"Historic Announcement" coming 7/9 (re: Conference Tourney)

[AndShock]

If we're going to include Chicago in a rotation then they might as well use Wichita instead of KC.

[uniftw]

So you're not OK with a host city also being home to a league team. Unless it's your team. I think we could probably all agree with that.

No I'm not OK with downgrading and moving the tournament to a smaller stage. Des Moines, Wichita, Moline, and campus sites (helloooo half empty, 4500 seat Gentile Arena) are not on the same level as the Scottrade Center in St. Louis; the UC in Chicago and the Sprint Center Kansas City are.

I also personally think the drop in attendance is overblown. It was a perfect storm of a down year for most Valley teams and a historic run for WSU that basically turned this year's tournament into a snore-fest. Everyone knew Wichita St. was gonna win it and nobody else really had a chance at an at-large NCAA tourney bid. In three years, WSU will drop a little (They'll still be good and bring a ton of fans to St. Louis. They just won't be undefeated and in a totally different class than the other teams in the MVC) and a few other teams will be good enough maybe in a position for an at-large bid to make it an interesting weekend. Then you'll see fanbases that had a poor showing this year (Bradley comes to mind as a young team who can be a threat in a couple of seasons that had an embarrassing student section this year) boost attendance.

FWIW, My money says they announce some sort of rotation between 4 cities: STL, KC, CHI, and Indy. We have 2 schools in Indiana, and if the UC is booked for the B1G tourney, then it would mean Bankers Life would be open as well.[/quote]It's not like WFA in DSM is that much smaller. It's 16,500 compared to 19,100. So we lose some nose bleed seats....

I don't think it would ever be in Des Moines, and sans the selfish reason for it being there and being close, I don't really care.

St Lois, Chicago, and KC are all about the same distance from UNI

[agrinut]

Is it not in the by laws that the tourney must be in a neutral city? I remember Moats saying something of the sorts this spring when asked about the bidding process. I don't see it going anywhere but KC and STL, you cannot alienate the team that is floating the league. I hope the announcement is a move to KC with the added bonus of being a week later.

[Mikovio]

I think a rotation of STL/KC/CHI would be great. I would hope the bylaws wouldn't prevent that from happening.

As for the emphasis on a big market for the conference tournament, I think it helps attendance to have it in a destination city when you're asking fans to spend the weekend. Plus it's a good idea to have a bigger venue (which is generally correlated with bigger markets) just in case there are multiple bubble worthy programs which will swell attendance, like in 2005-07. There's also the extra press.

[siudawgs]

I get trying to placate Wichita if that's what is going on here, but if this is a move from STL to KC, the timing is somewhat regrettable considering Creighton recently bolted and some of the Illinois teams are due for an uptick. SIU in particular draws huge in STL when they're a contending team. Can't really see any city other than Kansas City making much sense as an alternative.

[Snaggletooth]

SIU in particular draws huge in STL when they're a contending team.

siu is irrelevant in this discussion because they are not going to be a contending team any time soon. Bottomline is if you want to keep the tournament in specific location, then you better support it then.

The announcement will be that the tournament will be rotated between KC and STL.

[siudawgs]

SIU in particular draws huge in STL when they're a contending team.

siu is irrelevant in this discussion because they are not going to be a contending team any time soon. Bottomline is if you want to keep the tournament in specific location, then you better support it then.

The announcement will be that the tournament will be rotated between KC and STL.

Define any time soon. SIU could well be picked among the top couple teams in the conference in 2015-16 when Beane is a senior and the entire roster returns, pending any attrition.

[KCfan]

Other than losing out on the "arch madness" name gimmick, what downside is there to moving it to KC? Half the schools buy the minimum tickets already so let's see what a nice locale can do.

[squirrel]

Other than losing out on the "arch madness" name gimmick, what downside is there to moving it to KC? Half the schools buy the minimum tickets already so let's see what a nice locale can do.

I don't think you have to drop the Arch Madness branding IF it's a rotation or a one-time thing...though quirky, you could still call it Arch Madness @ blah blah blah.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Other than losing out on the "arch madness" name gimmick, what downside is there to moving it to KC? Half the schools buy the minimum tickets already so let's see what a nice locale can do.

I don't think you have to drop the Arch Madness branding IF it's a rotation or a one-time thing...though quirky, you could still call it Arch Madness @ blah blah blah.

Arch Madness @ Garden City, KS to placate the Wichita people.

But seriously KC would be a nice change. Arch Madness has run its course. Indy or Chicago would be awful. I would love KC or Vegas. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised by Doug Elgin in a couple hours.