If not at the Arch... Where?

[Dawgbit]

The peak of attendance at Arch Madness occurred in 2007, when SIU and Creighton were battling for the conference title, SIU would lose to Creighton in the title game, but receive an at large at then advance to the Sweet 16. The total Arch Madness attendance was 85,074, interestingly, the total conference tournament attendance for ALL D1 schools that year was 696,992. So 12.2% of all basketball conference tourney attendees across the country were at the MVC tournament. The average per session attendance per game for the Big 10 that year was 18,882 and 17,015 for the MVC. The MVC ranked 8th that year in tournament attendance. So it is a classic example of: is the glass half empty, or is it half full? As I have pointed out before, SIU has a large alumni base in the St. Louis metro area, and, historically, as goes SIU, so goes the attendance at Arch Madness.

SIU (thank God) is no longer coached by either Hinson, or Lowery. I am one of those who is convinced that Bryan Mullins is going to take SIU to new heights. There were fans turned away at the door in 2007, including a St Louis friend of mine (and SIU alum) who thought he would get a ticket at the door. And it is not just SIU who can key a rebound in attendance, virtually any of the Valley team can do it, if they win and have an entertaining team on the floor.

So why would the MVC want to limit the amount of revenue that it can realize in a given year by going with a facility that would house less than 60% of the fans that have shown up in past years? Also, you will not find a more centralized location than St. Louis. The average driving time for all schools is 3 1/2 hours.

PS- I have never known a successful pessimist.

[BCPanther]

Moving into a smaller venue in a smaller city would be a disaster. It's right where it belongs.

And I say that from the fan base that's the furthest away.

[mvfcfan]

The State Farm Center in Champaign seats 15,500. That's roughly 75% of what the Enterprise Center seats for basketball. We get it, SIU during their heyday brought a lot of fans, but Creighton who is no longer around was also bringing a lot of fans. And the MVC doesn't revolve around SIU either. I really couldn't care less how many SIU alums there are in Saint Louis. And no disrespect to Loyola or Valpo but they will never bring anything close attendance wise to what Creighton and Wichita were able to.

And the lots of stuff to do thing is a little drawn out of proportion too. Most of us drive to St Louis to go watch basketball and that's it. It also seems that most people go back home after their team loses.

And personally I don't really care that St Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. I go to plenty of really rough areas quite often, but a lot of people are turned off by it. It's a bad look when you have homeless people sleeping in the sidewalks and in boxes near the arena, and most people don't want to bring their children to areas like that. This year there was even an abandoned semi trailer sitting in the street on the road the runs south of the arena.

[siudawgs]

I think Champaign has had enough of the Valley for a while.

[Action10]

The State Farm Center in Champaign seats 15,500. That's roughly 75% of what the Enterprise Center seats for basketball. We get it, SIU during their heyday brought a lot of fans, but Creighton who is no longer around was also bringing a lot of fans. And the MVC doesn't revolve around SIU either. I really couldn't care less how many SIU alums there are in Saint Louis. And no disrespect to Loyola or Valpo but they will never bring anything close attendance wise to what Creighton and Wichita were able to.

And the lots of stuff to do thing is a little drawn out of proportion too. Most of us drive to St Louis to go watch basketball and that's it. It also seems that most people go back home after their team loses.

And personally I don't really care that St Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. I go to plenty of really rough areas quite often, but a lot of people are turned off by it. It's a bad look when you have homeless people sleeping in the sidewalks and in boxes near the arena, and most people don't want to bring their children to areas like that. This year there was even an abandoned semi trailer sitting in the street on the road the runs south of the arena.

Playing in a home arena of another D1 team from a larger conference screams Ohio Valley. Not sure what the hangup is with St. Louis for you, but it seems alright to me from both watching on TV and in person.

[Blers42]

The State Farm Center in Champaign seats 15,500. That's roughly 75% of what the Enterprise Center seats for basketball. We get it, SIU during their heyday brought a lot of fans, but Creighton who is no longer around was also bringing a lot of fans. And the MVC doesn't revolve around SIU either. I really couldn't care less how many SIU alums there are in Saint Louis. And no disrespect to Loyola or Valpo but they will never bring anything close attendance wise to what Creighton and Wichita were able to.

And the lots of stuff to do thing is a little drawn out of proportion too. Most of us drive to St Louis to go watch basketball and that's it. It also seems that most people go back home after their team loses.

And personally I don't really care that St Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. I go to plenty of really rough areas quite often, but a lot of people are turned off by it. It's a bad look when you have homeless people sleeping in the sidewalks and in boxes near the arena, and most people don't want to bring their children to areas like that. This year there was even an abandoned semi trailer sitting in the street on the road the runs south of the arena.

There's homeless people and dangerous areas in every city, we get it you don't like St. Louis but you sound ridiculous right now.

[BCPanther]

The State Farm Center in Champaign seats 15,500. That's roughly 75% of what the Enterprise Center seats for basketball. We get it, SIU during their heyday brought a lot of fans, but Creighton who is no longer around was also bringing a lot of fans. And the MVC doesn't revolve around SIU either. I really couldn't care less how many SIU alums there are in Saint Louis. And no disrespect to Loyola or Valpo but they will never bring anything close attendance wise to what Creighton and Wichita were able to.

And the lots of stuff to do thing is a little drawn out of proportion too. Most of us drive to St Louis to go watch basketball and that's it. It also seems that most people go back home after their team loses.

And personally I don't really care that St Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. I go to plenty of really rough areas quite often, but a lot of people are turned off by it. It's a bad look when you have homeless people sleeping in the sidewalks and in boxes near the arena, and most people don't want to bring their children to areas like that. This year there was even an abandoned semi trailer sitting in the street on the road the runs south of the arena.

You're right. My daughter would be totally jazzed about a weekend in Champaigne...

[Kyle_Saluki_17]

The State Farm Center in Champaign seats 15,500. That's roughly 75% of what the Enterprise Center seats for basketball. We get it, SIU during their heyday brought a lot of fans, but Creighton who is no longer around was also bringing a lot of fans. And the MVC doesn't revolve around SIU either. I really couldn't care less how many SIU alums there are in Saint Louis. And no disrespect to Loyola or Valpo but they will never bring anything close attendance wise to what Creighton and Wichita were able to.

And the lots of stuff to do thing is a little drawn out of proportion too. Most of us drive to St Louis to go watch basketball and that's it. It also seems that most people go back home after their team loses.

And personally I don't really care that St Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in the country. I go to plenty of really rough areas quite often, but a lot of people are turned off by it. It's a bad look when you have homeless people sleeping in the sidewalks and in boxes near the arena, and most people don't want to bring their children to areas like that. This year there was even an abandoned semi trailer sitting in the street on the road the runs south of the arena.

You're right. My daughter would be totally jazzed about a weekend in Champaigne...

I can't believe there is this much conversation about this. Look at the cities around here:
St. Louis - Centrally located
Chicago - North edge of the conference (And where Loyola is at)
Indy - East of the entire conference
Kansas City - West of the conference
Champaign - Not a real city
Evansville - Why was this brought up? Like really??? Let's give a permanent home court advantage to the perennial bottom feeder of the MVC.

I think some people just want to complain for the sake of complaining. There isn't any logical choice here except St. Louis. If 4 million people a year feel safe enough to watch the Cardinals, I think people will survive at the Enterprise Center. It has an attached parking garage after all.