(03-17-2015 07:36 PM)bullitt_60 Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 06:47 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Savannah. St. Paddy's weekend. All the teams wear green variant jerseys to be auctioned for a Sun Belt charity. I smell a winner.

No, that's vomit.

C'mon. I thought you were a Southern man. That is what winning smells like.

(03-17-2015 07:38 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 07:36 PM)bullitt_60 Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 06:47 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Savannah. St. Paddy's weekend. All the teams wear green variant jerseys to be auctioned for a Sun Belt charity. I smell a winner.

No, that's vomit.

C'mon. I thought you were a Southern man. That is what winning smells like.

I'm not old, but I can't do Paddy's any more. It's a fantastic idea for the tournament though.

Macon Georgia has a nice sized arena. It seats 9,200 for basketball.... Perfect for us.

http://www.maconcentreplex.com

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:36 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 11:38 AM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 11:30 AM)panama Wrote:  I am sure UNO's arena cost less than an NBA arena. So if Atlanta were an option would it be in Phillips or Gwinnett?

Gwinnett is the wrong place. Yes. Philips would be more, but that is where you need to do it. If the Big East can figure out how to afford Madison Square Garden, the Sun Belt needs to figure out a lease with Philips Arena or Smoothie King Center. Or don't come to Atlanta via Gwinnett and don't play on UNOs court.

Why is the Gwinnett Civic Center not an option? Nice facility, good-sized, right off of the highway with plenty of hotels and restaurants nearby. I think folks coming from most Sun Belt towns would prefer it to being downtown. And it would certainly be cheaper than Philips.

Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

(03-17-2015 07:51 PM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  Macon Georgia has a nice sized arena. It seats 9,200 for basketball.... Perfect for us.

http://www.maconcentreplex.com

Sorry, but having spent 4 years in Warner Robins, Macon just doesn't have enough to do outside of the tournament. The downtown is dead most of the time, and the nearest shopping you can do is Riverside Crossing, which is basically just an average small city mall. Other than the arena, there is literally nothing in Macon that makes it a place you'd have a tournament.

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:36 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 11:38 AM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Gwinnett is the wrong place. Yes. Philips would be more, but that is where you need to do it. If the Big East can figure out how to afford Madison Square Garden, the Sun Belt needs to figure out a lease with Philips Arena or Smoothie King Center. Or don't come to Atlanta via Gwinnett and don't play on UNOs court.

Why is the Gwinnett Civic Center not an option? Nice facility, good-sized, right off of the highway with plenty of hotels and restaurants nearby. I think folks coming from most Sun Belt towns would prefer it to being downtown. And it would certainly be cheaper than Philips.

Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:36 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Why is the Gwinnett Civic Center not an option? Nice facility, good-sized, right off of the highway with plenty of hotels and restaurants nearby. I think folks coming from most Sun Belt towns would prefer it to being downtown. And it would certainly be cheaper than Philips.

Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:36 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  Why is the Gwinnett Civic Center not an option? Nice facility, good-sized, right off of the highway with plenty of hotels and restaurants nearby. I think folks coming from most Sun Belt towns would prefer it to being downtown. And it would certainly be cheaper than Philips.

Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Lol...Gwinnett is not the boonies. Sugarloaf Parkway is chockfull of restaurants and retail.

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

(03-17-2015 04:06 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 03:36 PM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 02:54 PM)Dedsquirrl Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 02:34 PM)CrazyCajun Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 01:52 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  Pensacola:
Pensacola Bay Center

Gulfport:
Mississippi Coast Coliseum

I'd be good with these.

The American South use to play the conference tournament in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It was nothing special.

Pensacola or Mobile, what is the difference? Both have good arenas, but would still be considered home court for USA.

It still comes back to someone marketing and selling your product. We can all help by improving our attendance and programs first.

Pensacola caters to tourism and events.
Access to the beach is even easier than Mobile.
South would be a bit of a "Home" team, but you wouldn't care while you sat on the beach or toured the restaurants downtown.

If they held the tournament there, I doubt anyone who attended would want it anywhere else.

Been there and done that friend. Beaches are attractive, food and night life can be surpassed in New Orleans or Atlanta by a long shot. The bottom line, if your product is worth a city hosting it, you will be welcomed. But don't depend upon the Sun Belt Conference to market it to anyone well. I still go back to conference home attendance and don't see how anyone posting in this thread can say they will come if you host it in A or B city. There is no evidence of it when you can't do it at home.

My wife is in the tourism industry trying to attract events to Arkansas on behalf of the state.

There are events she goes to regularly that she will tell a city it isn't worth their cost to go because the events people are looking for host cities for are too big or draw people from such a wide area that the city won't be able to handle the event or cannot meet the air travel needs.

But there is another event she touts them called the Small Market Meetings Conference. These are planners putting on smaller events that are usually regional in nature, a city that can't handle the National Car Dealers Association can handle the show for regional dealers association.

Where the thinking has gone wrong is to focus on large markets. The Sun Belt is barely even a blip for New Orleans (a cruise ship can have more impact).

Just having the 22 traveling parties can have a big impact on a small market even with about half leaving each day.

As far as food and nightlife go, the people who go and lock up hotel rooms for multiple nights to be part of the conference tournament are 50+, you got a Chilis with beer wine and margaritas and most of them have had a wild night.

Sounds like a smart women! Can't disagree with anything you said in this post.

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:48 PM)panama Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 12:44 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  Gwinnett Arena and yes it is in a very nice location. It handles everything Phillips does just fine. Plus and minuses with both locations but in no way is the Gwinnett Arena a bad or wrong choice.

Plus for Gwinnett is that there is way more to do and more hotels than at Lakefront. Minus is the distance from airport and city center.

Phillips in my mind would only be an option if you got city buy in to really promote it big time. Otherwise do not bother. Phillips pro's are proximity to attractions and MARTA to airport and attractions in center city and supply of hotels.

Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

Miller Lite universally awesome? No way José.

(03-17-2015 07:01 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  The one good thing the MVC does is its tournament in St. Louis. Just a great event all around.

Great location and the Valley is full of high attendance schools. While St. Louis is a metro of nearly 3 million, St. Louis within the city limits has less than 400k and has very little tourism business outside summer months sort of a perfect storm.

I wonder what would have happened this year if the tournament had been at that postage stamp Tulane calls an arena with streetcar access and more stuff nearby.

I know some people who went last year grumbled a lot about access to Lakefront and the lack of anything nearby. If New Orleans had something in the 5k or better seating range close to one of the nice neighborhoods and we might not have the grumbles about New Orleans.

(03-18-2015 09:02 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  I wonder what would have happened this year if the tournament had been at that postage stamp Tulane calls an arena with streetcar access and more stuff nearby.

I know some people who went last year grumbled a lot about access to Lakefront and the lack of anything nearby. If New Orleans had something in the 5k or better seating range close to one of the nice neighborhoods and we might not have the grumbles about New Orleans.

I rather like the idea of using Fogleman Arena. Location would be great with easy access to downtown on the trolley. I wish it sat a little more than 4100, but having limited seating would force folks like me to buy a tournament book (I have always just bought seats for the sessions I was interested in). Selling 4000 tournament books would bring in more revenue than the tourney has in years. With only 4100 seats, most fans would be reluctant to travel all the way to New Orleans without tickets in hand.

(03-17-2015 06:47 PM)StanMolsonMan Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 06:43 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  I do agree with the sentiment on using a midsize city to hold the event. The CAA tournament when it was in Richmond, VA was actually really well done. The arena was connected to the downtown area so you could walk from place to place at night when games weren't going on, and could walk straight to the arena/from the arena before and after the game. The town was big enough that you could keep yourself entertained outside of tournament stuff, which is nice when your team unexpectedly loses, but it was small enough that while you're hanging out you can see stuff about the tournament around town.

But these were some of the things that i think were missing in New Orleans; The arena was no where near the parts of New Orleans that people actually want to be at, and for us when we went last year, there isn't enough to New Orleans to make me want to come back again.

When people come to the tournament, they need to come for more than just the tournament (at least some of them). They need to come for a vacation with a tournament that happens to be there. If students make the trek over, give them free access to all the games. In the end, they aren't going to buy tickets to the games, and i bet a lot of them would go to the other games happening that day over doing nothing, especially when they came on buses supplied by the university or the conference. I know that's what we did in Richmond. The conference might not make money off it, but it costs nothing to have them come in, it makes the arena look full, and the students were never going to buy tickets to the games anyway.

I like the idea of Savannah, their civic center is in the middle of the downtown district, walkable to everything, arena apparently can hold up to 9,600. Close enough to one of the fan bases that they could come on a whim, but far enough to where i don't think anyone would complain about it. It's enough of a destination that i (being from Atlanta) would definitely go and spend the weekend there. Also, timing wise, the St. Patricks Day festivities happened over that weekend this year, so there is plenty to do outside of the tournament.

Actually, i really think Savannah could be a pretty good call.

Savannah. St. Paddy's weekend. All the teams wear green variant jerseys to be auctioned for a Sun Belt charity. I smell a winner.

Unfortunately, there's no hotel rooms available that time of year. It's a nice suggestion, but hotels are far and few that weekend.

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:13 PM)JCGSU Wrote:  Plenty of hotels up 85 most are new around Gwinnett Arena. You do have transit in Gwinnett that connects to Marta now I believe. I am not sure though.

Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

(03-18-2015 10:46 AM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-18-2015 12:49 AM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:10 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 09:03 PM)AtlantaJag Wrote:  

(03-17-2015 08:18 PM)itsmeagain Wrote:  Nope. No Marta connection. Again, i wouldn't have Gwinnett Arena just because there is nothing to do between games. What do you do at night? Drive into Atlanta? There is no town center to go to, no bars or restaurants that people can walk around, basically nothing really for people to do. If it were gonna be that close to Atlanta, might as well do it in the center of Atlanta at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion

Maybe you can't walk to them, but there's plenty of bars and restaurants with tons of parking in the Gwinnett Arena area. They're mostly chains, but flat screen TVs and Miller Lite are pretty universally awesome, no matter the name on the sign out front.

But again, we're not looking for a nice place to bring your kids up, we're looking for somewhere to hold a tournament that people will actually want to come to. As i said before, if you want to have good attendance, you need to create a vacation with a tournament tucked into it. Nobody is going to go on vacation to the northern Atlanta suburbs, especially when the drive from Atlanta is 30 minutes without traffic, and up to an hour with traffic. If the idea is to have a well attended tournament, Gwinnett is a no-go.

I'm not sure you've been there for a while. Tons of restaurants and bars. Movie theaters, Dave and Buster's and other sorts of entertainment, plenty of retail and an abundance of inexpensive hotels. If the SBC wanted to host in the Atlanta area it is clearly a better choice than Philips.
I don't live in Gwinnett or have a rooting interest in the place, but it would be a less-expensive and more visitor-friendly experience.
Plenty of people will be taking vacations to the northern suburbs when the Braves move to Cobb in 2017.

Sounds great for those of us that live in and around Atlanta. But as i said before, we're trying to get people to not just come for the tournament, but want to come for more than that. We need them to have stuff to do between games and after their team goes out. I'm afraid Gwinnett isn't a tourist destination, it's just not. Fine, at night they can pick a restaurant to go to, but what about during the day? Can those that choose to bar hop around there? Can they park their car and walk around? These are the things you need to think about for a tournament location.

Conversely if you have intown and its not promoted correctly then forget about it. In the city would have to be Phillips. Unless something has changed McCammish does not serve beer. I would want it to be a big time event at Phillips with the city's backing and really make it big. But that takes work.

Macon was good location for the A-Sun tournament... lets not stoop to the level of the A-Sun tournament.

The only place in Georgia outside of Atlanta that could be fun for a tournament would be Savannah. Tournament time is right when St. Patrick celebrations are kicking off, so that could be a fun environment. Take a horse carriage from the River Street to the Savannah Civic Center.

Not a place to do it every year, but would be fun in a rotation.

Now for my best George Bush impersonation...

(03-18-2015 11:05 AM)TheEagleWay Wrote:  Macon was good location for the A-Sun tournament... lets not stoop to the level of the A-Sun tournament.

The only place in Georgia outside of Atlanta that could be fun for a tournament would be Savannah. Tournament time is right when St. Patrick celebrations are kicking off, so that could be a fun environment. Take a horse carriage from the River Street to the Savannah Civic Center.

Not a place to do it every year, but would be fun in a rotation.

Now for my best George Bush impersonation...

Wouldnt the tournament get lost in the St Patrick Day festivities. Practically what happened in NOLA this year with Spring Break and St Patricks Day. And I saw nothing in NOLA advertising that the SBC Championships were going on.