I figured they were finally going to finally try and expand Swisher Gym.
But I doubt it. Because on social media, they been teasing images of downtown Jacksonville and #bebold.
QuoteJACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University Athletic Department would like to invite all of its supporters to a Special Announcement set to be held at Swisher Gymnasium on Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
During this event, fans will have the opportunity to sit alongside student-athletes, coaches, University faculty and staff, University constituents and others as Senior Vice President and Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert makes an announcement that will have a lasting effect on Jacksonville University as well as the entire Jacksonville community for years to come. Ricker-Gilbert will be joined by Senior Vice President for Communications & Marketing, Scott Bacon. Each will speak to the importance of this Special Announcement and the impact it will have.
Following the announcement, all of those in attendance are invited to attend an event outside the Kinne Center where food, games, gear and other prizes will be available.
http://www.judolphins.com/general/2018-19/releases/20180814kqaa6c
Today's release pretty much spells it out. Far less intriguing than the teaser you posted haha. Basically just unveiling a new brand with new logos.
http://www.judolphins.com/general/2018-19/releases/20180821ehkyop
Interesting, lol. Too bad. I like the jumping dolphin.
Quote from: pierre on August 21, 2018, 08:35:29 AM
Quotean announcement that will have a lasting effect on Jacksonville University as well as the entire Jacksonville community for years to come.
Whoever wrote this line should either be fired or promoted. It really got people talking!
I was grilling my friend who works at JU yesterday and she said the only thing she knew of at that event was the new logo. I was hoping she was wrong.
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 22, 2018, 11:42:57 AM
Quote from: pierre on August 21, 2018, 08:35:29 AM
Quotean announcement that will have a lasting effect on Jacksonville University as well as the entire Jacksonville community for years to come.
Whoever wrote this line should either be fired or promoted. It really got people talking!
I was grilling my friend who works at JU yesterday and she said the only thing she knew of at that event was the new logo. I was hoping she was wrong.
Change can be difficult, Cap.
But this logo is going to change all of us. Each in different ways.
Dare I say, it could be the catalyst we've been waiting for to take Jacksonville to the #nextlevel. Possibly change the world, who knows.
Quote from: Bill Hoff on August 22, 2018, 12:03:02 PM
Quote from: Captain Zissou on August 22, 2018, 11:42:57 AM
Quote from: pierre on August 21, 2018, 08:35:29 AM
Quotean announcement that will have a lasting effect on Jacksonville University as well as the entire Jacksonville community for years to come.
game changer, perhaps?
Whoever wrote this line should either be fired or promoted. It really got people talking!
I was grilling my friend who works at JU yesterday and she said the only thing she knew of at that event was the new logo. I was hoping she was wrong.
Change can be difficult, Cap.
But this logo is going to change all of us. Each in different ways.
Dare I say, it could be the catalyst we've been waiting for to take Jacksonville to the #nextlevel. Possibly change the world, who knows.
Rookie mistake.
Under-promise and over-deliver.
Never the other way around.
More Dolphin logo changes... 8)
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1106394/thumbs/o-NEW-DOLPHINS-LOGO-570.jpg?6g)
Just saw another FB teaser. This HAS to be more than a logo change.
Quote from: Steve on August 22, 2018, 05:12:40 PM
Just saw another FB teaser. This HAS to be more than a logo change.
I think so too. But could be wishful thinking.
Quote from: copperfiend on August 23, 2018, 08:34:40 AM
Quote from: Steve on August 22, 2018, 05:12:40 PM
Just saw another FB teaser. This HAS to be more than a logo change.
I think so too. But could be wishful thinking.
Announcing a new partnership and rebranding to The Jaxson University perhaps. 8)
Wishful thinking- bringing Division 1 basketball back downtown where it belongs (instead of the worse-than-high-school gym they currently play within.. by far the worst facility in Division 1 basketball).
Fearful thinking - replacing the iconic dolphin mascot with some Jumbo Shrimp-inspired mascot/logo
Quote from: fieldafm on August 23, 2018, 09:24:32 AM
Wishful thinking- bringing Division 1 basketball back downtown where it belongs (instead of the worse-than-high-school gym they currently play within.. by far the worst facility in Division 1 basketball).
Fearful thinking - replacing the iconic dolphin mascot with some Jumbo Shrimp-inspired mascot/logo
If Jacksonville would support JU basketball, I'm sure they would happily move their home games back downtown. The reality is that JU draws FAR better in their 1,300-seat gym on campus than they did at Memorial Arena. And a crowd of 800 people - mostly students and faculty - looks a LOT better in Swisher than it does in the cavernous facility downtown.
Quote from: JBTripper on August 24, 2018, 11:46:16 AM
Quote from: fieldafm on August 23, 2018, 09:24:32 AM
Wishful thinking- bringing Division 1 basketball back downtown where it belongs (instead of the worse-than-high-school gym they currently play within.. by far the worst facility in Division 1 basketball).
Fearful thinking - replacing the iconic dolphin mascot with some Jumbo Shrimp-inspired mascot/logo
If Jacksonville would support JU basketball, I'm sure they would happily move their home games back downtown. The reality is that JU draws FAR better in their 1,300-seat gym on campus than they did at Memorial Arena. And a crowd of 800 people - mostly students and faculty - looks a LOT better in Swisher than it does in the cavernous facility downtown.
Sorry, not true.
Until the last two years preceding the move (which happened to include two awful years of on court basketball)... JU basketball downtown averaged triple the crowds of Swisher. Season ticket count is down tremendously as well and except for the UNF game and the occasional promotional game... student attendance is not very impressive at Swisher either. I've personally counted less than a dozen students in the stands at ASun conference games. Bottom line, its cheaper to hold games at Swisher... and JU clearly is ok with fielding a cheap version of D1 basketball. Swisher is an absolute joke of a facility.
Signed,
Guy that's been going to JU basketball games since 1986, former JU student athlete and (as of two years ago) former season ticket holder.
Yea, from my experience they don't draw stellar at either place. I think the right answer is an on-campus facility, but I'm not really sure.
I've been at virtually every home JU basketball game since 2013, so I've seen the arena crowds and the late Swisher crowds. In the past two years, crowds at Swisher have improved dramatically. It's only really bad over winter break or when classes are otherwise not in session... and if you follow college basketball you'll see that affect everywhere.
To your point about "triple" the crowds at the arena downtown, even if that is true it still makes zero economic sense for JU to rent the arena at $15,000 per game to sell 2,500 tickets at $5 a pop (and forfeit all concessions revenue!).
The solution is 100% a new on-campus facility, which they would never be able to build by spending all their money renting out the downtown arena.
IT'S HAPPENING!!!!!
http://judolphins.com/general/2018-19/releases/20180827zum7ty
Well that was a bust.
Agreed. No issue with the logo, but why the shots of downtown when teasing the announcement? Makes no sense.
JU's new hot hashtag is #daretobebold
Let's get it trending people!
First rule of launching a bold new brand:
Don't label it "Bold New Brand."
Optics aside, I quite like the intent and execution.
(https://s33.postimg.cc/tb1bs2ry7/20180828_214001.jpg)
I like the new look, especially the JAX logo. But the tease just let to a big letdown.
I still don't get the shot of the stadium area and downtown.
Quote from: JBTripper on August 27, 2018, 04:32:49 PM
I've been at virtually every home JU basketball game since 2013, so I've seen the arena crowds and the late Swisher crowds. In the past two years, crowds at Swisher have improved dramatically. It's only really bad over winter break or when classes are otherwise not in session... and if you follow college basketball you'll see that affect everywhere.
To your point about "triple" the crowds at the arena downtown, even if that is true it still makes zero economic sense for JU to rent the arena at $15,000 per game to sell 2,500 tickets at $5 a pop (and forfeit all concessions revenue!).
The solution is 100% a new on-campus facility, which they would never be able to build by spending all their money renting out the downtown arena.
Been going to JU basketball games since 1986. Growing up, my neighbor was the groundskeeper for John Sessions stadium (and Terry Alexander's father). I spent many summer days on the ballfield grading the infield and remember one particular summer where they spent a good month leveling the outfield. I was paid in peanut butter and banana sandwiches and tickets to basketball games. Later became a student athlete before transferring to another school, and became a basketball season ticket holder once I moved back to Jax as an adult. I have watched crowds of student, alumni and general basketball fans alike (and intimately knew the real ticket counts) at JU games over nearly three decades
Your numbers are off. Also important to note that sports isn't a revenue driver for JU. So whether they make $1,000 on basketball games or not wouldn't have anything to do with erecting a legitimate on-campus facility. You don't go into debt to build facilities at the mid-major level and expect the program to pay for a stadium over a normal amortization schedule. You raise money up front from private donors and foundations in order to pay for the facilities. President Cost has done a phenomenal job of raising money and upgrading the campus from top to bottom. He is also charging head first into supporting efforts to help the surrounding Arlington neighborhood (he has personally introduced developers to Arlington that have invested in building new apartments, commercial and single family homes). I hope that one day there is a huge statue of the man erected on campus. He is a phenomenal asset to JU. I personally admire him very much.
Swisher is worse than the majority of high school gyms around town... it is literally the worst facility in D1 basketball. We both agree on the need for a legitimate on campus stadium. The school is undergoing a capital raise to build a basketball-specific practice and office facility that should break ground next year. It doesn't appear that there is much of an appetite to launch a capital raise for an actual basketball stadium, however. Estimates have put the price tag at over $30mm. As good as Cost has been for JU (he and his wife personally paid for the video boards inside Swisher), he has made a business decision to not go all in on basketball.
JU has a proud basketball heritage, one that should be celebrated better by the entire community. It cannot be celebrated nor embraced in Swisher. It is an absolute shame that Swisher is the home for JU basketball, and I for one cannot support the cheapening of a basketball program I have loved since I was a kid. I gave up my season tickets, and aside from attending an occasional home game at that pathetic gym once or twice a season... I choose to watch the games now from my Ipad via ESPN3.
I like the new logo.
Quote from: fieldafm on August 29, 2018, 08:37:53 AM
Quote from: JBTripper on August 27, 2018, 04:32:49 PM
I've been at virtually every home JU basketball game since 2013, so I've seen the arena crowds and the late Swisher crowds. In the past two years, crowds at Swisher have improved dramatically. It's only really bad over winter break or when classes are otherwise not in session... and if you follow college basketball you'll see that affect everywhere.
To your point about "triple" the crowds at the arena downtown, even if that is true it still makes zero economic sense for JU to rent the arena at $15,000 per game to sell 2,500 tickets at $5 a pop (and forfeit all concessions revenue!).
The solution is 100% a new on-campus facility, which they would never be able to build by spending all their money renting out the downtown arena.
Been going to JU basketball games since 1986. Growing up, my neighbor was the groundskeeper for John Sessions stadium (and Terry Alexander's father). I spent many summer days on the ballfield grading the infield and remember one particular summer where they spent a good month leveling the outfield. I was paid in peanut butter and banana sandwiches and tickets to basketball games. Later became a student athlete before transferring to another school, and became a basketball season ticket holder once I moved back to Jax as an adult. I have watched crowds of student, alumni and general basketball fans alike (and intimately knew the real ticket counts) at JU games over nearly three decades
Your numbers are off. Also important to note that sports isn't a revenue driver for JU. So whether they make $1,000 on basketball games or not wouldn't have anything to do with erecting a legitimate on-campus facility. You don't go into debt to build facilities at the mid-major level and expect the program to pay for a stadium over a normal amortization schedule. You raise money up front from private donors and foundations in order to pay for the facilities. President Cost has done a phenomenal job of raising money and upgrading the campus from top to bottom. He is also charging head first into supporting efforts to help the surrounding Arlington neighborhood (he has personally introduced developers to Arlington that have invested in building new apartments, commercial and single family homes). I hope that one day there is a huge statue of the man erected on campus. He is a phenomenal asset to JU. I personally admire him very much.
Swisher is worse than the majority of high school gyms around town... it is literally the worst facility in D1 basketball. We both agree on the need for a legitimate on campus stadium. The school is undergoing a capital raise to build a basketball-specific practice and office facility that should break ground next year. It doesn't appear that there is much of an appetite to launch a capital raise for an actual basketball stadium, however. Estimates have put the price tag at over $30mm. As good as Cost has been for JU (he and his wife personally paid for the video boards inside Swisher), he has made a business decision to not go all in on basketball.
JU has a proud basketball heritage, one that should be celebrated better by the entire community. It cannot be celebrated nor embraced in Swisher. It is an absolute shame that Swisher is the home for JU basketball, and I for one cannot support the cheapening of a basketball program I have loved since I was a kid. I gave up my season tickets, and aside from attending an occasional home game at that pathetic gym once or twice a season... I choose to watch the games now from my Ipad via ESPN3.
Not supporting JU in their home gym is certainly your prerogative. It's a crappy place to watch a basketball game. My point was that JU essentially had no choice but to, as you say, cheapen, its basketball program because support was not there for JU basketball at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
I understand better than most how the financials of college athletics work, and that JU is never going to make money on its athletic program until it gets invited to join a power conference with a lucrative TV contract (never, ever). I also understand that you can spend upwards of $15,000 to play a basketball game in front of 1,000 people, or you can spend $0 to play a basketball game in front of 800 people. That's a no-brainer. With 8-10 home games a year, you can save enough cash for a couple of assistant coaches. Or maybe rent a practice facility since there is only one basketball court for two teams (and intramurals!) on campus.
Financials aside, the benefit to JU in playing downtown boiled down to recruiting. When the crowds got so bad downtown that playing there looked arguably worse than playing in Swisher, they had to make the move. Plus playing in that "historic" facility sort of highlights the need for an on-campus facility. So look at it as a fund-raising strategy if you choose to reject the cost savings.
I also like the new logos.
I like the logos. Full disclosure, I'm a UNF guy.
Quote from: Tacachale on August 29, 2018, 02:57:02 PM
I like the logos. Full disclosure, I'm a UNF guy.
wait, really?