Fan interest/attendance a function of location  or  quality of play/team fandom's belief in team?


If two MAC teams were ranked in top 25 and meeting in MAC title game, would it much matter between CLE and columbus?

Nationwide is definitely a better overall arena, and I'd argue with anyone that the Short North / Arena District (and even Downtown) area is better than Cleveland. More variety and unique. There's some hometown pride thrown in there too. It would take only a a few years to have the MAC learn to love it.

But all that said, Cleveland is a great host and I wouldn't want it to move. The media has done a great job if focusing on it and proximity to MAC offices is key.

The problem with attendance is a problem with quality, not venue.

One of several reasons the tourney is in Cleveland is that the Q offers free office space for the MAC's HQ.  If the tournament moved to Columbus or elsewhere, the same undoubtedly would have to be true.

Amen, bruthuh!  

+1

Columbus media would bury the MAC Tourney coverage, while it followed the Big Ten Tourney in Chicago. 

If so, I'll start writing my critique of the game-day atmosphere of Richfield and Peninsula...  http://goo.gl/maps/DJl4N



Again, the problem is with the quality of basketball programs and not Cleaveland.

Tonight's NEC and Horizon championship games will be played in the home gym of one of the participating teams. It should make for some great ball to watch.

The LIU-Brooklyn crowd was more hype last year, but it may due to them absolutely smoking Mt. St. Mary's. The Blackbirds are fun to watch.

EDIT: and just as I end that last sentence, they throw down two #omgdunx .

The Sun Belt tournament moves to New Orleans next year. That would be a very inviting destination to travel to and makes logical sense for the league. 

The Sun Belt tournament over the years has been in a bunch of different places, sometimes on campus sites, sometimes on neutral sites. They have been in Hot Springs maybe the past 3-4 years. Before that they would play at a campus site, but not necessarily at the #1 seed arena, but at the school that bid on it ahead of time. About 5 years ago South Alabama had their best team in years and by chance had the tournament on their home site. It would have been a classic matchup with as many as 10,000 fans for the championship game, but South Alabama went out to lunch come tournament time. They won their first round game by a bucket at the end of the game, then went down in the semi-final game.

The MAC has a good thing going in Cleveland.  But other mid-major or lower D1 leagues who have low attendance tournaments should definitely play at campus sites. It only makes sense.

It just suprises me how the media controls the general public. With the ton of basketball fans within a 4-5 hour drive of Cleveland you would think that 20,000 fans for the final MAC tournament games would be normal - just for the excitement of being at a D1 tournament semi's and championship game from a fan's standpoint. But since the media downplays the MAC in its home territory and makes out that the B1G is the only league worth watching, only solid fans of the competing schools come to the games.

This is an excellent comment, and absolutely vital to this discussion.  Remember how empty MAC football stadiums are during the week for televised games?  It's tough for these small conferences.  You want to be on national tv, but the only slots available are during the week.

I follow the MAAC due my wife's association with Loyola U, and have been to many games.  They routinely sell out, but it only seats 3,000.  The MAAC only averages about 2K per game as it is, then expects those fans bases to travel to Springfield, Mass, from locations as far away as Buffalo and Baltimore on a Monday night to watch their team.  They do try hard to promote the tourney all season long, but there's still only so many fans you can get, and only so much local interest in Marist vs Fairfield.  

Like someone posted earlier, it seems to make more sense to have it at a campus site like the Horizon League does.  I understand the arenas (I use that term loosely) are small in a conferences like the MAAC, but at least it would be a sellout and a good atmosphere.  The neutral sites also suffer when surprise teams (like Manhattan vs Iona) make the finals.  It would also make the regular season so much more meaningful for conferences with only one bid.  

MAC tourney in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, or Timbuktu - Whatever........... Only One Certainty - More Bobcats will be there than anyone else MAC - as long as the current conference configuration remains.

Cleveland caters to Can't and 'Kron - so we 'defer" to their inferior fan bases because a non-MAC city with a ('nuther) failing print rag gives the tourney attention due to OUr foes? OUr "best interest" is served"...........by "default"?

Something wrong w/that no matter how you look at it. The biggest "wrong" is the problems w/the MAC. I am inclined to say if we are the dominant and substantial sustaining force............then leverage it.............or leave it.............. 

When columbus had the tourney, it was only the semis and finals.  When Ohio won teh title in 94, it was in Columbus and the final was packed to roof, only about 6500 capacity, but it was full and loud as hell. That was the last tourney in Columbus.

TTT

I'm watching the Sun Belt championship from New Orleans between #1 Little Rock and #2 Louisiana-Monroe.

Absolutely pitiful crowd. Our midweek games would put it to shame. I guess everyone in the Southeast is busy watching the SEC final.