Mountain West Conference tournament extends Las Vegas stay - Sports

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Jun. 03, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mountain West Conference tournament extends Las Vegas stay

League books men's, women's basketball at Thomas & Mack through 2013

By MATT YOUMANS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Vehicles pack the Thomas & Mack Center parking lot on the campus of UNLV on Friday Jan. 16, 2009.
Photo by John Gurzinski.

UNLV's Lon Kruger realizes he's in an enviable position by serving as the unofficial host coach of the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament.

But staging it at the Thomas & Mack Center is no guarantee the Rebels will coast to the championship game every year. "We learned that the difficult way," Kruger said.

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UNLV, which won the MWC tournament in 2007 and 2008, was blown out in the first round by San Diego State in March.

Still, Kruger said, the Rebels' obvious home-court advantage is not enough of a reason to move the tournament out of Las Vegas.

"Virtually in every other way, I think everyone recognizes Vegas is the best place for the tournament," Kruger said, citing atmosphere and increases in revenue and the number of travelers.

The conference Board of Directors, which comprises the nine school presidents, agreed by voting to keep the men's and women's tournaments at the Thomas & Mack from 2011 to 2013.

Las Vegas' four-year contract to host the tournament was set to expire in 2010, and there was a push by some schools, led by Brigham Young, to move the tournament.

Other sites considered were Albuquerque, N.M., Denver, Salt Lake City and San Diego. The tournament was an attendance failure when held in Denver from 2004 to 2006.

Las Vegas Events president Pat Christenson worked with UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick to form a proposal for the Thomas & Mack. Christenson said the "credibility" of Las Vegas to guarantee ticket sales was a factor.

"In the past, the other cities really didn't compete with us on our offer. This year they did," Christenson said. "I heard it was competitive. I think in the end, if there was an overriding factor in this, it's the history we have with the conference."

New Mexico coach Steve Alford and San Diego State coach Steve Fisher have been outspoken opponents of the Thomas & Mack as the tournament site. BYU representatives lobbied hard for a change, and the vote for Las Vegas was not unanimous.

"This has been a very big issue," Hamrick said. "I've always believed this is the venue and it's the city to showcase one of our top conference events."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. JD wrote on June 03, 2009 01:27 PM: Dear Hoop Fan - "Salt Dump City", very clever. It was good enough for the world to come to for the Olympic Winter Games, and is good enough for the NBA to have a franchise in, but not good enough for the MWC tourney. I don't mind the tourney in Vegas, just think it needs to be moved to a neutral site within the city. Yes attendance will always be better in a tourist city like Vegas over any other cities in the MWC, minus San Diego. Go Rebels, GO UTES! Michael wrote on June 03, 2009 01:02 PM: Unless they are moving the tournament to a neutral site, it should remain at the T & M. Rotating will not work as nobody will go to Laramie, and CSU and Air Force's arena's are too small. Even SDSU's place is 12,000 and that is under the average attendence at the T & M in 07 & 08. I am in agreement that it is an unfair competitive advantage for UNLV, but there is no other viable spot for it. I loved going to Denver, but the arena was a Ghost Town. Maybe we can get an neutral arena here or in SD built and that would be good. Hoop fan wrote on June 03, 2009 10:38 AM: Salt Dump City is not a good place for the tourney. The MWC should do a trial run and watch the attendance numbers drop drastically. The MWC tourney is where it belongs! Joe wrote on June 03, 2009 10:16 AM: Hmm, seems BYU has a problem with coming to Vegas to play a basketball tournament, but when it comes to the Las Vegas Bowl, their fans have NO problem coming from what I see attendance wise. I mean if they are so concerned about "fairness" let's do a round robin each year and rotate the tourney between each school. Otherwise, leave the tourney where the money is. Todd wrote on June 03, 2009 07:05 AM: If BYU doesn't want the Tourney in Vegas and they have "lobbist" to get it moved, then don't come to Vegas to play - plan and simple. Vegas is a better choice than SLC to host the MWC tournament - Vegas has far more hotel rooms than SLC...even San Diego would be a better choice than SLC as well. Vegas and SD have far more to do as in "fun" than SLC or Albuquerque.