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El Paso And Birmingham Vying For 2017 CUSA Basketball Championship

READ: http://tinyurl.com/gmc49jh

el paso shouldn't win the bid. . extreme expense on fans and schools. however, attendance is good there

(05-24-2016 04:22 PM)4thDownBlazer Wrote:  el paso shouldn't win the bid. . extreme expense on fans and schools. however, attendance is good there

I think it's Birmingham to lose. Curious to see if Ingram can leverage the prime time game spot.

UAB and cusa needs UAB playing at 6pm

In response to the article saying a negative for Birmingham is that the BJCC and Bartow are not within walking distance... What about having the women's first two rounds at Boutwell? I know it's old as hell but it's large enough.

Actually Hell was built three years after Boutwell.

Anyone that says it's difficult to get to El Paso needs to get in touch with Southwest Airlines

(05-24-2016 10:16 PM)blazinrunner Wrote:  In response to the article saying a negative for Birmingham is that the BJCC and Bartow are not within walking distance... What about having the women's first two rounds at Boutwell? I know it's old as hell but it's large enough.

I wrote that it was a negative but that was just in comparison to El Paso's set up. Honestly, it doesn't really matter. The men's draw is what makes the money. However I will say CUSA does have a strong following from some of it's women's teams.

(05-25-2016 09:23 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Anyone that says it's difficult to get to El Paso needs to get in touch with Southwest Airlines

I imagine mostly they mean you can't drive. You can, but it's on the far side of West Hell.

If only 8 teams went to the conference tournament , men and women could play the same venue.

4 women's games on Wednesday
4 men's games on Thursday
2 men's and 2 women's on Friday
2 championship s on Saturday

(05-25-2016 09:48 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 09:23 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Anyone that says it's difficult to get to El Paso needs to get in touch with Southwest Airlines

I imagine mostly they mean you can't drive. You can, but it's on the far side of West Hell.

It's a poke for sure. The Don Haskins Center is a bucket list gym if you love college basketball. It's worth the distance.

I have no problems with two separate venues. Just schedule smarter. It's sill to have both the men's and women's WKU team playing at the same time.

Travel to El Paso is an issue for fans: If the game is just about anywhere but El Paso fans can drive. A game in El Paso adds about $500 per person to the trip cost. (South West tickets to El Paso are not as cheap as you think) Having the tournament in a central location makes it more affordable for most fans. I can drive to most C-USA Schools for less than $100 in gas, then you can divide that by the number of passengers. But asking fans to spend an additional $500/person to watch a guarantee of 1 game... that is why you will have less than 500 fans combined from other schools. So keep it in a central location, unless attracting fans from other schools aren't that important.

(05-25-2016 10:21 AM)ICB Wrote:  Travel to El Paso is an issue for fans: If the game is just about anywhere but El Paso fans can drive. A game in El Paso adds about $500 per person to the trip cost. (South West tickets to El Paso are not as cheap as you think) Having the tournament in a central location makes it more affordable for most fans. I can drive to most C-USA Schools for less than $100 in gas, then you can divide that by the number of passengers. But asking fans to spend an additional $500/person to watch a guarantee of 1 game... that is why you will have less than 500 fans combined from other schools. So keep it in a central location, unless attracting fans from other school aren't that important.

You hit on the head. The fact that they'll let El Paso get the bid proves that this conference can be bought by the highest bidder and attendance is not the number one priority. If attendance was, they'd have it in Houston or Atlanta.

El paso traditionally has the highest average attendance so pitting it in El Paso relies more on the locals than travel. Problem is though that El Paso fans are fed up with their coach and attendance dropped last year. The tournament should be played where the school is trending up not down in order to bring the locals out.

(05-25-2016 11:46 AM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  El paso traditionally has the highest average attendance so pitting it in El Paso relies more on the locals than travel. Problem is though that El Paso fans are fed up with their coach and attendance dropped last year. The tournament should be played where the school is trending up not down in order to bring the locals out.

Agreed. UTEP averaged like 9k during their girl's NIT run.

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Chad BishopVerified account
‏@MrChadBishop
I can confirm the 2017 Conference USA basketball tournaments will be held in Birmingham. Member ADs voted in favor of city this morning.

No matter where the tournament venue, the great majority of tickets will be purchased by local corporate sponsors to show their support for the local school and the local economy. Travel expenses will be a factor in how the various school's ticket allotments sell to their own fans, but the majority of the tournament's money will be made through promises of corporate support.

It would be interesting to know how many unsold tickets from individual school's allotments have been returned to the tournament office for the various past tournament locations.

(05-25-2016 10:24 AM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  

(05-25-2016 10:21 AM)ICB Wrote:  Travel to El Paso is an issue for fans: If the game is just about anywhere but El Paso fans can drive. A game in El Paso adds about $500 per person to the trip cost. (South West tickets to El Paso are not as cheap as you think) Having the tournament in a central location makes it more affordable for most fans. I can drive to most C-USA Schools for less than $100 in gas, then you can divide that by the number of passengers. But asking fans to spend an additional $500/person to watch a guarantee of 1 game... that is why you will have less than 500 fans combined from other schools. So keep it in a central location, unless attracting fans from other school aren't that important.

You hit on the head. The fact that they'll let El Paso get the bid proves that this conference can be bought by the highest bidder and attendance is not the number one priority. If attendance was, they'd have it in Houston or Atlanta.

Who exactly from Houston or Atlanta is going to go to the CUSA tournament?