BALTIMORE (AP) — The commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association wants the league tournament to extend its stay in Baltimore.

Tom Yeager says he will soon seek an extension of the three-year commitment between the CAA and the city that is due to expire after the 2016 tournament.

Yeager intends to meet with city officials and representatives of the Royal Farms Arena in the months ahead.
Yeager says, "We hope to get it done before June."

A total of 18,754 fans showed up for the four-day tournament that ended Monday night. An announced crowd of 5,721 watched Northeastern beat William & Mary in the title game.

http://www.hickoryrecord.com/sports/ap/c...d76cd.html

embarrasing

Lay off the sauce Tom.


"Yeager concedes that he'd like more fans at the event. But he says attendance should swell after the tournament grows roots in Baltimore."

Yea, that's pretty awful, especially the total attendance. But no where in there does Yeagar say anything about "Huge Success". C'mon.

Maybe moving it back to Richmond would have better attendance again, probably depends on the teams in the hunt. But the Mausoleum is a lot bigger, so probably costs considerably more and it's not as if people didn't b!tch and moan about that place enough.

What's he supposed to do? Cancel the damn thing?

(04-02-2015 11:12 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Yea, that's pretty awful, especially the total attendance. But no where in there does Yeagar say anything about "Huge Success". C'mon.

Maybe moving it back to Richmond would have better attendance again, probably depends on the teams in the hunt. But the Mausoleum is a lot bigger, so probably costs considerably more and it's not as if people didn't b!tch and moan about that place enough.

What's he supposed to do? Cancel the damn thing?

Yeager should publically apologize to the only remaining CAA school that has a fan base, the same fan base Yeager has publically referred to as "a mob."

In for moving the tourney back to Richmond.

I'm a big fan of the on-campus tournament games where the higher seed hosts, or even where the regular season champion hosts the whole thing. Better atmosphere for the games while adding more regular season excitement.

I will admit to know nothing of the financial ins and outs, but I feel like the single-location model only works well for the big players like the ACC and Big East.

(04-02-2015 12:19 PM)Pitz Wrote:  I'm a big fan of the on-campus tournament games where the higher seed hosts, or even where the regular season champion hosts the whole thing. Better atmosphere for the games while adding more regular season excitement.

I will admit to know nothing of the financial ins and outs, but I feel like the single-location model only works well for the big players like the ACC and Big East.

I think it should be the previous year's champion's home court. Can you just picture it in Elon's Recreation Center venue???

On campus venues help protect the higher seeds and add more value to the regular season.

The negative is it seems kind of small time, but that might be the correct fit at this point.

(04-02-2015 12:24 PM)UofRfan Wrote:  On campus venues help protect the higher seeds and add more value to the regular season.

The negative is it seems kind of small time, but that might be the correct fit at this point.

It certainly would fit the CAA since we are looked upon as a low major ala Big South and Patriot league

(04-02-2015 02:45 PM)HolyCityDuke Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 12:24 PM)UofRfan Wrote:  On campus venues help protect the higher seeds and add more value to the regular season.

The negative is it seems kind of small time, but that might be the correct fit at this point.

It certainly would fit the CAA since we are looked upon as a low major ala Big South and Patriot league

Didn't we get the same seed for NE as CUSA and another similar conference? SB, perhaps?

(04-02-2015 12:24 PM)UofRfan Wrote:  On campus venues help protect the higher seeds and add more value to the regular season.

The negative is it seems kind of small time, but that might be the correct fit at this point.

Not negative, the truth is the truth. On campus would be a lot better than either RIC or BAL. It may look small-time, but it also looks incredible on tv, and in person, when the home team makes the final.

I'm all in favor of on campus locations for earlier rounds and the later rounds at the top seed. There will be more butts in seats than in Baltimore and it won't look as small time as it currently looks.

(04-02-2015 11:12 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Yea, that's pretty awful, especially the total attendance. But no where in there does Yeagar say anything about "Huge Success". C'mon.

Maybe moving it back to Richmond would have better attendance again, probably depends on the teams in the hunt. But the Mausoleum is a lot bigger, so probably costs considerably more and it's not as if people didn't b!tch and moan about that place enough.

What's he supposed to do? Cancel the damn thing?

Based on the comments here, It's hard to believe anyone posting on this thread has actually even attended the tournament in Baltimore.

Embarrassing? Compared to what, the ACC? Certainly not compared to CUSA, the Sunbelt - even the A10 in Brooklyn is just a sea of empty seats unless VCU is playing.

And these tourneys with home seeds early are not an improvement. Look at some of the attendance numbers from the AEast, Big South, Patriot, etc. at their home tourney games. They are less than what the CAA brings into Baltimore for the early rounds. The AEast final at UAlbany was a sellout of about 3,000 - about half the 5,700 W&M and Northeastern had in neutral Baltimore. Not sure the Sunbelt even had 5,700 for their entire tournament.

This "JMU mob" mentality, also a myth. In two years in Baltimore, JMU hasn't even filled a section. The tourney is going to continue to depend on Delaware, W&M, Towson and Drexel to sell most of the tickets, and they will. Yeager isn't blind, he certainly knows that.

I understand the massive anti CAA feeling on this board here but seriously, the comments here just aren't even objective. Baltimore has actually worked out far better so far than most predicted. No mid major will ever have a tourney like the CAA we had several years ago with the benefit of VCU, ODU and Mason - but those days are forever gone. For the current CAA, Baltimore is the perfect location and Yeager is smart to extend.

For reference, the attendance of the JMU vs Northeastern 2013 final in Richmond was listed as 6,038.

I was very happy when I heard that the attendance for the JMU vs Upstate was in an arena that was 75% of capacity.

(04-02-2015 09:12 PM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(04-02-2015 11:12 AM)JMUDunk Wrote:  Yea, that's pretty awful, especially the total attendance. But no where in there does Yeagar say anything about "Huge Success". C'mon.

Maybe moving it back to Richmond would have better attendance again, probably depends on the teams in the hunt. But the Mausoleum is a lot bigger, so probably costs considerably more and it's not as if people didn't b!tch and moan about that place enough.

What's he supposed to do? Cancel the damn thing?

Based on the comments here, It's hard to believe anyone posting on this thread has actually even attended the tournament in Baltimore.

Embarrassing? Compared to what, the ACC? Certainly not compared to CUSA, the Sunbelt - even the A10 in Brooklyn is just a sea of empty seats unless VCU is playing.

And these tourneys with home seeds early are not an improvement. Look at some of the attendance numbers from the AEast, Big South, Patriot, etc. at their home tourney games. They are less than what the CAA brings into Baltimore for the early rounds. The AEast final at UAlbany was a sellout of about 3,000 - about half the 5,700 W&M and Northeastern had in neutral Baltimore. Not sure the Sunbelt even had 5,700 for their entire tournament.

This "JMU mob" mentality, also a myth. In two years in Baltimore, JMU hasn't even filled a section. The tourney is going to continue to depend on Delaware, W&M, Towson and Drexel to sell most of the tickets, and they will. Yeager isn't blind, he certainly knows that.

I understand the massive anti CAA feeling on this board here but seriously, the comments here just aren't even objective. Baltimore has actually worked out far better so far than most predicted. No mid major will ever have a tourney like the CAA we had several years ago with the benefit of VCU, ODU and Mason - but those days are forever gone. For the current CAA, Baltimore is the perfect location and Yeager is smart to extend.

Lol. Jeez, this is what we've come to? Heckuva league we have here. Towson, UD, Drexel, and W&M will drive attendance.

So proud of our path. You can just see the yellow brick road laid out before us.

(04-03-2015 12:23 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Lol. Jeez, this is what we've come to? Heckuva league we have here. Towson, UD, Drexel, and W&M will drive attendance.

So proud of our path. You can just see the yellow brick road laid out before us.

You think JMU is that much better of a team this year than the 4 mentioned? We're not. The truth hurts. We're not the best looking girl at the party

Baltimore has some advantages that Richmond doesn't. Lots of hotels, restaurants and bars right around the arena and they are actually open. Richmond is a ghost town after 5 p.m.
It is going to take time to build the tournament in Baltimore. Largest W&M crowd I have ever seen at a tournament game at the finals this year in Baltimore. Proximity to the DC suburbs would mean a big JMU crowd when they make it to the finals as well.
I agree that the league will never get back what it had when Mason, VCU and ODU were top teams and the tourney was in Richmond, but those of us who went to the first tournaments in Richmond would have never guessed that the tourney would ever get to the point where the finals and semis were annual sellouts and you would get 8,000 for a quarterfinal session.
The real tough part is you have a lot of schools that don't draw flies for home games, so they are bringing many to the tournament, even if it is only an hour away (yes I am referring to Drexel, Towson and Delaware).
JMU and Wilmington have brought fans to the tourney in Richmond in the past, they can do it in Baltimore if they have some sustained success. CoC used to travel fairly well to the SoCon tournament, but they have had a train wreck of a last few seasons, so it will take some time for their fan base to get fired up.
I'm kind of excited, the league is wide open for anyone to step up and take over.

I never thought I would attend a CAA tourney where the W&M fans dominated the arena. I remember when JMU fans used to be the loudest and proudest in Richmond. There is no reason it can't happen for JMU in Baltimore, you guys have more alums in DC than W&M does.

(04-03-2015 10:42 AM)NC Tribe Wrote:  Baltimore has some advantages that Richmond doesn't. Lots of hotels, restaurants and bars right around the arena and they are actually open. Richmond is a ghost town after 5 p.m.
It is going to take time to build the tournament in Baltimore. Largest W&M crowd I have ever seen at a tournament game at the finals this year in Baltimore. Proximity to the DC suburbs would mean a big JMU crowd when they make it to the finals as well.
I agree that the league will never get back what it had when Mason, VCU and ODU were top teams and the tourney was in Richmond, but those of us who went to the first tournaments in Richmond would have never guessed that the tourney would ever get to the point where the finals and semis were annual sellouts and you would get 8,000 for a quarterfinal session.
The real tough part is you have a lot of schools that don't draw flies for home games, so they are bringing many to the tournament, even if it is only an hour away (yes I am referring to Drexel, Towson and Delaware).
JMU and Wilmington have brought fans to the tourney in Richmond in the past, they can do it in Baltimore if they have some sustained success. CoC used to travel fairly well to the SoCon tournament, but they have had a train wreck of a last few seasons, so it will take some time for their fan base to get fired up.
I'm kind of excited, the league is wide open for anyone to step up and take over.

I never thought I would attend a CAA tourney where the W&M fans dominated the arena. I remember when JMU fans used to be the loudest and proudest in Richmond. There is no reason it can't happen for JMU in Baltimore, you guys have more alums in DC than W&M does.

I agree. Thanks for the post.