Madison Square Garden Says 'No Thanks' To The ACC Tourney

[BeachBumDeac]

TWC Arena is a terrible venue. The seating chart is terrible to carve up for a tournament.

Any arena is going to be terrible to carve up 15 ways. The important part is that people GO. Which they will do if they can easily fly there and can take public transpo to the arena from their hotel.

 

[ChrisL68]

More people go to Greensboro than those other cities.

It's going to be NC based more often than not because that's where the tickets are sold more often than not.

 

[JGDeac]

Just say no to domes

 

[deacondamo]

More people go to Greensboro than those other cities.

It's going to be NC based more often than not because that's where the tickets are sold more often than not.

Spoiler Alert! The guy who lives in Greensboro wants the tournament in Greensboro!

I don't even understand the second part. Maybe we should hold the game on the Internet, because that's where the tickets are sold.

 

[ChrisL68]

Spoiler Alert! The guy who lives in Greensboro wants the tournament in Greensboro!

I don't even understand the second part. Maybe we should hold the game on the Internet, because that's where the tickets are sold.

When the tourney is in Greensboro or Charlotte, there are more people attending the games. You are never going to have the tourney in DC or Atlanta anywhere approaching 50% of the time. You might want it in DC often since you live in Rockville, MD , but most ACC fans don't live up in DC.

Greensboro has 5 ACC schools within 2 1/2 hours (including the school that drives the most attendance).

 

[Hogie]

When the tourney is in Greensboro or Charlotte, there are more people attending the games.

That's because they have become spoiled and lazy.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

When the tourney is in Greensboro or Charlotte, there are more people attending the games. You are never going to have the tourney in DC or Atlanta anywhere approaching 50% of the time. You might want it in DC often since you live in Rockville, MD , but most ACC fans don't live up in DC.

Greensboro has 5 ACC schools within 2 1/2 hours (including the school that drives the most attendance).

We're adding 3 basketball fanbases both North of D.C., two of which who travel well. The only reason that Greensboro is so popular is the proximity of UNC, Duke, and State fans. UVA hardly brings anyone to the tournament, and Wake...well...anyway. The conference geographic footprint has expanded a lot in the last couple of years, and the popularity and awareness of the tournament needs to expand also. Tradition is great, but Greensboro looks pretty amateur hour compared to the other conference tournaments.

 

[RChildress107]

The Triangle isn't a city...

You're right its a metro Area. And as a metro area it's within roughly half a million of the Charlotte Metro area. Even if you don't agree that RDU should be classified as one metro area, Raleigh-Cary has over a million people.

If you're suggesting we classify "major" cities based on the population of the actual city then say goodbye to Atlanta which only had 20,000 more people in it than Raleigh as of 2011.

The ACC tourney needs a permanent location, or at least a permanent 3 year rotation. It shouldn't be in greensboro. The league has changed too much (for better or worse) for that to make sense as a location anymore.

 

[Deacfreak07]

Anywhere but Tampa. Just out of curiosity, how many folks here have been the tournament? Where? What was your experience like?

 

[Deacfreak07]

Also, in regards to how well the arena carves up, the tickets are sold in books. The location of a particular schools block really affects how well tickets are sold to the entire tournament. Just because people don't show up, doesn't mean tickets aren't sold.

TWC arena barely carves up well for 4 teams. It was built with the singular purpose of hosting NBA games in mind. Like pretty much everything with that franchise, it was short-sighted and poorly planned.

DC did a great job hosting in 2005, fwiw. I still don't understand the Greensboro hate.

 

[MNHammer]

When the tourney is in Greensboro or Charlotte, there are more people attending the games. You are never going to have the tourney in DC or Atlanta anywhere approaching 50% of the time. You might want it in DC often since you live in Rockville, MD , but most ACC fans don't live up in DC.

Greensboro has 5 ACC schools within 2 1/2 hours (including the school that drives the most attendance).

Atlanta can outdraw Greensboro by almost 13,000 people per session (look at 2001 vs Greensboro years). DC has a higher capacity than Charlotte (as seen by the last tournament on the link). There are now 7 teams north of Carolina, while only 4 teams south of North Carolina - which it can be argued all 4 are more football than basketball schools. It seems like going north to DC would be a good idea.

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/09accbktourrecords.pdf

 

[KOL]

lol. Charlotte is fine, but Greensboro is completely unacceptable for a major athletics conference. It's no longer the case that fans of most ACC schools can drive to Greensboro, and flying into PTI from Florida or NY is not easy or cheap, really.

Flying into CLT or RDU are good options.

 

[Wakeforest22890]

Anywhere but Tampa. Just out of curiosity, how many folks here have been the tournament? Where? What was your experience like?

Been to the tournament a lot. Been to Charlotte, Greensboro, DC, Atlanta, and Tampa.

Greensboro is my favorite because of the tailgating, proximity to my house, and the general feel in the arena..there's a buzz that isn't present anywhere else. Charlotte was by far the worst venue with Tampa second worse.

Atlanta at the Phillips Arena was much better than the Georgia Dome where there was just way too much space for the games to feel like a college atmosphere. I liked DC a lot as well but was biased against it slightly because we lost the first game we played.

My ranking:

1. Greensboro
2. DC
3. Atlanta at Phillips Arena
4. Tampa
5. Atlanta in the Dome
6. Charlotte

 

[HailToTheDeacons]

I agree with the majority which seems to be stating: It needs to be in a large city that is easily accessible, has good public transportation, and has shit to do.

I enjoy Greensboro, but it gets a .5 out of 3 when trying to meet those requirements.

Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, and maybe Charlotte, Pittsburgh, and Miami are good options.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

Can someone explain to me why they think Charlotte is such a bad location, besides the break up of TWC Arena?

 

[bym051d]

Anywhere but Tampa. Just out of curiosity, how many folks here have been the tournament? Where? What was your experience like?

Greensboro is the best since it has the easiest in-and-out and best venue. Also, I get to sleep in my bed.
Charlotte isn't bad, but I haven't been since they moved to the new dome.
Atlanta is awesome to visit, but the Georgia Dome sucks. Hopefully, Phillips is better.

 

[TheReff]

I don't blame them. The ACC can't sell out anymore in Greensboro. How in the hell would we sell out tickets in New York? It is just not that big of a deal to go to the ACC Tourney any more. ANybody can get a ticket on Thursday & Friday for $20 or even less and almost sit anywhere. Tickets tighten up a little on Semi final Saturday, especially if Duke & UNC-Chapel Hill are in it. ANd this year if NC State joins the party. But no, MSG does not want to bid on this.

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

I don't blame them. The ACC can't sell out anymore in Greensboro. How in the hell would we sell out tickets in New York? It is just not that big of a deal to go to the ACC Tourney any more. ANybody can get a ticket on Thursday & Friday for $20 or even less and almost sit anywhere. Tickets tighten up a little on Semi final Saturday, especially if Duke & UNC-Chapel Hill are in it. ANd this year if NC State joins the party. But no, MSG does not want to bid on this.

The Big East Tournament is a unique situation, so I don't think that's what the ACC tournament needs to be using as a measurement, and what other conference tournaments sell out? And the middling games are never big sellers. We need to expand the ACC brand name into territories that have been traditionally SEC and Big East territories, and holding the tournament in those cities with all the advertising that goes along, will do that. The actual product on the court will take care of itself, for better or worse. I think Washington D.C. is a great place to do it because it's an international city and a Big East basketball stronghold (Georgetown)

 

[BeachBumDeac]

Greensboro is the best since it has the easiest in-and-out and best venue. Also, I get to sleep in my bed.
Charlotte isn't bad, but I haven't been since they moved to the new dome.
Atlanta is awesome to visit, but the Georgia Dome sucks. Hopefully, Phillips is better.

Greensboro has the easiest in-and-out only if you're driving. We're adding schools that need to fly in. It's a bitch to fly into PTI.

 

[Milhouse]

Can someone explain to me why they think Charlotte is such a bad location, besides the break up of TWC Arena?

no they can't