MEAC Basketball Tourney Update

[aggierattler]

MEAC to visit Joel again

Officials seeking host site for their basketball tourney


By John Dell
Winston-Salem Journal Reporter

Published: May 8, 2008

Winston-Salem is getting closer to being named the host city for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament.

Chico Caldwell, the athletics director at Winston-Salem State, said that a visit by MEAC officials in mid-April went very well.

"I thought they were very impressed with what we had to offer so," Caldwell said after showing off Joel Coliseum, the coliseum annex and the downtown area.

The MEAC has been shopping its tournament around since Raleigh decided not to renew after a three-year contract ran out. However, Raleigh is in the mix again, according to Caldwell.

"From what I understand, it's down to us or Raleigh," Caldwell said.

There have also been reports that Norfolk, Va., is interested in the tournament.

The MEAC Tournament had mixed results during its three years in Raleigh, but it did have a 30-percent increase in attendance this past March. According to figures released by the conference, the tournament had 38,228 fans for the week, a total that includes 8,120 for Saturday night's championship game.

Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the MEAC, said earlier this month in a statement that he was happy with the attendance increase.

"To more than double the tournament's attendance in three years shows continued growth, and we are elated that we are able to exceed the 2007 attendance by more than 30 percent," Thomas said.

The attendance for Saturday's championship game was helped by a game played just before it between WSSU and N.C. Central. It was billed as a bonus game for prospective MEAC members.

WSSU won't be eligible for the MEAC Tournament until the 2009-10 season. That means that the Rams would not be playing in the tournament during its first year here, if the city is successful in landing it.

Bucky Dame, the director of Joel Coliseum, said that the MEAC's second round of visits will likely come next week.

"The fact that we are getting a second visit is a good sign," Dame said. "The only reading that I have on this whole process is we are a finalist, and they want to make a decision in the next couple of weeks."

Dame said that all the women's and men's games would be played at Joel Coliseum, and the annex would be used for a number of other events connected to the tournament.

The MEAC officials have considered the fact that WSSU wouldn't be playing in the first tournament here.

"I think there was mention of Winston-Salem State possible playing in another bonus game," Dame said. "The MEAC folks said that worked out nicely for them this past year in Raleigh."

The tournament would be held the same week (March 11-16, 2009) as the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, but next year's ACC Tournament will be in Atlanta.

"There was some question about hotels and the space because we do have some ACC teams and fans stay in Winston when the tournament is in Greensboro," Dame said. "But that doesn't seem to be an issue, especially the first year because the ACC will be in Atlanta."

There is also speculation that the MEAC Tournament might be held in Raleigh for one more year, and then move to Winston-Salem. Dame and Caldwell said that that's unlikely.

"They work on three-year deals, and this is a three-year contract that we are working toward," Caldwell said.

Caldwell said he thinks that a decision will be made before the MEAC's spring meetings May 19-23.

¡ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at [e-mail].

[truthseeker]

this would be a good move... 8000 people in a 14,000 seat areana would look like the place is full...you can tell winston really wants it... plus they did a great job with the ciaa... the bonus game was a hit with me also... wssu & nccu performed well...

since the annex would not be used to play some early round games ( i thought that was a good idea)... would the officials use the basball stadium right across the parking lot from the joel to showcase meac baseball with a spring round robbin tournament...

wssu needs to hurry up & field a baseball team....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[econgrad71]

I still hope Norfolk gets it...ease of travel, fan support, hotels and ENTERTAINMENT (WATER ACTIVITIES, CLUBS, GREAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANTS, ETC.).

[truthseeker]

econgrad71... the meac is coming out of raleigh smelling like a rose... norfolk.. winston.. gboro.. & now raleigh having 2nd thoughts... it probably didn't look this bright back in january...

norfolk would be great too... but this next move is where tourny officials have to step it up for the fans...

[Bigboy]

With the price of gas, Winston is the place for me since I live in Greensboro.

[DECKS]

MEAC officials need to find a way to keep it in Raleigh. Would you move your business from a location where it had grown by over 100% in three years?

[aggierattler]

The MEAC Basketball Tournament has been moved to Winston-Salem.

[numberonebrave]

MEAC officials need to find a way to keep it in Raleigh. Would you move your business from a location where it had grown by over 100% in three years? .......I thought Raleigh wanted nothing else to do with the MEAC and took the RBC center off the table. A 100% growth means very little if the base was really low. What do you suggest the MEAC do?

[numberonebrave]

JOURNAL REPORTER

Published: May 25, 2008

Winston-Salem has won the bid to play host to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament for the next three years, according to several sources.

At the MEAC spring meetings, which took place last week in Virginia Beach, Va., presidents and chancellors voted to award the tournament to Winston-Salem. The meetings ended Friday with one of the final votes determining where the tournament would be played for the next three seasons.

An announcement is expected to be made early this week.

Neither Dennis Thomas, the commissioner of the MEAC, nor Chico Caldwell, the athletics director at Winston-Salem State University, could be reached for comment yesterday.

But sources have said that the vote came down to Winston-Salem and Raleigh as the final two choices.

"I heard there were four cities that made bids, but Winston and Raleigh were the final two," a source said.

Winston-Salem officials made a strong proposal to bring the tournament to Joel Coliseum, pledging $100,000 to bring the tournament here.

The money that went into the proposal was divided up from four different sources, starting with $25,000 from new MEAC member Winston-Salem State, which won't be eligible to compete in the tournament next season. Other $25,000 commitments came from the city, the Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority and from the Millennium Fund.

The last of the $25,000 commitments was requested by the MEAC last week. According to an e-mail to Thomas, the Millennium Fund's $25,000 is for the 2008-09 tournament only. The fund, which is managed by the Winston-Salem Alliance, contributes money to projects that benefit the general public.

The MEAC Tournament, which has been held for 37 years, has been played in Winston-Salem before. From 1980 through '82, the tournament was played at Memorial Coliseum, which was demolished in the late 1980s to make way for Joel Coliseum.

The tournament took place the past three years at the RBC Center in Raleigh, and although there was an increase in attendance each year, the tournament has struggled to attract fans. Last season 38,228 attended the weeklong women's and men's tournaments. There were 8,120 for the championship games at the 18,500-seat RBC Center. That included a bonus game played between Winston-Salem State and N.C. Central between the men's and women's finals.

In 2007, 30,452 attended the tournament, and in 2006, during its first year in Raleigh, the attendance was 22,508 for the week.

By comparison, the numbers from Richmond, Va., to Raleigh showed an increase in support. In 2005, the last year in Richmond (which ended a five-year run), only 15,015 attended for the week.

One of the problems that the MEAC Tournament has had is constant comparisons to the CIAA Tournament, which has enjoyed a great run of success in Charlotte. The history of the Division II CIAA, which has one of the longest-running tournaments in the country, is what helps make that tournament such a success.

At stake in both the men's and women's Division I MEAC tournaments are bids to the NCAA tournaments, but that hasn't translated into bigger fan support.

Winston-Salem played host to the CIAA Tournament from 1994 through 1999. The tournament moved to Raleigh in 2000.

¡ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at [e-mail].

[aggiejazz]

MEAC hopes to increase attendance with move to Winston-Salem

By John Dell | Journal Reporter, Published: May 27, 2008

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has been hopping from city to city trying to make its basketball tournaments a success. It hopes that the next stop, Winston-Salem, will be the right move.

MEAC officials awarded the conferences men's and women's basketball tournaments to Winston-Salem and Joel Coliseum on Tuesday afternoon for the next three years. The contract will begin with the 2008-09 tournament scheduled for March 10-15. All men's and women's games will be played at Joel Coliseum.

Commissioner Dennis Thomas of the MEAC praised Winston-Salem for having all the ingredients to grow the tournament.

"Every time we voted or talked about where this tournament was going it always came up Winston-Salem," Thomas said.

Winston-Salem beat out Raleigh, where the tournament was held the last three years, as well as Norfolk, Va., according to sources. Thomas would not reveal the cities that Winston-Salem beat out.

The proposal the city put together to lure the tournament included a $100,000 package with $25,000 coming from Winston-Salem State, one of the newest members of the conference. The rest of the $75,000 came from the city.

WSSU helping to land the tournament is slightly different from the early 1990s when the city landed the Division II CIAA Tournament for six years. As part of the proposal to that conference in 1993 WSSU didn't have to help with the finances. The CIAA stayed for six years from 1994 to 1999.

Thomas says that with he would like to boost attendance figures to 50,000 by the third year of the contract. Last year in Raleigh at the RBC Center 38,228 fans attended for the week.

Thomas says that since 2005, when just 15,000 fans attended the tournament in Richmond, Va., attendance has been on the rise. He hopes that trend will continue now that the tournament will be held in a city with a MEAC school. The last two cities where the tournament was held there wasn't an anchor school.

However, WSSU, still in transition to Division I, won't be eligible for next year's tournament.

"I think it's a buy-in of the city," Thomas said. "You need a progressive city with great and strong leadership that can do those things to move the tournament forward. We think with an anchor university like Winston-Salem State, which is a tremendous university, I'm comfortable with where this tournament is going."

Thomas said that to boost attendance figures for the championship games on March 15 that WSSU and N.C. Central, a hopeful MEAC member, will play in another bonus game. That bonus game was well received in Raleigh this past year.

N.C. Central, which left the CIAA and is also in transition to Division I, hasn't been accepted in the MEAC yet. The conference has a moratorium on expansion that was not lifted at last week's spring meetings, meaning N.C. Central is still in limbo. Thomas wouldn't say when the moratorium will be lifted.

Thomas has big plans for attendance to increase that some might call unrealistic.

"We think in a three-year period we can increase our attendance to that 50,000 paid attendance," Thomas said. "Now, if after the 2009 tournament, and we have 35,000, then I have to pause for concern. But we don't forecast that."

Mayor Allen Joines of Winston-Salem said that landing a tournament such as the MEAC, whose winners in the women's and men's tournaments get automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, is a big deal.

"I think it's a tremendous honor for Winston-Salem," Joines said. "As I told the commissioner their tournament is growing and that we can help him grow the tournament to the level he would like to see it."

Bob McCoy, the president of the Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority, compared what it was like when the CIAA came to Winston-Salem in the 1994.

"We were instrumental in growing the CIAA years ago…," McCoy said. "It grew so well it went right out of town to a bigger city but that's all right.

"We plan to put as much effort and passion in marketing the MEAC and into helping it grow to be the best that it can be."

Thomas says that for the tournament to grow the city will have to do its part. "We are going to have to do some very great marketing and promoting, something we feel the city has the expertise to do," he said.


John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at [e-mail]

[aggiejazz]

What got the MEAC in trouble with Raleigh from the start is the mis-representation of the attendance numbers in Richmond, VA.

Secondly the event officials in Raleigh felt that the people running the MEAC HQ were not doing their part in making the tournament planning go smoothly. There were claims of MEAC officials missing meetings, not returning calls and providing in-accurate information.

The scholarship money is less than what Raleigh offered three years ago. I am very curious as to what Raleigh offered to keep MEAC in the city. Couldn't had been much.

I strongly believe that the idea of having WSSU play NCCU in the tournament originated on Blue Death Valley. So, Big Ups there.