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BleedRebelRed

2017 MWC Basketball Tournament - will show that MWC no longer needs a large arena.

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In 2011 the T&M Arena was packed to near full capacity for the MWC Tourney as SDSU advanced past Utah, UNLV, then defeated Jimmer's BYU team in the final.  In Las Vegas if you hadn't ordered your tickets early you were pretty much out of luck.  Back then we ordered out tickets directly from TCU once they opened sales in mid winter.

Gone now are Utah and BYU, which along with UNLV, UNM, and SDSU were the fan bases that bought out their allocations then went buying up the leftovers from everybody else.

Based on the number of emails I've received in the past month trying to get me to order one of UNLV's 500 allocated lower level seats, ticket sales are not going well.  I imagine UNM and SDSU fans might be sitting this one out in large numbers also.

For the squeaky wheels that have long wanted to move to another venue, this year will be proof that the days of needing a large arena are in the past.  The PAC-12 will be playing also in Las Vegas, in the new T-Mobile Arena... which frees up the MGM Grand Garden for one of the other conferences that play their tournament in Las Vegas.

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Ya' don't suppose the nexus of the biggest convention of the year and two major basketball tournaments has anything to do with it? Rooms are at a super-premium for the first time in the history of the tournament. Might as well be booking a room for this weekend...

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31 minutes ago, BleedRebelRed said:

In 2011 the T&M Arena was packed to near full capacity for the MWC Tourney as SDSU advanced past Utah, UNLV, then defeated Jimmer's BYU team in the final.  In Las Vegas if you hadn't ordered your tickets early you were pretty much out of luck.  Back then we ordered out tickets directly from TCU once they opened sales in mid winter.

Gone now are Utah and BYU, which along with UNLV, UNM, and SDSU were the fan bases that bought out their allocations then went buying up the leftovers from everybody else.

Based on the number of emails I've received in the past month trying to get me to order one of UNLV's 500 allocated lower level seats, ticket sales are not going well.  I imagine UNM and SDSU fans might be sitting this one out in large numbers also.

For the squeaky wheels that have long wanted to move to another venue, this year will be proof that the days of needing a large arena are in the past.  The PAC-12 will be playing also in Las Vegas, in the new T-Mobile Arena... which frees up the MGM Grand Garden for one of the other conferences that play their tournament in Las Vegas.

Have a feeling this year the MWCT could move to the Orleans Arena where the WCC plays or even the South Point Arena where they just hosted a Xmas tournament & seats probably 5000 tops 

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1 hour ago, Wyovanian said:

Ya' don't suppose the nexus of the biggest convention of the year and two major basketball tournaments has anything to do with it? Rooms are at a super-premium for the first time in the history of the tournament. Might as well be booking a room for this weekend...

This. Last time CONEXPO and the MWC Tournament shared the same week was 2008 and rooms were ridiculous that year, too. This year, it's forced the MWC to house all the teams at the Hard Rock, with the Rio being the media hotel. 

Going forward, if NM, UNLV, SDSU and Wyoming have good squads, the crowds will be just fine. Wyoming usually travels pretty good for the MWCT. Not in NM numbers, but we represent just fine.

 

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3 hours ago, BleedRebelRed said:

In 2011 the T&M Arena was packed to near full capacity for the MWC Tourney as SDSU advanced past Utah, UNLV, then defeated Jimmer's BYU team in the final.  In Las Vegas if you hadn't ordered your tickets early you were pretty much out of luck.  Back then we ordered out tickets directly from TCU once they opened sales in mid winter.

Gone now are Utah and BYU, which along with UNLV, UNM, and SDSU were the fan bases that bought out their allocations then went buying up the leftovers from everybody else.

Based on the number of emails I've received in the past month trying to get me to order one of UNLV's 500 allocated lower level seats, ticket sales are not going well.  I imagine UNM and SDSU fans might be sitting this one out in large numbers also.

For the squeaky wheels that have long wanted to move to another venue, this year will be proof that the days of needing a large arena are in the past.  The PAC-12 will be playing also in Las Vegas, in the new T-Mobile Arena... which frees up the MGM Grand Garden for one of the other conferences that play their tournament in Las Vegas.

well, we don't have to pay rent at the T&M, and since UNLV is not likely to be a contender for a few years, i don't see a big issue with keeping it there. unm will fire noodles soon, and all will be well.

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The league is not the same there is no doubt about it. It has much to do with coaching hi rings as anything else. Unlv, UNM, and I will say Fresno all whiffed with Rice, Neal, and Terry. I know Terry had a good year last year, but I think he sucks. Menzies has got to work for unlv and the Lobos need to get this hire right. Plus I really doubt Dutcher can keep it going at SDSU for long.

 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Wyovanian said:

Ya' don't suppose the nexus of the biggest convention of the year and two major basketball tournaments has anything to do with it? Rooms are at a super-premium for the first time in the history of the tournament. Might as well be booking a room for this weekend...

The basketball tournaments are just noise on the visitor numbers for what we on MWCBoard call "MWC Tourney weekend" but what most of Las Vegas refers to as "NASCAR weekend", because NASCAR draws six figures.  Maybe CONEXPO purposely schedules when NASCAR is also here because it is a good side attraction.

Anyway, UNM fans have always been big on bringing RVs.  Maybe that's an option to consider.

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9 hours ago, BleedRebelRed said:

The basketball tournaments are just noise on the visitor numbers for what we on MWCBoard call "MWC Tourney weekend" but what most of Las Vegas refers to as "NASCAR weekend", because NASCAR draws six figures.  Maybe CONEXPO purposely schedules when NASCAR is also here because it is a good side attraction.

Anyway, UNM fans have always been big on bringing RVs.  Maybe that's an option to consider.

With NASCAR in town? Are there enough Wal-Mart parking spaces in the valley?

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10 hours ago, BleedRebelRed said:

The basketball tournaments are just noise on the visitor numbers for what we on MWCBoard call "MWC Tourney weekend" but what most of Las Vegas refers to as "NASCAR weekend", because NASCAR draws six figures.  Maybe CONEXPO purposely schedules when NASCAR is also here because it is a good side attraction.

Anyway, UNM fans have always been big on bringing RVs.  Maybe that's an option to consider.

NASCAR is the weekend before the Tournament starts. I used LVCVA numbers enough over the years to understand the difference between a 100k+ event and a couple of 15-18kish events. Fact is, with ConExpo, we're talking about 200k people which means, between our tournament and the PAC-12, anyone trying to book 30 days out is pretty much SOL. It will also kill the walk-up and student crowd.

Past few years, Rebel fans have been a shrinking minority anyway. Between UNM, SDSU, Wyoming, and, if their season goes well, Nevada, there will still be 12k-15k in attendance. 

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8 hours ago, Wyovanian said:

NASCAR is the weekend before the Tournament starts. I used LVCVA numbers enough over the years to understand the difference between a 100k+ event and a couple of 15-18kish events. Fact is, with ConExpo, we're talking about 200k people which means, between our tournament and the PAC-12, anyone trying to book 30 days out is pretty much SOL. It will also kill the walk-up and student crowd.

Past few years, Rebel fans have been a shrinking minority anyway. Between UNM, SDSU, Wyoming, and, if their season goes well, Nevada, there will still be 12k-15k in attendance. 

NASCAR is the same weekend this year.

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35 minutes ago, wyo 1 said:

NASCAR is the same weekend this year.

Wow. That is really an ugly weekend. This is where planning long term is supposed to kick in. LVCVA, NASCAR, and ConExpo need to do a better job of being on the same page. March Madness is pretty immutable...

LV has a room inventory of about 150k. A six-figure sporting event, a nearly 200k attendee convention, and 30k basketball fans in the same four day span is going to expose the limits of capacity.

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I checked tonight and you can currently get a pair of all-session tickets for row JJ (9th row) section 103 directly from UNLVTickets.com.  I'm not sure if this is "best available" for UNLV's ticket allocation or overall.  In past years such availability - in any school's section - would have been unthinkable.

The conference may need to look at its marketing strategy and ticket pricing structure.  It's a tricky spot - trying to get fans in the empty seats without alienating the fans who already paid top dollar for their seats.

UNLV also needs to re-evaluate the donation requirements it has for the right to buy lower level season tickets.  Legacy seat holders have kept buying to save their spot but this can't be something the AD relies on.

UNLV also still designates certain games as "premium opponents" and jacks up the ticket price.  I brought an extra person to the UNLV/SDSU game last month and when I went to buy another ticket I learned that the worst seat in the house was still $38 for that game.  Other games it's been less.   But $38 for the worst seat at end on the upper level of an 18,000 seat arena for teams on down years isn't going to play for too long.

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I only know two Lobo fans planning on making the trip this year. And one of them is doing it more as an anniversary celebration than a specific basketball trip. 2010 in comparison, I personally knew at least 30 people making the trip.

  

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Mountain West Basketball Tournaments

Pac-12 Basketball Tournament

Western Athletic Conference Tournament

NASCAR

UNLV Baseball

National Air Traffic Controllers Convention

ConExpo

all happening the same weekend on the strip in Vegas. They are also having a boxing event in Downtown Vegas the same weekend

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