CIAA Tournament

[uptownliving]

Charlotte did make a bid for the CIAA back when we had the old Colisiem out on Tyvola and we lost that bid to Raleigh because their suburban arena was better than our suburban arena. Having the new arena and its location downtown was a major part of the decision to move the CIAA tourney to Charlotte.

[Raintree21]

I note there isn't one mention of the arena in that article so I rest my case. LOL In addition, a commissioner made the point in that if it was such a good deal for business in Charlotte, then why isn't there more private money going towards the event?

[krazeeboi]

^It does say "game," and all of the games were held at the arena.

[monsoon]

Well.... All of this is just a rehash of this thread when it was created a year ago. I will point out that if Charlotte's downtown and arena were such draws, there would be no need to have also thrown in a million dollars (4X what Raleigh was paying) to get them to even pay attention to Charlotte.

[Neo]

Well.... All of this is just a rehash of this thread when it was created a year ago. I will point out that if Charlotte's downtown and arena were such draws, there would be no need to have also thrown in a million dollars (4X what Raleigh was paying) to get them to even pay attention to Charlotte.

Did you read the previous post that stated Raleigh's bid was also $1 million as well? Obviously money is going to play into who is chosen, but when a competing city puts in the same $1 million bid you can't say that there is no need to throw in a million dollars to equal their bid.

[monsoon]

I did read that post as I responded to it, now and a year ago. It was still 4x over what was being paid and the fact that Raleigh had to respond to attempt to keep it there. I also note above that some of the people who came to the tournament said they didn't feel welcomed in Charlotte so I don't think the claims being made for the arena and for that matter a "vibrant downtown" had much to play in the decision.

[Charlotte_native]

Did you read the previous post that stated Raleigh's bid was also $1 million as well? Obviously money is going to play into who is chosen, but when a competing city puts in the same $1 million bid you can't say that there is no need to throw in a million dollars to equal their bid.

[krazeeboi]

From my experiences with the tournament last year, those who didn't feel welcome in Charlotte constituted a very small minority; as a matter of fact, the biggest complaint seemed to be parking and traffic (which is usually a concern about any downtown in general at any given time, not just for special events). To me, it's pretty obvious that having the main venues (arena and convention center) downtown, within walking distance of each other at that, played a huge role in the tournament's success and will continue to do so. I think this article does a great job of showing that Charlotte's centralized venues downtown sealed the deal, especially when you consider that Raleigh even offered to build a CIAA headquarters and hall of fame to increase their chances of the tournament staying there.

[Sabaidee]

I hope CIAA chooses Charlotte as it's permanent host city as the commissioner wants it, I kinda miss going to the CIAA functions since my school is no longer part of the CIAA (WSSU) and now that NCCU is gone all the big name NC HBCUs are also gone. A centralized location does help in Charlotte's case, everything is in walking distance and if not there's always the Gold Rush or take any of the Lynx Blue Line stations that are in Uptown and South End. Imagining going to an event in the Convention Center and taking the Blue Line to the Arena if you feel lazy or if it's raining. The 2008 CIAA will be the first time the tournment event goers will see the LRT operating, I'll bet it will give off a good impressive.

[Charlotte_native]

...especially when you consider that Raleigh even offered to build a CIAA headquarters and hall of fame to increase their chances of the tournament staying there.

[krazeeboi]

Raleigh officials offered that last year, in order to keep the tournament there. Not sure how much they were offering in terms of actual dollars.

[Raintree21]

Sounds like the CIAA is trying to get a few more incentives out of the city. They announced that they would really like to stay in Charlotte for good and will probably stay till at least 2011, but they have to put it out for bids.