(07-14-2017 01:03 AM)geewizNU Wrote: (07-12-2017 12:41 PM)solohawks Wrote: (07-12-2017 12:10 PM)Dash Rip Rock Jr Wrote: Nothing says crappy conference more than playing conference tournament games on home courts
I disagree
Nothing says crappy conference like 1000 people or less in a 14K seat arena, which is what may happen.
Let's be honest, in D1 hoops you can count the number of sold out or near capacity crowds for conference tournaments on one hand.
No one is watching Milwaukee vs Northern Kentucky in Joe Louis Arena on a Monday night. Who cares.
If its NU vs. Hofstra in Charleston so be it. Luck of the draw. Why obsess about TV look. No one is watching anyway.
Don't get me wrong, I'd like a sellout too, but it can't happen all the time.
of course I agree with you 100%
BUT
you have to put yourself in the best position.
Charleston was a good location for the fan bases that would travel. A Monday night made sense because that allowed the traveling fan bases to make a weekend of the tournament. Monday night was always going to be a crap shoot depending on where it was and who was playing. Its still a crap shoot on Tuesday, but the reward is much less. Charleston UNCW (the best money matchup the CAA can get in Charleston) will draw less on a Tuesday than it will on a Monday. If your best money matchup will draw less than it is safe to assume that all matchups will draw less. Now some schools like Hofstra and NE will draw flies in Charleston no matter when and where you play, but others like JMU and the Tribe will also draw less on a Tuesday than on a Monday in Charleston simply due to logistics.
So not only has the CAA decreased the potential championship payoff by moving the championship game from Monday to Tuesday, they have absolutely massacred Semifinal Sunday. Best case scenario on Semifinal Sunday would have been JMU, W&M, UNCW, and CoC in whatever combination. That would have drawn a pretty good crowd on a Sunday. However, that crowd on a Monday will draw much much less. Again, due to logistics.
Even QF Saturday being on Sunday is a negative as who wants to go to Charleston on a Sunday knowing your team might lose? If your team loses on a Saturday you can still enjoy the part of Saturday you are not in the coliseum as well as a relaxing Sunday with plenty of time to get home for work on Monday. That is gone.
Now the CAA tournament will be only for the hardest, and financially welloff, of hardcores, and whatever casual crowd the city of Charleston can muster, which to be honest, was underwhelming last year.
And they are doing this for what??? Money? No. ESPN exposure? No.
They are doing this to get on an upper level cable sports channel no one watches.
In VA/MD is the casual fan more likely to watch Comcast Sports, the channel with the Wizards and Capitals, or CBS Sports Network. Same question in NY, Boston, and Philly/DE, SNY (the channel with the Mets), Comcast New England (the channel with the Celtics), Comcast Philly (the channel with all Philly pro sports teams) or CBS Sports Network.
Now throw in the southern schools. Are people in Charleston, Wilmington, and Greensboro more likely to watch a local channel on basic cable available over the air for free to anyone or CBS Sports Network.
There is just nothing positive about this decision and that is coming from a guy mullet has described as a CAA homer.