Here's something to take our minds off the current state of affairs. I love the atmosphere of the MVC tournament in St. Louis and wouldn't want to see a change, but what would you think of a move to the United Center in Chicago or even Rosemont? Every league school has a large alumni base there and it would help boost the falling attendance caused by the loss of Wichita and our downfall. Shorter trip for Valpo, Loyola, UNI, Drake. It's pretty much a wash for Red, Bradley and Blue. Longer trip for MSU, SIU and UE.
We all know the Valley is dying to know what we think! 😉
Your thoughts?
I love Chi-town but Rosemont? No way! Just driving around there is like a glimpse of hell!
United Center probably wouldn't be available with that crap pro team up there.
Chicago's more expensive too.
I threw Rosemont out there as an alternative because both Wintrust and Sears Center are too small.
I'd vote WinTrust. Going off last year's attendance, there would've been enough seats.
WinTrust seats a little over 10k, and last year no session had more than 8400 fans.
Wintrust would be the best option. Good location, brand new arena, decent size.
Hard for me to imagine it not being in St. Louis for still some time. I don't think moving it to CHI would help with attendance. It is way more expensive, numbers would be roughly the same and the valley has a long tradition in STL... I can't imagine it moving any time really soon. I personally do not want to see it in CHI even if it does move, I would give Indy a try before CHI.
The bump by being closer to Valpo, Drake and Loyola combined would likely be less than SIU just improving. Even at home games those teams don't draw many people. Maybe if Valpo played Loyola in the championship there would be a big boost but other than that, those teams don't draw many fans in their home towns, let alone the MVCT
I would think that it would be very difficult for the MVC to take the tournament outside of the St. Louis market. The Valley has sponsored many of the NCAA events that have been in town over the last many years and works very closely with the St. Louis Sports Commission. Right now, there really aren't many other options in town than using the Enterprise Center. Chafeitz Arena (on SLU campus) doesn't have the hotels around it and the Family Arena in St. Charles (seating just over 10.000) had the women for a few years but then decided to move to the Quad Cities.
Here's something to take our minds off the current state of affairs. I love the atmosphere of the MVC tournament in St. Louis and wouldn't want to see a change, but what would you think of a move to the United Center in Chicago or even Rosemont? Every league school has a large alumni base there and it would help boost the falling attendance caused by the loss of Wichita and our downfall. Shorter trip for Valpo, Loyola, UNI, Drake. It's pretty much a wash for Red, Bradley and Blue. Longer trip for MSU, SIU and UE.
We all know the Valley is dying to know what we think! 😉
Your thoughts?
No effing way. You want to drive down attendance even more? Have less exposure? St. Louis and FSM embrace and promote the Valley tournament. It's not St. Louis fault that attendance has gone down, if the Valley had better teams and better basketball, you'd see more fans even with WSU gone. Valpo and Loyola don't have the fan base to matter in Chicago. Plus, it's so expensive and such a pain to get around, I have a feeling a lot of other fans that would go to St. Louis, would rule out a Chicago trip.
I know many like the single site, but I wonder if going back to campus sites would help energize the tourney somewhat?
It was decided at the time that the host school had too much of a competitive advantage to leave it at the school sites. Plus, it gives the look of a low-end, one-bid league to have it at school sites. Even the OVC has their tournament in Nashville instead of school sites. The last year of school sites, ISUred beat Southern at NearlyNormal to win the tournament when Southern was clearly the better team.
The OVC will hold their conference tournament in the Ford Center in Evansville for the second straight year. They have committed to Evansville through 2020.
Absolutely love it in St. Louis. It's only going to become a better fan experience with Ballpark Village Phase 2 opening next year, with Phase 3 coming along in the next 3-5 years. The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is opening up in the Fall as well other renovations and new attractions at Union Station. No way St. Louis lets it get a way.
Absolutely love it in St. Louis. It's only going to become a better fan experience with Ballpark Village Phase 2 opening next year, with Phase 3 coming along in the next 3-5 years. The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station is opening up in the Fall as well other renovations and new attractions at Union Station. No way St. Louis lets it get a way.
I completely agree. It's a great atmosphere with everything being so close and integrated. Kansas City would have been interesting, but they were right not to mess with a good thing!
I just this threw it out there to spur conversation about something other than you know who!
