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Another article about moving the MVC tournament to KC

Da Coach

Da Coach

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I think it would be a huge mistake. The MVC tournament is wildly successful in St. Louis and although Kansas City is closer to Wichita State and Creighton, it is farther from most of the schools. Plus, KC is not and never has been an MVC city, and the local interest there would be minimal.

http://www.kansas.com/250/story/117056.html
 
Speaking as a UNI fan, and a person who has been to the MVC Tourney in STL most of my life (even before UNI was in it)...I love STL as a tourney site. I love that the MVC has now sold out the Scott Trade Center. The city has really adopted it, and built the event up.

With that said, I think rotating it b/t STL/KC every year would be a great financial endeavor that would last not only for the one weekend every two years in KC, but all year round. I think it would show a new metropolitan area how 'for real' the MVC is, and how it sells out just like the Big 12 tourney will. I think it helps continue the effort of legitimizing the MVC, in the fact that not just St. Louis can sell out the arena, but we can move the tourney and the same thing can happen there too. I realize that it would be difficult travel for Bradley and Illinois State, but for UNI fans, where Kansas City hosts a very large alumni base for us, it would mean playing in front of more of 'our' fans. I think it would be a great thing for the MVC to have an 'eastern' and a 'western' rotation basis.

The MVC is not a spread out conference for the most part (compared to the other major conferences). Most conference games are within a 6-7 hour drive (some schools are closer than others). But, hitting the two metropolitan cities in the middle of our conference geographically is a major coup, and something that I think will benefit the conference both financially, but also exposure-wise through the season all-year round. I don't approve moving it to Omaha, nor Des Moines (although both are closer to CF). We need to show we can pack arenas that are neutral courts, not home courts, or courts one mile from campus.

I'd be interested in some other Bradley fans' thoughts.
 
Even though KC would be a much easier drive for me, I'd rather see the tourney stay in St Louis.

I once calculated the geographic center of the MVC (based on longitude/latitude of the 10 cities.....yes I'm a geek).....the center was near Hannibal, Missouri......a little bit north of St Louis.

KC is much closer for WSU and CU fans than St Louis, closer for DU fans, about the same for UNI fans and MSU fans and much further away for the Illinois and Indiana schools.
 
I personally know dozens of BU fans who would not attend if it were in KC.

If they make the change, the MVC had better do some homework in advance and try to discover how many fans would attend, as I predict the attendance in the very first season in KC would be a significant drop.
 
Switching back and forth would not be a good idea.. and I likely would not go if it were in KC....

Wichita and Creighton already bring the biggest crowds, so why make move closer to them when they are willing to travel....

Bad idea for KC...
 
For years and I mean years the tourney in STL couldnt even sell out the lower level let alone the entire arena. It has taken a huge amount of patience by the MVC, heavy marketing and a large upgrade in basketball level to now have the tournament at the attendance level it is at.

By moving this tourney to KC or another venue all they would be doing is taking steps backwards and I have no idea why the Valley would even want to explore that. Unless the guarantees from KC are so large that they would out weight the lost attendance and the probable backlash the conference would receive from St Louis.

This would be like new Coke, you just dont mess with proven success.
 
AGREE 100%
Saturday and Sunday's sessions this past March were COMPLETE sellouts hours before the games started.

Note this....even in 2006, the final game session only sold 14,000 tickets, and only one MVC Tourney session ever did better.
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/gameninenotes.pdf?SPSID=36371&SPID=2901&DB_OEM_ID=7600

In 2007, BOTH sessions on Friday blew those records away
(15,186 and 16,651)

then the totals on Sat & Sun (22,612 BOTH days) were even HUGE and unexpected!

All this proves the MVC tourney is in a phase of enormous and unprecedented & explosive growth!
Moving it now would set it back a decade!!
Tell me how and where in KC they are going to draw over 23,000?
 
tornado said:
If they make the change, the MVC had better do some homework in advance and try to discover how many fans would attend, as I predict the attendance in the very first season in KC would be a significant drop.
Click to expand...

It's bound to drop.

Just take a look at the Capacity of both places:

Savvis 22,600
Sprint 18,500
 
The one thing that would save any attendance issues in KC would be if CU WSU and MSU had strong teams and played into the semis/finals.

Just like a few years ago, if SIU, MSU BU or ISU wasnt in either the semis or finals the attendance was going to be low simply because the other schools did not travel.

The issue will be the support of the local KC market, that area is Big 12 country through and through. But the ticket for the Big 12 is more expensive (currently) and more difficult to get then what the MVC might be, so the KC fan might be more inclined to go to the MVC tourney.

But I really think more then anything this has to do with money, plain and simple. The MVC wants STL to step up with a better finacial package and essentially make the MVC tourney feel like it is a huge priority for the arena and community.

I would not be surprised to see ticket prices which have held firm for a long time to rise significantly probably this year.
 
Agree again....here are the possible venues in and around Kansas City:

Kemper Arena (1972)- bad area of town, capacity 19,500 total capacity, considerably less once the basketball floor and press seating is installed.
It is an older arena, and once the Sprint Center opens, this place is old news.

Municipal Auditorium (1936)- really bad, capacity only 9,287.
Aging facility, bad area, no hotels.

Sprint Center (new-2005-- opens Oct. 2007)- right in downtown KC, and total capacity is 18,500 but will be less once all the press seats and VIP seating takes some of the front customer seats.....current estimate would be closer to the arena football seating of 17,297.
It will then fall over 5,500 seats under what the present venue in St. Louis seats.
Although brand new...the issues of adequate parking, and the relative paucity of nearby restauants, malls, and hotels is also of concern. Much of the other new construction like new malls and hotels nearby will lag behind the completion of the arena.


The more I look for any benefit whatsoever in moving to KC, the more I wonder if the whole thing isn't just a PLOY -- a smokescreen, not really intended for serious consideration, a plan by the marketers on the MVC just to get the people in St. Louis a bit jealous and then maybe they'll try a little harder to up the ante?
 
tornado said:
Agree again....here are the possible venues in and around Kansas City:

Kemper Arena (1972)- bad area of town, capacity 19,500 total capacity, considerably less once the basketball floor and press seating is installed.
It is an older arena, and once the Sprint Center opens, this place is old news.

Municipal Auditorium (1936)- really bad, capacity only 9,287.
Aging facility, bad area, no hotels.

Sprint Center (new-2005-- opens Oct. 2007)- right in downtown KC, and total capacity is 18,500 but will be less once all the press seats and VIP seating takes some of the front customer seats.....current estimate would be closer to the arena football seating of 17,297.
It will then fall over 5,500 seats under what the present venue in St. Louis seats.
Although brand new...the issues of adequate parking, and the relative paucity of nearby restauants, malls, and hotels is also of concern. Much of the other new construction like new malls and hotels nearby will lag behind the completion of the arena.


The more I look for any benefit whatsoever in moving to KC, the more I wonder if the whole thing isn't just a PLOY -- a smokescreen, not really intended for serious consideration, a plan by the marketers on the MVC just to get the people in St. Louis a bit jealous and then maybe they'll try a little harder to up the ante?
Click to expand...

I think and hope you are right Tornado. You have to go to Overland Park Kansas to find any decent restaurants or entertainment around Kansas City.
I think "THEY" just want St. Louis to show a little more LOVE AND $'s!
 
I think part of the reason the attendance has jumped in the past year or two has to do with the schedule change to Thursday-Sunday. A lot more fans are staying for the entire weekend knowing they don't have to take an extra day off to see the championship game.
 
I really think moving the tournament out of St. L would be a huge mistake. I think we need a permanent home. I agree that the move to a Thurs-Sun schedule has helped but I also believe we have built a following in St. L and it took time to do so. I also think the more central location of St. L is a big advantage. You might get lucky occasionally and find the schools close to KC with strong teams/followings but I don't think that is a reason to move the location. When paired with the larger arena in St. L. I think this makes leaving it in St. L a no brainer.

Fundamentally, we go to the city to watch basketball and the best location is St. L.
 
I talked to quite a few people at this year's tournament who were from the St. Louis area, and just came to watch good college basketball. The leaned toward supporting SIU and SMS because they were more the "local favorite", but they were not usually fans of those schools. Some were SLU fans who were targeted by the MVC to sell tickets locally. It has taken years to build those local St. Louis fans, and if the tournament was switched to KC, there would not be such similar local support. I am not sure there ever would be.

I do feel bad for the great fans of Wichita State and Creighton who travel a long way to follow their teams. But I also believe it would be a big mistake to move away from St. Louis.
 
Wichita to St. Louis, a little over 400 mi.
Omaha to St. Louis, a little over 400 mi.
Chicago (where gobs of BU alums and fans reside) to St. Louis, over 300 mi.
Chicago to Kansas City (if we were forced to go there for the tourney), is well over 500 mi.!
Sorry, it's not that big of a deal, I don't feel bad for them, and I am sure they don't feel bad for me.
 
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