Sbc Tournament Going To Hot Springs

[SUMG]

From Brett Vito's blog:

In an interesting side note, the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be played in Hot Springs, Ark., in the 2009-2011 seasons.

Hot Springs is a great city....I think they just built a new arena. Plus, at that time of the year, Oaklawn Park (horse racing) will be in full swing.

[NT80]

From Brett Vito's blog:

In an interesting side note, the Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be played in Hot Springs, Ark., in the 2009-2011 seasons.

Hot Springs is a great city....I think they just built a new arena. Plus, at that time of the year, Oaklawn Park (horse racing) will be in full swing.

Not sure if a neutral site would attract as many fans as a school site but we'll see. Not too bad of drive for NT fans. Article from Ark business sector:

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/sports_art...35.29224.112554

[gksmith]

Pretty centrally located for all conference members. Hot Springs is a nice place too.

[BonfireBrian]

This should be fun. About a 4-5 hour drive from those in the Metroplex.

[Arkstfan]

This should be fun. About a 4-5 hour drive from those in the Metroplex.

Article on things to do from the New York Times.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/03/25/trave...amp;oref=slogin

[ParksAndRecRick]

I think it was a good move. Let me remind everyone, and Emmitt and FFR will agree with me. No way their was 1,000 people in attendance for the SBC Post-Season Tournament Championship last year in La-La in a beautiful arena. Maybe 500. Thus, when the host school is not in the finals...this would continue to happen.....so this makes sense. Not that the crowds will be any larger, but you can bet the SunBelt got a nice amount of tourism cash from Hot Springs....if it is a good investment for Hot Springs only time will tell. I do believe it was worth a try however.

All I know is... I would love Back to Back!

[ADLER]

Not sure if a neutral site would attract as many fans as a school site but we'll see. Not too bad of drive for NT fans. Article from Ark business sector:

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/sports_art...35.29224.112554

Hot Springs to Host Sun Belt Basketball Tournaments

by ArkansasSports360.com Staff

Acknowledging Hot Springs' attractions as a nationally known resort city, the Sun Belt Conference on Monday chose the city as the site for its basketball championship tournament - both men's and women's - in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters said in a statement, "Our conference is committed to growing our respective basketball leagues, and we previously have had to rely on the host school to advance in the tournament to sell tickets. As we transition to a neutral site, we feel a resort destination like Hot Springs will appeal to all fans. They can watch great basketball while also having numerous attractive options during their free time."

The tournament dates will be March 7-10, 2009; March 6-9, 2010, and March 5-8, 2011.

The announcement pointed out that Summit Arena also hosts the Arkansas men's and women's state high school basketball tournament, attended annually by 56,000 people.

Summit Arena was constructed in 2003 with a seating capacity of 6,000 and adjoins the Hot Springs Convention Center. Located 50 miles from Little Rock, Hot Springs is visited by three million tourists annually and offers more than 4,000 hotel rooms with 15 restaurants within walking distance of Summit Arena.

“The Sun Belt Conference basketball tournament will draw thousands of new visitors to Hot Springs and to our State, and I know that Arkansas’s natural beauty and warm hospitality will make their trip memorable,” Governor Mike Beebe said in a statement. “As a big fan of college basketball, I’m looking forward to some great games. I thank the Sun Belt Conference for choosing Arkansas, and congratulate the people of Hot Springs on an outstanding job in achieving this honor.”

Steve Arrison, CEO of the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, said, "We are excited to have the Sun Belt Conference select Hot Springs National Park as the site for their tournament. We are certain that the student-athletes, parents, conference staff and the thousands of fans who follow Sun Belt basketball will find Hot Springs a great place to play and watch this great sports event.

"I commend Craig Durmon, who led our CVB sales team in seeking out and winning the Sun Belt tournament. He worked extremely hard and effectively to gain for Hot Springs this significant championship sports tournament."

Scott McClard, chairman of the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission, said, "What great news for Hot Springs to have been chosen as the Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament host. Our city has plenty of exciting attractions, great restaurants, great lodging and an unexcelled venue - our Summit Arena - for players and fans to have an exciting time while enjoying exciting basketball action."

Durmon pointed out that more than 500 hotel rooms will be needed at the start of the tournament just for teams and staff.

"The men's championship will be on national television on ESPN and the women's championship game will be on ESPN regional television," Durmon said.

During the Sun Belt's 2006 fall meetings, the conference's 13 institutions voted unanimously to move the annual tournament to a neutral site beginning in 2009. It was determined the neutral site must fall within the conference's geographic footprint, offer an appropriate and first-class arena, promote the championship locally and offer attractive entertainment.

Tournament specifications and bids were sent to six possible sites, five cities accepted the Sun Belt's request for a proposal, in-person site visitations were made to three cities, and two cities made formal presentations to the Sun Belt's Executive Committee on October 10 at the league's 2007 fall meetings in Mobile, Ala.

Other than 1992 and 1993, when the Sun Belt Conference basketball tournament was played in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss., this will mark the only time the conference tournament has not been played in the city of one of the Sun Belt schools.

The men's and women's quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the 2008 tournament will be played March 8-11 in Mobile at the Mitchell Center on the University of South Alabama campus. First-round match ups will be played at campus sites.

This format, which was instituted in 2007, will also be used from

2009-2011 in Hot Springs. Four previous Sun Belt Conference tournaments have been held in the state of Arkansas, as Little Rock hosted the event in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2000. South Alabama and Western Kentucky University share the record for most conference tournament titles with five each.

Hot Springs Mayor Mike Bush said, "I am pleased to extend a hearty Hot Springs welcome to the Sun Belt Conference Basketball Tournament. Hot Springs has a worldwide reputation for its great hospitality, and our whole city will work extra hard to make sure everyone has a wonderful time at the games and off the court, too."

[ntsumgspe]

Hopefully Denton, TX will be the 2008 Tournament host city !!!

GO MEAN GREEN !!!

[NT80]

Hopefully Denton, TX will be the 2008 Tournament host city !!!

GO MEAN GREEN !!!

"...The men's and women's quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the 2008 tournament will be played March 8-11 in Mobile at the Mitchell Center on the University of South Alabama campus."

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Hot Springs is a nice place to have something like this.

[risinggreen]

Nice choice for the tourney. It's certainly worth a try when you look at the attendance from the last couple of hosted tourneys (including Denton). Easy drive from the DFW area, and a reasonable drive for everyone outside of Florida and Colorado. Little Rock, Jonesboro, Monroe, and Denton are probably the closest, and I suspect those four schools will be among the top six or seven in The Belt.