MWC tournament inks deal through 2013 
June 15, 2009 by Sage Sammons
Thomas & Mack to continue housing basketball tourney for four more years
Once again, the UNLV Rebel basketball teams will not have to travel far come March.
The board of directors of the Mountain West Conference decided on June 2 that Las Vegas is the prime place to have the conference tournament – at least until 2013.
In the 10-year history of the league, the conference tournament has been in Las Vegas for seven years. There was a three-year span from 2004 through 2006 when the tournament was held at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo.
During the 10 years, the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels men’s basketball team has won three tournament titles (2000, 2007 and 2008) and appeared in a total of six championship games. For these reasons, some people were unhappy with the tournament’s location.
Brigham Young athletic director Tom Holmoe, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher, and New Mexico coach Steve Alford were some of the more vocal antagonists to contract.
A few people have said Vegas is fine, but prefer it be moved out of the Thomas & Mack.
But moving away from the T&M could cost the conference too much.
If the tournament is played at the Orleans, the next most logical spot, ticket sales could suffer due to limited capacity. The T&M will probably not sell out during the MWC Tournament, but it has more than the 8,500-seat capacity of the Orleans.
Also, the following of Mountain West basketball is average at best, with greater atention focused on the Pac-10 and the ACC tournaments.
If the tournament moves from the inexpensive, easily accessible and vacation-friendly Las Vegas location, fans will not follow.
The fans from Wyoming and Colorado will not fly to California, but if you say “weekend in Vegas” with some basketball in the thrown in, those regional flights from Fort Collins, Colo. will be full.
So, until there is a newer stadium built in Las Vegas, the T& M is the prime location for the MWC tournament.
What alternatives are there? Albuquerque, N.M.? San Diego, Calif.? Denver? Salt Lake City?
First, no one will travel to Albuquerque to watch a mid-major basketball tournament. San Diego could be an option, but the fans from Texas Christian wouldn’t travel half way across the country.
Denver was a disaster in terms of ticket sales from 2004 through 2006.
That leaves Salt Lake City. There is the option of playing the tournament at Energy Solutions Arena, but the fact is fans still will not be able to fill it.
Las Vegas is a prime location.
The flights to Vegas are reasonably cheap. Tourists always want to come to Vegas, and the T&M is still an elite facility, even if it has aged a little.
The fact is, the MWC tournament needs Las Vegas and Las Vegas needs the MWC tournament.
It is a win-win scenario for both to have the contest at the T&M and it is good that the board realizes it.
They had to keep it here. It didn’t draw anywhere else.
I am still not buying it. Salt Lake would have been a much better place because I guarantee the conference would sell MANY more tickets for the tournament at Energy Solutions. It would also have been a neutral floor, where none of the players have spent months practicing their jump shots. Players get a feel for the floors they play on the most, which is one reason why road games are so tough to win. You move it to ESA and that distinct advantage is erased. You have a neutral floor in an area that is generally much more interested in the outcome of the tournament. SLC is where it should have been.
Provo would fill it. Salt Lake would fill it. It’s a bunch of nonsense that they assume things. They could have given Salt Lake and San Diego a shot before making that conclusion. It’s time for BYU and UTAH to move on to another conference where the conspiracies don’t occur.
“win-win scenario for both…”
Not at all. It’s a “there’s nothing better” situation. If it was a win-win scenario, there would be no discussion.
The MWC IS byu and utah. They’ll draw just as good as Vegas would, if not better. It’s also closer than Vegas for most other schools. So much for a neutral court.
This is clearly written by a UNLV fan. When I was in high school, I had a football coach that taught me the true meaning of the word ASSUME. Clearly those that made this decission were never taught the true meaning of the word. Their decission was based almost completely on assumptions with no real hard evidence to back them.
I don’t go to the UNLV Invitational at the end of the regular season. Until it turns into the MWC Conf. Tourney, I never will.
I really liked the line about TCU fans not being willing to fly to San Diego. Has anybody watched a TCU home game? If TCU fans are factoring into the decission, clearly those making the decission are out of touch with what is going on within the conf. Besides, who would want to go to San Diego in March anyway. I’ve always hated 70 degree days.
Salt Lake was the logical choice. Neutral floor, Check. No homecourt advantage, Check. Not getting overcharged for everything, Check. Better venue to play in, Check. Everyone having an equal shot, Check. There is a reason why UNLV has been in the finals 6 of the seven years the tourney has been played in the T&M.
This decission boiled down to one thing and it had nothing to do with what is best for the conference members as a whole. It was all about how much the conference would make by not having to rent a facility like Energy Solutions Arena.
BTW, at last check, I noticed that tourism in Vegas is down dramatically. I guess in tough economic times like this, not everyone wants to go to Vegas.