enhancements which the athletic department will not disclose details about. This is about competitors using conference power to complain about being uncomfortable and at a disadvantage playing in our gym. Nothing is ever perfectly safe, and we all know it. If a row of seats will keep the A-10 happy why not protect our brand, and put students in the seats in front of the student section?
Tim, as the athletic director, we need you to do more than run athletics. We need you to embrace St. Bonaventure; be creative, stand by what works and use that to move us forward. In a time when Bonaventure is struggling for enrollment, we need to embrace our singularities, not hide from them. Easy solutions are never common here, but it’s creative and big time thinking that will move us forward.
It seems appropriate to finish with words from an inspiring letter to the Alumni from Sister Margaret Carney, O.F.S. and Board of Trustees Chair Robert Daugherty where they beg of us,
‘Think Different’ Apple proclaimed nearly 20 years ago, and we need to do the same – all of us”
In a world where Canisius, Niagara, and Colorado School of the Mines are failing at filling up courtside seats, nothing about playing copycat to them says “Think Different”. Time to walk the talk.
We need you, Tim. Lets make a change we can all be proud of. #MovingForward
Thank you for your consideration,
Mike Reilly ’08
