Does the BSC Tournament Belong in Reno?

[aucat]

While I understand the desire to have a neutral site, here was my feeling about being in Reno LAST Year (I picked the wrong year to go.)

1. If you want to ensure that the tournament is in a city where absolutely no one has ever heard of the BSC and absolutely
couldn't care less about a basketball tournament in town, keep it in Reno.

2. If you want to have the BSC tournament in a town where it is the best kept secret amongst all the the hotels, restaurants,
etc. etc. Keep it in Reno.

3. If you want to continue to have absolutely PATHETIC crowds for the games which is a total embarrassment on TV, Keep it in Reno.

4. If you want to ensure that the electricity in the air for the basketball games played in the tournament is the equivalent
of a wet noodle, keep it in Reno.

5. If you want to have a tournament where the only crowd noise audible is coming from the players on the benches
and the band and cheerleaders, Keep it in Reno.

6. If you want to have a tournament where the employees in the facility have no earthly idea what event is taking place
in the building that they are working in, Keep it in Reno.

7. If you want to ensure that the vast majority of the fans of BSC schools will have a terribly LONG drive during a sketchy
time of year for road travel, or face a very expensive flight for MSU fans out of Bozeman, Keep it in Reno.

[Cat_gld]

While I understand the desire to have a neutral site, here was my feeling about being in Reno LAST Year (I picked the wrong year to go.)

1. If you want to ensure that the tournament is in a city where absolutely no one has ever heard of the BSC and absolutely
couldn't care less about a basketball tournament in town, keep it in Reno.

2. If you want to have the BSC tournament in a town where it is the best kept secret amongst all the the hotels, restaurants,
etc. etc. Keep it in Reno.

3. If you want to continue to have absolutely PATHETIC crowds for the games which is a total embarrassment on TV, Keep it in Reno.

4. If you want to ensure that the electricity in the air for the basketball games played in the tournament is the equivalent
of a wet noodle, keep it in Reno.I thin the fist 6 point

5. If you want to have a tournament where the only crowd noise audible is coming from the players on the benches
and the band and cheerleaders, Keep it in Reno.

6. If you want to have a tournament where the employees in the facility have no earthly idea what event is taking place
in the building that they are working in, Keep it in Reno.

7. If you want to ensure that the vast majority of the fans of BSC schools will have a terribly LONG drive during a sketchy
time of year for road travel, or face a very expensive flight for MSU fans out of Bozeman, Keep it in Reno.

I think the 1st 6 points could define any major city in the western US except Bozeman, Missoula or Ogden. Most Big Sky schools don't exactly have a reputation for high attendance with a lot of rabid fans. The Lady Cats had a spectacular year in spite of the turn-out in Reno. Why get so hung up on the venue?

[Mr Lisle]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

[BelgradeBobcat]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

I don't think Weber State has the financial resources or the corporate booster support to buy the tournament from the rest of the Big Sky-and I think it would take a huge financial guaranty to convince the rest of the league to let them have it.

I wonder what UNLV forks out to get the MWC to let them have that tournament on the Rebel's home court? I suppose Las Vegas kicks in quite a bit to make that happen.

[Hawks86]

When you have events this size, it’s so important to get out in front of it, securing the facility, the hotels, making sure it’s in a good location in terms of transportation,” Williams said. “We’ve started our process for 2019 and beyond. Right now the hope is to get all of our bids back by the end of this month, conduct any site visits if and where necessary and present the findings to our administrators and our presidents in June to have them make a decision about where we want to go

What we’re doing is looking at a number of the cities and venues that were interested a few years ago when we first announced we were going to a neutral site,” Williams said. “Right now our focus is neutral site. That’s important to our teams, our coaches, our players. To be able to go to a location where no one has the home-court advantage. It’s a decision that’s going to be made by our schools and we’ll take that and run with it and continue to build this event.”

http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2017/3/1 ... 72944.aspx

[BelgradeBobcat]

http://www.bigskyconf.com/news/2017/3/1 ... aspx?path=

I think it's going to be in Reno for the foreseeable future, whether the fans like it or not.
In losing North Dakota there will be two fewer games. Maybe they should scruntch it up by a day or two. It would mean having a couple of morning sessions. Making the event two days shorter and not giving teams a day off in between the early rounds might help people with their travel plans.

Yes, it's pretty awkward having the tournament run from Monday through Saturday, since a lot of fans might not be able to travel to Reno for the entire week. If you go for a few days early on, you are guaranteed to see your teams play but can't stay for the later rounds if your team advances. If you wait until the last few days to go, you're running the risk that your team has been knocked out early and you may not get to see them at all. Not sure if there would be a better option or if the tournament could be condensed any further without using multiple venues. Perhaps once the 12th team UND is gone, you could cut out a day by having the Women's 1st Round + 2 Men's 1st Round games (5 games total) on Day 1, Women's QF + 3rd Men's 1st Round game (5 games total) on Day 2, Men's QF on Day 3, Semifinals on Day 4 and Finals on Day 5. The third Men's 1st Round game would be the 8/9 game to give the #1 seed a small extra advantage in its QF opponent not having the day off that the winners of the 7/10 and 6/11 games would have.

Interesting: http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?&D ... =211099526
At the NAIA tourney in Billings they are playing 8 games per day, starting at 8:15 am to get the field of 32 narrowed down.

[BelgradeBobcat]

https://twitter.com/406mtsports/status/842118993238450184

[PapaG]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

The conference seat may be in Ogden, but the heart of the conference is in Montana. I think Billings is an interesting idea. Plenty of hotel space, lots of alumni/fans of both schools, nice venue that would have more people attending than in Reno based on the Big Sky being the only D1 conference in the state. Flights in and out could be an issue, but perhaps Alaska Airlines could be a regional partner and help with added fights or amended scheduling?

[BelgradeBobcat]

Billings can use this in their bid propaganda. There's more people in this photo than what was in the Reno Events Center for MSU's Championship game. Congrats Western. (they still won't move the tournament to Billings, but one can dream) https://twitter.com/q2scottbreen/status/842183004676083712

[SkyRider]

It always appears there are more people sitting across from both benches (rather than behind) in Reno. Why not sell and/or prioritize that side first, since the cameras point that way. Or... move the cameras to point at the more full side. You want to present the best possible presentation of your product -- it's still a part of marketing.

I believe it was the University of Miami a few years back which went back and watched replays of football games played in the stadium. They changed seating and camera locations, because they realized the perception of the broadcast/atmosphere related to ratings and future ticket sales.

Hopefully year 2 of the tourney has allowed them to find some more things to tweak.

[PapaG]

It always appears there are more people sitting across from both benches (rather than behind) in Reno. Why not sell and/or prioritize that side first, since the cameras point that way. Or... move the cameras to point at the more full side. You want to present the best possible presentation of your product -- it's still a part of marketing.

I believe it was the University of Miami a few years back which went back and watched replays of football games played in the stadium. They changed seating and camera locations, because they realized the perception of the broadcast/atmosphere related to ratings and future ticket sales.

Hopefully year 2 of the tourney has allowed them to find some more things to tweak.

This sounds like using a tourniquet to stop the bleeding but still with no solution to fix the problem long-term. Altering camera angles and shifting the few fans around for TV won't make the conference more money or add more people to the game.

[Catfanatic84]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

The conference seat may be in Ogden, but the heart of the conference is in Montana. I think Billings is an interesting idea. Plenty of hotel space, lots of alumni/fans of both schools, nice venue that would have more people attending than in Reno based on the Big Sky being the only D1 conference in the state. Flights in and out could be an issue, but perhaps Alaska Airlines could be a regional partner and help with added fights or amended scheduling?

I tend to agree that Billings would be most logical. Ogden would draw well too due to Weber State...but seems like it would not be a nuetral site, no? I think the attendance in Billings would be much better than Reno considering the draw of the Cats/Griz. Most years (unlike this year), one of those two men's teams will go deep in the tournament, goosing attendance.

The Metra is an average venue...it could have been much better following the tornado a few years ago. I think they missed a golden opportunity to make it a "palace." Probably would have increased the odds of winning the Big Sky tournament bid too. Instead, they simply restored it back to the way it was...

[WeedKillinCat]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

The conference seat may be in Ogden, but the heart of the conference is in Montana. I think Billings is an interesting idea. Plenty of hotel space, lots of alumni/fans of both schools, nice venue that would have more people attending than in Reno based on the Big Sky being the only D1 conference in the state. Flights in and out could be an issue, but perhaps Alaska Airlines could be a regional partner and help with added fights or amended scheduling?

I tend to agree that Billings would be most logical. Ogden would draw well too due to Weber State...but seems like it would not be a nuetral site, no? I think the attendance in Billings would be much better than Reno considering the draw of the Cats/Griz. Most years (unlike this year), one of those two men's teams will go deep in the tournament, goosing attendance.


The Metra is an average venue...it could have been much better following the tornado a few years ago. I think they missed a golden opportunity to make it a "palace." Probably would have increased the odds of winning the Big Sky tournament bid too. Instead, they simply restored it back to the way it was...

I would love to have it here in Billings but like you said they didn't do much with the interior after the tornado. They should have revamped the seating and everything else. But instead they had the seats cleaned and reinstalled them.

I will try and go see the NAIA tournament this weekend. The tickets for 1 day are $15.00 but a tourney pass is only $40.00. Business support for the NAIA tourney is pretty strong here.

[catscat]

Ogden is the place.
It's the "commission seat" of the Big Sky Conference
It has a Big Sky presence and identity.
Salt Lake City International (38 miles away) has a direct flight from most BSC cities/towns
It's pretty much in the geographical center of the BSC. UND doesn't count anymore.
Driving distance is manageable from every BSC town/city. Greeley-484, Flagstaff-576, Bozeman-376, Cheney-704, Moscow-604, Pocatello-130 Missoula-490, etc.
Great facilities and accommodations through out the area.
More...
Maybe Weber gains an advantage, but the "ups" trump the "downs"

The conference seat may be in Ogden, but the heart of the conference is in Montana. I think Billings is an interesting idea. Plenty of hotel space, lots of alumni/fans of both schools, nice venue that would have more people attending than in Reno based on the Big Sky being the only D1 conference in the state. Flights in and out could be an issue, but perhaps Alaska Airlines could be a regional partner and help with added fights or amended scheduling?

I tend to agree that Billings would be most logical. Ogden would draw well too due to Weber State...but seems like it would not be a nuetral site, no? I think the attendance in Billings would be much better than Reno considering the draw of the Cats/Griz. Most years (unlike this year), one of those two men's teams will go deep in the tournament, goosing attendance.


The Metra is an average venue...it could have been much better following the tornado a few years ago. I think they missed a golden opportunity to make it a "palace." Probably would have increased the odds of winning the Big Sky tournament bid too. Instead, they simply restored it back to the way it was...

I would love to have it here in Billings but like you said they didn't do much with the interior after the tornado. They should have revamped the seating and everything else. But instead they had the seats cleaned and reinstalled them.

I will try and go see the NAIA tournament this weekend. The tickets for 1 day are $15.00 but a tourney pass is only $40.00. Business support for the NAIA tourney is pretty strong here.

I went last night on the "$10 after 6pm ticket. I thought the crowd was a bit sparse for having two Montana teams (including a Billings team) playing, but the news said they had 3,000 people and they were happy since last year they had 3,000 people for the WHOLE tournament.

[John K]

Is there any reason they couldn't set up sort of an "auditon" for several cities over the next few years, i.e. rotate the tourney among Billings, Ogden, Spokane, and/or any other cities that might want to throw their hat in the ring. After each city has had an opportunity to host it once, then the BSC could award a multi-year contract to whichever city was the most successful.

[SkyRider]

It always appears there are more people sitting across from both benches (rather than behind) in Reno. Why not sell and/or prioritize that side first, since the cameras point that way. Or... move the cameras to point at the more full side. You want to present the best possible presentation of your product -- it's still a part of marketing.

I believe it was the University of Miami a few years back which went back and watched replays of football games played in the stadium. They changed seating and camera locations, because they realized the perception of the broadcast/atmosphere related to ratings and future ticket sales.

Hopefully year 2 of the tourney has allowed them to find some more things to tweak.

This sounds like using a tourniquet to stop the bleeding but still with no solution to fix the problem long-term. Altering camera angles and shifting the few fans around for TV won't make the conference more money or add more people to the game.

It's lipstick on a pig, no doubt. It helps presentation, but at the end of the day, I just don't think the crowds are going to be there. I checked Reno's NBA D-League team, the Reno Bighorns, and through about 20 home games (in the same arena), they are averaging just under 1,800 a game. I'd assume that's your best case scenario for the number of true basketball fanatics in the Reno area who would attend the Big Sky Tournament. It really comes down to each school promoting the heck out of the tournament and offering anything and everything to encourage fans to travel there. Like has been mentioned already, that's just easier said than done.

[BelgradeBobcat]

After hosting the NAIA women's tournament, I don't think there's any doubt that Billings will bring out way more fans than Reno-even when the Montana schools aren't involved. I can't imagine the Big Sky collectively agreeing to send the tournament to Billings-as most of the other teams think the Montanas are favored anyway (read the comments about the TV deal) but it they did, it would be a lot better in terms of fan attendance. The pictures tell the story-there were people in the gym.

http://www.ktvq.com/story/34976793/naia ... -a-success

[wapiti]

Based on attendance numbers with the women's NAIA in Billings, I think Billings should be reconsidered as a tournament host.
Because of that potential revenue that Billings may bring, the other schools may ok it there.

It would be a long trip for fans of NAU, SUU, and Sac state.

[MSU01]

Based on attendance numbers with the women's NAIA in Billings, I think Billings should be reconsidered as a tournament host.
Because of that potential revenue that Billings may bring, the other schools may ok it there.

It would be a long trip for fans of NAU, SUU, and Sac state.

Based on what I saw watching the tournament in Reno the last couple of years, only a handful of fans from those schools showed up to Reno. I was especially surprised by the lack of Sac State fans, since it's only about a 2 hour drive to get to Reno and easy to attend games for a day or two without needing to make expensive travel plans in advance.

Billings did a smart thing in getting the NAIA tournament - if their community will show up for that, they'll also show up for the Big Sky especially when a lot of the community has ties to either MSU or UM. The question is will any schools other than MSU and UM agree to have the tournament there given the inherent advantages for the Montana schools playing in Billings.

[BroncoCat]

one thing, the week of big sky tournament was also high school state tournaments. would the metra want to bet on big sky tournament vs high school state tournaments?
they have 40 years of state tournament data, and by all accounts well attended events. I have a hard time believing they would take on the big sky tournament at the expense of state tournaments.
it would be interesting to see a trial run.