Why St. Louis?

[Kung Wu]

I know this isn't the first time this has come up ... but ... why are we pouring money into an economy other than our schools' localities? Some of our smaller schools could really use the very large boost due to hosting the MVC tournament every once in a while. Why in the heck wouldn't we do this?

What if the winner of the tournament would get a choice of site location to host the following year, with 25% of ticket sales going to the school? So they would be incentivized to choose the largest venue that gives them a reasonable home advantage. So that would put Creighton as hosting next year at the Qwest center. If we ever win the darn thing we would host at IBA, most likely, or perhaps Koch if we didn't think IBA ticket sales would be large enough to go there. UNI would have hosted it recently, Indiana State would have had it this year, SIU in the 90s a few times, and so on. Why shouldn't we support the schools' economies and move the tournament around? Why should WSU fans have to travel further than all other fans every single year? Schools that choose to host it in their own gyms would be able to rent it a fraction of the cost the St. Louis arena must cost.

I know some of you really love the St. Louis area, and I understand that, but I think there are neat things to like about most towns.

What ya think?

[TheYeti]

I like it! The beginnings of a grassroots movement! We can call it "Scroo the Lou!"

[ShockerPrez]

What happens when southetn illinois wins it. You gonna go to carbondale? (Although, I heard it is lovely this time of year.)

[Rlh04d]

How many fans tend to go to Arch Madness? Seems like most of the schools wouldn't be able to meet the ticket demand on their home courts.

I'd rather it rotated to a different school every year, rather than going to the winning school. But maybe that's just because we never win :)

[1972Shocker]

I don't know. Seems like something Roberto Duran would do.

[SB Shock]

It is chosen because it convenient for the MVC League office and for most of the schools in the conference. The MVC league office does what the majority of the league want and they don't make choices because they are fair or in the best interest of the league (just look at what they did on Dallas Baptist wanting to join the conference).


mvc.JPG

[Ta town]

Not having it at neutral sight screams small time. Marshall was not referring to the actual location when speaking about neutral court (obviously).

Boycott that MF'r. Maybe selling 2K less tickets would send a message to Elgin. What message he needs to hear I don't know. I just know Marshall has been booted from STL, screwed in 1.9 seconds, and raped. He sees something that isn't there but he is basing it on things that actually happened. 3 strikes and your out, he was just following the rule. Unfortunately he tried connecting dots that don't connect. 3 individual instances that have happened in 3 separate seasons but all at the same tournament.

[Ta town]

This map just shows me how isolated Wichita is from the rest of the conference.

[Kung Wu]

Not having it at neutral sight screams small time. Marshall was not referring to the actual location when speaking about neutral court (obviously).

I also considered that the winner gets pick of any neutral court. People would whine and cry about IBA and QWEST though.

[SB Shock]

Maybe they should have it at Las Vegas or in Orlando at the Disney Sport Complex (at least the refs and elgin would be at home with Mickey Mouse).

[Kung Wu]

LOL

[shocker2012]

I like the idea but I just cant see it. 25% of ticket sales going to the winning team of the previous years school? No way would anyone go for that. That means less money for the perennial losers of the conference, when some schools do depend somewhat on that money. Creighton has won 7 titles in the last 14 years (I think? Would have to check.) Would you really want CU to have home court advantage that much? Sorry, not saying they would win every year or as often as they have, but still...I certainly wouldnt. And a non neutral court seems, as someone put it, small time as well. I think the conference would lose a lot of standing if it did that by giving home court advantage to the winners from the previous year. What conference does that? Nobody's. Plus, Ive seen what having the home advantage for a tournament can do...Im not sure how many here pay attention to girl's basketball but they only (relatively) recently moved the tournament to the neutral court in St. Charles. Before that, it moved around how you are suggesting. They essentially were forced put it at a neutral site because the team with the home court advantage (no matter their seeding) kept making it to the finals/winning. I remember when Drake was the #8 seed and won...that really shouldnt happen. And then the next year it was like the #6 seed won. Obviously, lower ranked teams can go on runs and win, but it was happening too often to be a statistical anomaly. I think we would see something very similar if the boy's tournament started moving around.

[shockmonster]

These scenarios won't happen.

[cjp27]

Maybe they should have it at Las Vegas or in Orlando at the Disney Sport Complex (at least the refs and elgin would be at home with Mickey Mouse).

How do you think the Evansville and Drake players would feel about having to ride a bus to Vegas or Orlando every year? That's easily a 24 hour bus ride for what will usually be a play in game.

[ShockTalk]

Mileage to St. Louis for each school:
WSU 440, CU 435, DU 350, UNI 345, MSU 215, Ind St 170, UE 170, BU 170, Ill St 170, SIU 105

Mileage to Kansas City for each school:
UE 420, Ind St 410, BU 380, Ill St 380, SIU 340, UNI 320, WSU 195, DU 195, CU 185, MSU 165

Combined mileage for each school:
UNI 665, WSU 635, CU 620, UE 590, Ind St 580, BU 550, Ill St 550, DU 545, SIU 445, MSU 380

Now I understand what @SB Shock: was saying in an earlier post, but I think it would be interesting to compare, historically, pre-sale tickets for each school to the mileage being driven to the tournament. Eventhough it's basically a push for UNI and MSU, the mileage is slightly less to KC. The 2 schools most inconvienced by making the KC trip is Ind St. and UE (I'm guessing 2 of the weakest pre-sales), yet their overall mileage over 2 years is still less than WSU and CU (guessing 2 of the best pre-sales). SIU's total 2 year mileage is almost the same as WSU and CU do each year to St. Louis.

Just can't help but think revenues would be much greater in KC. If UNI and MSU would ever join WSU, CU, and DU, it would be a 5 to 5 draw. Wishful thinking, even if it won't happen.