(01-20-2020 06:28 PM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  

(01-20-2020 02:21 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  

(01-20-2020 02:04 PM)GaSoEagle Wrote:  Ok back it up a little. The conference leader on Feb 15 or Feb 20 hosts the 6 team tourney. I guess my main point is having the top team host will increase attendance. Surely the top team on Feb 15 will be in the top 6 and in all likelihood in the top 2-3 if not the regular season champion.

If a host in announced say this year after Feb 15 there would be 4 conference games left. AfterFeb 20 and there would be 3 conference games left.

If nothing else we can all agree I think that it has to be moved out of New Orleans

Right now 3 games separates 1st place from 10th place. What if the leader on Feb 20th loses their last 3 or 4 games and ends up in 7th place and doesn't make the tournament? You have to consider all scenarios, because this can happen.

Along the same lines, what if on February 15 there is a tie involving 2 or more teams for first place that can’t yet be broken? How would we break the tie so the host site can begin prepping for the tourney? There is just no way this option would work.

Easy solution. Best bid to break ties.

I agree it has to be moved out of New Orleans. We have to find a city that will be excited to have the tourney and run it in a first class manner. A first class tournament can't be set-up with a week's notice. The fact that our fans don't travel is a serious problem. While in many ways I believe we are now a stronger conference, when we had WKU (and to a lesser extent MTSU) we had a couple of fan bases that did travel. I am, at least, somewhat hopeful that having it in more centrally located city, with significantly cheaper hotel rooms, might increase attendance. Not sure if the "horse" arena in Tunica can serve as a decent basketball venue, but you can get rooms there for $35 a night, Sunday through Thursday (of course, they do jump up on weekends). I would think hotels places like Tupelo, Huntsville, etc. would be much cheaper than New Orleans. Pensacola, if it is before Spring Break, might not be too bad either. I certainly don't have definitive solution to our tournament problems, but we do need to try something different.

(01-21-2020 12:35 AM)mjs Wrote:  I agree it has to be moved out of New Orleans. We have to find a city that will be excited to have the tourney and run it in a first class manner. A first class tournament can't be set-up with a week's notice. The fact that our fans don't travel is a serious problem. While in many ways I believe we are now a stronger conference, when we had WKU (and to a lesser extent MTSU) we had a couple of fan bases that did travel. I am, at least, somewhat hopeful that having it in more centrally located city, with significantly cheaper hotel rooms, might increase attendance. Not sure if the "horse" arena in Tunica can serve as a decent basketball venue, but you can get rooms there for $35 a night, Sunday through Thursday (of course, they do jump up on weekends). I would think hotels places like Tupelo, Huntsville, etc. would be much cheaper than New Orleans. Pensacola, if it is before Spring Break, might not be too bad either. I certainly don't have definitive solution to our tournament problems, but we do need to try something different.

I agree that Tunica would be a horrible option. We shouldn't be playing our conf tourney in a rodeo arena. Southaven would be a much better option, with a 10k arena, attached to convention center that we could set up a temporary court. People could stay in Southaven relatively cheap. There's also the option to stay 20 minutes away at the casinos in Tunica, or downtown Memphis.

Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

(01-21-2020 10:15 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

Nice suggestions, but none of those places have made a bid according to the article-

"Pensacola is not the only city in the running for hosting the conference. Pennington said other cities applying to host the tournament were Southaven, Mississippi; Beaumont, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; and Montgomery, Alabama".

Can't say any of those really piques my interest. Pensacola is okayish. Montgomery would be okay, I guess? The rest? No thanks.

I wonder if the highest bidder gets the tournament or if the "deciders" get to weigh the pros and cons of each site. Also will this be decided by AD's, chancellors, or the commissioner?

(01-21-2020 11:57 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 10:15 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

Nice suggestions, but none of those places have made a bid according to the article-

"Pensacola is not the only city in the running for hosting the conference. Pennington said other cities applying to host the tournament were Southaven, Mississippi; Beaumont, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; and Montgomery, Alabama".

Yes, the conference is looking for support from the city/community to help with the conference. This means local volunteers, marketing (newspaper/radio/TV, but also things like banners to hang on lamp posts around town), and maybe some $ incentive. Some larger markets like Atlanta may not give a flip about us coming to town. We aren't going to move the needle like the SEC tourney does. They'd rent out facilities to us if we want to pay, but they don't want to bother spending any time or resources to help us out.

(01-21-2020 03:17 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 11:57 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 10:15 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

Nice suggestions, but none of those places have made a bid according to the article-

"Pensacola is not the only city in the running for hosting the conference. Pennington said other cities applying to host the tournament were Southaven, Mississippi; Beaumont, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; and Montgomery, Alabama".

Yes, the conference is looking for support from the city/community to help with the conference. This means local volunteers, marketing (newspaper/radio/TV, but also things like banners to hang on lamp posts around town), and maybe some $ incentive. Some larger markets like Atlanta may not give a flip about us coming to town. We aren't going to move the needle like the SEC tourney does. They'd rent out facilities to us if we want to pay, but they don't want to bother spending any time or resources to help us out.

I thought it was really nice to see Sun Belt banners all over the downtown area of Hot Springs. New Orleans couldn't care less about the tourney and no one knew about it. Some business owners in the French Quarter would ask about the Little Rock "stuff" we were wearing. None had a clue that there was a basketball tournament in town.

(01-21-2020 03:17 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 11:57 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 10:15 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

Nice suggestions, but none of those places have made a bid according to the article-

"Pensacola is not the only city in the running for hosting the conference. Pennington said other cities applying to host the tournament were Southaven, Mississippi; Beaumont, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; and Montgomery, Alabama".

Yes, the conference is looking for support from the city/community to help with the conference. This means local volunteers, marketing (newspaper/radio/TV, but also things like banners to hang on lamp posts around town), and maybe some $ incentive. Some larger markets like Atlanta may not give a flip about us coming to town. We aren't going to move the needle like the SEC tourney does. They'd rent out facilities to us if we want to pay, but they don't want to bother spending any time or resources to help us out.

The SoCon made a similar mistake to leave a small town (Asheville was much less known then) after many years to chase the bigger cities. The facilities were much better (especially in Greensboro), but the tournament lost a lot of the excitement among the fans. Few people in the host cities even knew the SoCon tourney was in town. They're now back in Asheville and the crowds have returned.

(01-21-2020 03:50 PM)JTApps1 Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 03:17 PM)GoBigRed26 Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 11:57 AM)mjs Wrote:  

(01-21-2020 10:15 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  Just trying to think of places that would be excited to host a conference championship tournament:

- Greenville, South Carolina: 70 minutes outside Asheville NC where the SoCon fills a 7k arena. Greenville has *****-envy when it comes to Asheville and would probably love to have a tourney there. Greenville has a lot of tourist activities.

- Chattanooga, Tennessee: Touristy city with reasons outside basketball to go to. City residents like Bball.

- Atlanta, Georgia: Let's just do it here, please. If not in Atlanta city limits, what about a burb like Buford or Alpharetta. Both have arenas big enough to host.

Nice suggestions, but none of those places have made a bid according to the article-

"Pensacola is not the only city in the running for hosting the conference. Pennington said other cities applying to host the tournament were Southaven, Mississippi; Beaumont, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Tunica, Mississippi; and Montgomery, Alabama".

Yes, the conference is looking for support from the city/community to help with the conference. This means local volunteers, marketing (newspaper/radio/TV, but also things like banners to hang on lamp posts around town), and maybe some $ incentive. Some larger markets like Atlanta may not give a flip about us coming to town. We aren't going to move the needle like the SEC tourney does. They'd rent out facilities to us if we want to pay, but they don't want to bother spending any time or resources to help us out.

The SoCon made a similar mistake to leave a small town (Asheville was much less known then) after many years to chase the bigger cities. The facilities were much better (especially in Greensboro), but the tournament lost a lot of the excitement among the fans. Few people in the host cities even knew the SoCon tourney was in town. They're now back in Asheville and the crowds have returned.

Thanks for that input.

In order for a tournament like this to work, the locals need to be at least 1/3 of the attendance. That only happens if the city in question really gets behind it. That appears to be what the Sun Belt is looking for.

No school did a good job of bringing people to New Orleans. There were a lot of reasons for this. One is, there was something else going on almost all the time. Hotel rooms were at a premium and prices were very high, making it cost prohibitive.

But even with that, attendance around the league is very poor. Only three schools are averaging over 2,000 in attendance and, in conference play, there are two schools barely averaging 1,000. College basketball just isn't a priority among mid majors in the deep south, and hasn't been for the better part of a decade.

From everything I'm hearing, this thing is headed to Pensacola.

I try not to shamelessly self promote on this board too often, but I asked Terry Mohajir about the future tournament sites yesterday mainly due to this thread and the Pensacola newspaper article. His response was pretty interesting as far as what's on his wish list for the future site and where he'd like for it to be. The Sun Belt conversation starts around the 9-minute mark.

(01-23-2020 10:37 AM)BirdofParadise Wrote:  In order for a tournament like this to work, the locals need to be at least 1/3 of the attendance. That only happens if the city in question really gets behind it. That appears to be what the Sun Belt is looking for.

No school did a good job of bringing people to New Orleans. There were a lot of reasons for this. One is, there was something else going on almost all the time. Hotel rooms were at a premium and prices were very high, making it cost prohibitive.

But even with that, attendance around the league is very poor. Only three schools are averaging over 2,000 in attendance and, in conference play, there are two schools barely averaging 1,000. College basketball just isn't a priority among mid majors in the deep south, and hasn't been for the better part of a decade.

From everything I'm hearing, this thing is headed to Pensacola.

I assume we (LR) are one of the ones barely averaging a 1,000. It sickens me, but I don't have an answer. I guess it makes me feel a bit better knowing that most schools in the conference have a similar problem. One of my theories is that much of this is due to millennials who apparently would rather stay home and play video games, binge watch movies or TV series, and/or watch multiple games on their big screen TV's rather than attend live mid-major basketball. Most of our fans (other than students when they show up) are older and have been attending games for 35 years or more. We just don't have 25-40 year old's at our games. Do others have the same problem?

(01-23-2020 11:23 AM)Kara953 Wrote:  I try not to shamelessly self promote on this board too often, but I asked Terry Mohajir about the future tournament sites yesterday mainly due to this thread and the Pensacola newspaper article. His response was pretty interesting as far as what's on his wish list for the future site and where he'd like for it to be. The Sun Belt conversation starts around the 9-minute mark.

Thanks for posting, Kara. Very good interview. Seems like if Terry M is for Pensacola, although there are many schools closer to that location than ASU, it has a good chance of happening. I certainly like that they apparently will have 2 courts available.

(01-23-2020 10:37 AM)BirdofParadise Wrote:  In order for a tournament like this to work, the locals need to be at least 1/3 of the attendance. That only happens if the city in question really gets behind it. That appears to be what the Sun Belt is looking for.

No school did a good job of bringing people to New Orleans. There were a lot of reasons for this. One is, there was something else going on almost all the time. Hotel rooms were at a premium and prices were very high, making it cost prohibitive.

But even with that, attendance around the league is very poor. Only three schools are averaging over 2,000 in attendance and, in conference play, there are two schools barely averaging 1,000. College basketball just isn't a priority among mid majors in the deep south, and hasn't been for the better part of a decade.

From everything I'm hearing, this thing is headed to Pensacola.

People early career and people with minors at home aren't going to the conference tournament unless they can leave after work and be in bed at home by midnight.

The target is retirees and empty nesters who have jobs with decent leave policies. Pensacola is the type of location to appeal to that audience.

(01-23-2020 05:10 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(01-23-2020 10:37 AM)BirdofParadise Wrote:  In order for a tournament like this to work, the locals need to be at least 1/3 of the attendance. That only happens if the city in question really gets behind it. That appears to be what the Sun Belt is looking for.

No school did a good job of bringing people to New Orleans. There were a lot of reasons for this. One is, there was something else going on almost all the time. Hotel rooms were at a premium and prices were very high, making it cost prohibitive.

But even with that, attendance around the league is very poor. Only three schools are averaging over 2,000 in attendance and, in conference play, there are two schools barely averaging 1,000. College basketball just isn't a priority among mid majors in the deep south, and hasn't been for the better part of a decade.

From everything I'm hearing, this thing is headed to Pensacola.

People early career and people with minors at home aren't going to the conference tournament unless they can leave after work and be in bed at home by midnight.

The target is retirees and empty nesters who have jobs with decent leave policies. Pensacola is the type of location to appeal to that audience.

Good points. I didn't start attending the tournament regularly until my kids were out of the house (my job did have a decent leave policy). I just retired so now it will be even easier to go. Obviously folks with kids in school can't just go out of town for a 5 or 6 day tournament. Maybe they could go to a "weekend" tournament, like this year's, but they probably won't. With only 4 teams included, unless they are the right ones (USA? ULL?) attendance in New Orleans will be worse than awful.

(01-23-2020 05:44 PM)mjs Wrote:  With only 4 teams included, unless they are the right ones (USA? ULL?) attendance in New Orleans will be worse than awful.

Yeah good point. New Orleans may look really bad this year with how bad the Louisiana schools are doing so far.

Teamrankings.com give ULM a 0.46% chance of making the semifinals and Louisiana a 0.40% chance. Pretty safe bet to assume neither will be there.

Should be lots of room to lounge for anyone that does make it to the tourney this year.

(01-24-2020 11:56 AM)_x_ Wrote:  

(01-23-2020 05:44 PM)mjs Wrote:  With only 4 teams included, unless they are the right ones (USA? ULL?) attendance in New Orleans will be worse than awful.

Yeah good point. New Orleans may look really bad this year with how bad the Louisiana schools are doing so far.

Teamrankings.com give ULM a 0.46% chance of making the semifinals and Louisiana a 0.40% chance. Pretty safe bet to assume neither will be there.

Should be lots of room to lounge for anyone that does make it to the tourney this year.

and remember it is in the 17,805 seat Smoothie Center. I think it is safe to say there will be more than 17,000 empty seats for most sessions.

(01-24-2020 06:06 PM)mjs Wrote:  

(01-24-2020 11:56 AM)_x_ Wrote:  

(01-23-2020 05:44 PM)mjs Wrote:  With only 4 teams included, unless they are the right ones (USA? ULL?) attendance in New Orleans will be worse than awful.

Yeah good point. New Orleans may look really bad this year with how bad the Louisiana schools are doing so far.

Teamrankings.com give ULM a 0.46% chance of making the semifinals and Louisiana a 0.40% chance. Pretty safe bet to assume neither will be there.

Should be lots of room to lounge for anyone that does make it to the tourney this year.

and remember it is in the 17,805 seat Smoothie Center. I think it is safe to say there will be more than 17,000 empty seats for most sessions.

Actually I'm pretty sure it's been at the Lakefront Arena (at UNO), not the Blender.