Cefcu arena

[Total Red]

I only went to one concert in Horton but damn it was a good one. John Mellenkamp and Heart. Fall of '81 I believe. John (may have been Cougar back then, not sure) didn't mind being the opening act. He climbed up on the amps and danced and clapped and rocked the place. He's from smalltown Indiana so a barn on the prairie like Horton suited him just fine. Heart looked a little road weary but they had me at the first Nancy Wilson leg kick.

All of that would make me feel very old if it were not for the fact that I just saw Ann Wilson at the Illinois State Fair two months ago. Forty-one years later and age 72 - Annie is still cranking out classic rock and her voice is still there. Hey, Hey, my my

 

[fdbird83]

I only went to one concert in Horton but damn it was a good one. John Mellenkamp and Heart. Fall of '81 I believe. John (may have been Cougar back then, not sure) didn't mind being the opening act. He climbed up on the amps and danced and clapped and rocked the place. He's from smalltown Indiana so a barn on the prairie like Horton suited him just fine. Heart looked a little road weary but they had me at the first Nancy Wilson leg kick.

All of that would make me feel very old if it were not for the fact that I just saw Ann Wilson at the Illinois State Fair two months ago. Forty-one years later and age 72 - Annie is still cranking out classic rock and her voice is still there. Hey, Hey, my my

Did she play with ZZ Top at the fair? She opened for them at the Iowa State Fair.

 

[Total Red]

Did she play with ZZ Top at the fair? She opened for them at the Iowa State Fair.

She opened for Sammy Hagar and the Circle. Sammy was good too. Both Ann and Sammy played a Led Zepplin song. Jason Bonham is the drummer for The Circle. Jason is the son of the late Led Zepplin drummer John Bonham.

 

[redball]

The Board of Trustees approved the resolution this morning with one "no" vote. No formal presentation was made outside of the written resolution.
During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, two student athletics, Melinda Fisher, and Doug Collins (yes, DC) spoke in favor of the naming. Collins also spoke with optimism of current ISU President, AD, and coach Pedon.

AD Brennan did respond to questions:
- what the rights money will go towards
- a third party firm (outside of Learfield) evaluated the market
- he has rec'd no negative emails and our top donors are thankful
- proposed name is CEFCU Arena Home of Redbirds

You can listen for yourself here (approx 5min mark for comments, 1:07:00 for naming)

 

[Hamdonger]

Thank you REDBALL!!

 

[Hamdonger]

We are so lucky to have Doug Collins. He's a true ambassador for everyone associated with Illinois State. Not super excited about this deal but realize that upwards of 2.5M is a lot of money. I AM excited about the direction of our University.

 

[isuquinndog]

- proposed name is CEFCU Arena Home of Redbirds

Wha? That's even worse than just CEFCU Arena

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I did not read every post leading up to this, so this may be old news. Baltimore Bird was back on campus for Homecoming. I was able to talk to the President for a few minutes. At the time, I did not know about CEFCU. She brought it up and was very excited, but for a different reason. She said ISU has traditionally done very poorly in the Peoria area with our alumni and the population in general. She believes CEFCU with get ISU more brand recognition in that market and help ISU. This move was done for more than just the $3M+. That was an interesting take.

 

[Redbird222]

Elton John rocked Horton Field House 50 years ago

Wearing a green sequined suit, platform shoes, and rounded white-rimmed glasses, 25-year-old Elton John electrified Horton Field House’s capacity crowd with a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle of theatrical musicianship 50 years ago.

news.illinoisstate.edu

 

[WSpringsBird]

We are so lucky to have Doug Collins. He's a true ambassador for everyone associated with Illinois State. Not super excited about this deal but realize that upwards of 2.5M is a lot of money. I AM excited about the direction of our University.

I feel the same way. New college of engineering. Big focus on producing people who can take cybersecurity jobs. They seem to have a real plan to recruit international students. A lot of these initiatives should have come to fruition a long time ago, of course, but I'm glad to see the progress now. I just think it's a much better-managed university than it was when most of us attended.

 

[dpdoughbird06]

I feel the same way. New college of engineering. Big focus on producing people who can take cybersecurity jobs. They seem to have a real plan to recruit international students. A lot of these initiatives should have come to fruition a long time ago, of course, but I'm glad to see the progress now. I just think it's a much better-managed university than it was when most of us attended.

I thought it was well-managed by Boschini and then Al Bowman. They got a lot of new buildings approved and kept enrollment strong in some trying times. But I love how under President Kinsey we’re aggressively evolving with the times and trying to stay ahead of where the highest-demand jobs are going to be in the future.

 

[jbird]

CEFCU may have second thoughts about paying for naming rights; I'm not sure if you are getting your bang for your buck if people don't even know what you are or what you do.

Due to hospitalizations, I have not attended a Redbird game this year, but was able to watch today's game vs. Belmont on TV. On 3 occasions, the announcers failed to pronounce CEFCU, but instead referred to it as if it was a string of 5 random letters, calling it C-E-F-C-U Arena.

 

[WoodlandWarrior]

At Horton I saw Sha Na Na,, the Temptations, and J. Geils Band.

 

[Adunk33]

CEFCU may have second thoughts about paying for naming rights; I'm not sure if you are getting your bang for your buck if people don't even know what you are or what you do.

Due to hospitalizations, I have not attended a Redbird game this year, but was able to watch today's game vs. Belmont on TV. On 3 occasions, the announcers failed to pronounce CEFCU, but instead referred to it as if it was a string of 5 random letters, calling it C-E-F-C-U Arena.

Yeah, honestly, It's free money for ISU. I mentioned earlier in this thread that locals/fans will still refer to it as Redbird. I know I still do and always will.

Additionally, other than some graphics on the video board and mentions during the game, you wouldn't know they are the title sponsor of the arena. You walk in and immediately see PNC and Busey signage. Maybe there more of a transition that happens when MBB, WBB, and VB are out of season, but PNC seems to have more of a hold on "financial institution" inside RBA (see, I did it again without even thinking about it). If a casual fan went to a game and was asked "what bank do you think sponsored the area?" I'd guess about 95% would say PNC. They've got signage everywhere, and a "student athlete spotlight" during a timeout each game.

 

[MadBird]

Yeah, honestly, It's free money for ISU. I mentioned earlier in this thread that locals/fans will still refer to it as Redbird. I know I still do and always will.

Additionally, other than some graphics on the video board and mentions during the game, you wouldn't know they are the title sponsor of the arena. You walk in and immediately see PNC and Busey signage. Maybe there more of a transition that happens when MBB, WBB, and VB are out of season, but PNC seems to have more of a hold on "financial institution" inside RBA (see, I did it again without even thinking about it). If a casual fan went to a game and was asked "what bank do you think sponsored the area?" I'd guess about 95% would say PNC. They've got signage everywhere, and a "student athlete spotlight" during a timeout each game.

Comiskey Park.

 

[Hamdonger]

Additionally, other than some graphics on the video board and mentions during the game, you wouldn't know they are the title sponsor of the arena. You walk in and immediately see PNC and Busey signage. Maybe there more of a transition that happens when MBB, WBB, and VB are out of season, but PNC seems to have more of a hold on "financial institution" inside RBA (see, I did it again without even thinking about it). If a casual fan went to a game and was asked "what bank do you think sponsored the area?" I'd guess about 95% would say PNC. They've got signage everywhere, and a "student athlete spotlight" during a timeout each game.

Yep I've wondered about the PNC agreement and how it shakes out. Because you're right, PNC is all over sight lines. No way it's CEFCU Arena long term with all that PNC signage. I've wondered about that since the 1st game. There had to be an agreement in place about it...otherwise if I'm CEFCU...I'm screaming about it.

 

[Adunk33]

Yep I've wondered about the PNC agreement and how it shakes out. Because you're right, PNC is all over sight lines. No way it's CEFCU Arena long term with all that PNC signage. I've wondered about that since the 1st game. There had to be an agreement in place about it...otherwise if I'm CEFCU...I'm screaming about it.

I don't know the terms or anything but PNC has been engaged with ISU stuff in the arena for at least 8 years. My first "real" job out of undergrad was with them and I presented one of the "Student Athlete Spotlights" during a game back then.

 

[Birgs]

Freshman year working Yellow Shirt and putting the floor up and stage/risers over.. James Taylor on roller blades @ Olympic speed round the concourse. Epic. One of those, "no one believes you"

 

[Birdswin]

I wondered about the broadcast since the announcers were not on-site. In fact, they had one of the cameras in the upper bowl right in front of us. The girl running the camera said it was a new set-up crew and they did not know where to place the cameras.

Watching the replay - Scott Warrum saying, very deliberately - C-E-F-C-U - was extremely awkward. If he had been onsite - I am sure someone would have told him how to pronounce it properly.

 

[isuquinndog]

I mean at the top of the video board it says REDBIRD ARENA followed by a COUNTRY Financial logo so I'm sure CEFCU would want that changed first.