NCAA Changes seating requirements for D-I MBB Tournament

[sdshox]

Interesting news that could open the IBA - or even Koch Arena - to hosting NCAA Tournament games in the future that I was unaware of until today...and probably posted somewhere else, although I couldn't find it...

"The NCAA this time around changed the requirements for hosting the men's basketball tournament. The minimum venue capacity was dropped to 10,000 – that put the nearly completed Denny Sanford Premier Center in play.
Also, Sioux Falls now has five Class A hotels, the number required by the NCAA. That wasn't the case a year ago.
Bids were due Wednesday. Selections will be announced in November. Sioux Falls is vying to host games in the First Four and Rounds 2 and 3 of the 68-team event."

http://www.argusleader.com/story/sports/college/2014/08/07/sioux-falls-bidding-host-d-mens-tourney-games/13734105/

[WuShock16]

Does Wichita have five Class A hotels? That, not arena capacity, could have been what has hurt Wichita so far.

[Play Angry]

Isn't Class A basically 3-4 stars?

[WuShock16]

I would imagine the Marriott and Hyatt are good. I have heard good things about the Ambassador. The Holiday Inn across from Towne East is a bit older, but it seems like it would be appropriate. The Drury Broadview would be okay as well.

I suppose we are covered. I was surprised that it was only 5 hotels required. I would think each of the eight teams would want to have its own hotel...along with a designated media hotel. Maybe in a pinch, you could put two teams at a hotel, especially if there are teams with farther to travel who don't have big groups. I would bet that Southern and Harvard didn't have huge travel parties in Salt Lake City in 2013...or Cal Poly in 2014 in St. Louis.

[ShockBand]

I would guess that the Hyatt, Drury Broadview, Ambassador (which is about to become connected to the Marriott brand), Marriott, and Doubletree at the airport would fall under the class A group, and maybe a few more such as the Hotel at Old Town.

[MoValley John]

I thought most consideration was given to number of available quality rooms and proximity to the venue, not number of hotels. The way the article was written could be a little local cheerleading, praising Sioux Falls for getting it's fifth hotel. That said, I'd be surprised if Sioux Falls landed the tourney. The NCAA may have dropped requirements to 10,000 seats, but there is a ton of competition out there with bigger arenas and more to guarantee the NCAA. Then again, who knows what could happen, I'm still surprised Wichita or Des Moines hasn't landed the thing yet.

[pogo]

You could always designate the media hotel as the Ambassador. Its relatively close and they could just walk across the street for their evening meals.

[1972Shocker]

I would guess that the Hyatt, Drury Broadview, Ambassador (which is about to become connected to the Marriott brand), Marriott, and Doubletree at the airport would fall under the class A group, and maybe a few more such as the Hotel at Old Town.

Homewood Suites at the WaterFront would certainly qualify. The question is do they have a certain radius around the arena in which such hotels have to be located?

The Hilton Garden Inn at Bradley Fair would certainly qualify as well.

Not sure about the Hampton Inns (I've always liked them). We have one East and one West.

[Play Angry]

Real dumb question but does anyone know for sure that we submitted a bid?

I'd assume that is the case but haven't seen a link confirming it.

[The Mad Hatter]

Real dumb question but does anyone know for sure that we submitted a bid?

I'd assume that is the case but haven't seen a link confirming it.

I don't have anything recent, but here is an article from 2012 about failing to win bids for 2014 or 2015 that says that the plan is to continue submitting bids. However, the article also notes the change to 10,000 as the minimum, so not only is that not new, Intrust failed to get the bids for 2014 and 2015 under those standards.

http://www.kansas.com/2012/11/12/2565747/wichita-fails-to-land-ncaa-tournament.html

[DoubleJayAlum]

Hey guys -

The requirement is full service hotels (slang is "Class A"). That ranking is not really based on the stars a hotel gets, but has more to do with the features that the hotel provides. The biggest feature in the eyes of the NCAA is that the hotel has to have its own, on site, restaurant and the availability to serve food 24 hours a day. Note: the restaurant itself doesn't have to be open 24 hours, but food has to be available 24 hours a day through room service etc.

It is my understanding that hotels that have a Denny's/Village Inn/Waffle House in the same parking lot do NOT meet the definition, but I could be wrong on that.

[1972Shocker]

Could be that the reduction in arena size to 10,000 has actually hurt us as it opened the door to more competition in the bidding process.

Not sure how our hotel situation is viewed. Perhaps not enough quality concentrated downtown, although getting to the East or West side of town is not really that big of a deal.

I could see our airline service being our big issue as it is just not that great.

[MoValley John]

It is my understanding that hotels that have a Denny's/Village Inn/Waffle House in the same parking lot do NOT meet the definition, but I could be wrong on that.

Denny's or Village Inn shouldn't count. Throw a Waffle House in the parking lot and I'd call that good.

[WstateU]

Heard some rumors about new chains coming soon to the 316...

[MoValley John]

Could be that the reduction in arena size to 10,000 has actually hurt us as it opened the door to more competition in the bidding process.

Not sure how our hotel situation is viewed. Perhaps not enough quality concentrated downtown, although getting to the East or West side of town is not really that big of a deal.

I could see our airline service being our big issue as it is just not that great.

I don't think arena size matters much anymore. The ability of the arena to meet the demands of the NCAA would be a larger factor. That would be enough locker rooms, media room, production facilities, VIP rooms, so on and so forth. Many older arenas struggle in that department, and some newer arenas do as well. A 10,000 seat arena that meets all of the needs of the NCAA probably has as better shot of landing the tournament than a 20,000 seat arena that doesn't meet the other needs. As it stands, the NCAA is always looking for new host cities, but at the same time, has a trusted list of venues that they know can flawlessly pull off the event. New cities that bid need to have all of their ducks in a row.