NFL Combine, Ice smash records

February 25, 2008
Back to TopCommentsE-mailPrint
ice photoIt was a big weekend in Indianapolis. A record 420 credentialed media poured into town to report on the NFL Scouting Combine at the RCA Dome, while a 2007-08 league-high 12,575 fans filed into Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday for the Indiana Ice’s Pack the House Night, pushing the team near the top of the U.S. Hockey League in attendance.

ESPN’s football analyst John Clayton said the media presence at the Combine has grown tremendously over the last decade and shows no signs of abating. Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sportscorp, said the Combine is just one of many unsung events that puts a favorable national spotlight on Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, the Ice’s first of two games at Conseco Fieldhouse attracted the largest crowd this season--by far--in the USHL, a top-tier amateur league for aspiring National Hockey League players.

The Ice were third in the 12-team league in attendance heading into Saturday’s game, but Ice President Michael Schupay said the Fieldhouse game should push them into second. By the time the division-leading Ice play their second game at the Fieldhouse April 5, Schupay thinks the Ice will be pushing the Lincoln, Neb., franchise for the USHL attendance lead.

The Indiana Ice have built a following here since the team was founded in 2004 by Paul Skjodt, who bought the assets of the Indianapolis Ice, a minor-league team that folded that same year. This year, the Ice are averaging more than 3,200 per game, which is only slightly behind attendance averages during the Indianapolis Ice era. The amateur team does attract some of the city’s hardcore hockey fans from the old Ice days, but there’s also a new following, team officials said. The Ice expect average attendance to climb near 4,000 as the team pursues the USHL championship in April.

“We have a big following among young adults ages 19-27 and a big following among families,” Schupay said.
ADVERTISEMENT
  • JoyceFebruary 25, 2008 1:41 PM
    It's too bad not many people in this town attend Indiana Ice games. There is never a lack of effort from these kids. This year's team is very talented and has a good chance to win the USHL championship. Maybe what is more important is that 20 out of 23 players on this team have secured Division 1 college scholarships. That is truly amazing.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • MikeFebruary 26, 2008 9:10 AM
    I don't attend the games because I never know when they are, where they play, how much it is and what time it starts. I don't think they have done a good job advertising. I am all over this town and don't really see anything except for around the fairgrounds. I wouldn't mind going though, but without something reminding me its around, I won't even go to the website. Hell, I hear more advertising for the NapTown Roller Girls Derby league and have gone to three of their bouts.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment

Post a comment to this blog

COMMENTS POLICY
We reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is obscene, profane, vulgar, racist, sexually explicit, abusive, or hateful.
 
You are legally responsible for what you post and your anonymity is not guaranteed.
 
Posts that insult, defame, threaten, harass or abuse other readers or people mentioned in IBJ editorial content are also subject to removal. Please respect the privacy of individuals and refrain from posting personal information.
 
No solicitations, spamming or advertisements are allowed. Readers may post links to other informational websites that are relevant to the topic at hand, but please do not link to objectionable material.
 
We may remove messages that are unrelated to the topic, encourage illegal activity, use all capital letters or are unreadable.
 

Messages that are flagged by readers as objectionable will be reviewed and may or may not be removed. Please do not flag a post simply because you disagree with it.

ADVANCED SEARCH
Sponsored by
ADVERTISEMENT

  1. As a St. Vincent employee of over 20 years, I am saddened and disheartened by this announcement. Unfortunately, as the healthcare "industry" continues on this political and corporate path, all that St. Vincent Hospital has stood for spiritually for its employees and this community is being sucked dry. I know it truly has no choice. It is not just Obamacare or just competition or just any single thing. This trend started long before I was even born when the government became involved in healthcare and it became an "industry." I grieve for those who will lose their jobs, one of whom may be me, but I also grieve for this hospital which I have served for over 20 years. May God give us and it the grace to withstand the future of healthcare.

  2. Why do people constantly harp on this issue and act ignorant about what a city population measures? A city's population is the city's population. There is no argument or debate about it. If you want to measure the density of a city--measure it. If you want to measure the size of a metropolitan area, then measure the metropolitan population. City boundaries cover different sized areas--and they always have (though the disparity has probably increased since about 1900 or so when more cities began annexing their surrounding communities). For example, San Francisco only covers 49 square miles while Houston cover nearly 600 square miles. No one argues about the population rankings of either city even though they clearly cover extremely different sized areas. Indianapolis is the 13 largest city by population in the U.S. That is a fact. While the population of a metropolitan area may give you a better sense of how large a community is, as noted, even metro areas can vary widely in the size of geographic area they cover--so that is not a perfect comparison either.

  3. If Whole Foods went in, I doubt the Nora one would stay open, and with all those customers coming to Broad Ripple traffic would be horrible, and forget about a run to the grocery on weekend nights. I think concern over the number of apartments is misplaced, but the 400 space parking garage has me concerned - someone needs to ask the developer just how much traffic they think this development is going to generate. I am not against more neighborhood residents, but heavy commercial traffic going in and out at that location sounds like a mess.

  4. I thought everyone was innocent until guilt was proven. Seems people have already convicted Reggie in the press. My nephew was a good kid and is a good man, more to this story im sure

  5. Going by the Marion County population only is of little use. 13th largest? No Way! To judge the real size of a metro area, the easy way is to look at the Arbitron rating list. Indianapolis hovers around 40th largest in the nation--sometimes more, sometimes less. Advertisers want to know exactly how large the population is before they buy radio advertising. Arbitron figured it out long ago. Indianapolis is estimated at 1,427,500. The real #13 is Seattle-Tacoma with a metro population of 3,470,400. So, the population of just Marion County is completely irrelevant to anything useful as far as metro area planning.

ADVERTISEMENT