Well the Big 12 Tournament is back in OKC, I thought it was great having it last time, I remember going out in Bricktown and it being really busy and a lot of fun. How have the crowds been this year? I haven't been able to get down there. Are there a lot of people hanging around this year? I was wondering what impact the bad economy was having.

Too bad KU lost, that took a lot of people out of here.

Yea I'm sure it did. I met a lot of people from Kansas last time.

Did anyone else see the story on News 9 at 10 last night? Kansas City is competing with us for the Big 12 Tourney. A reporter from there tried to show how empty Bricktown was on Wednesday night. I'm not sure if it was intentional to the competition or not, but it was a little shady.

Did anyone else see the story on News 9 at 10 last night? Kansas City is competing with us for the Big 12 Tourney. A reporter from there tried to show how empty Bricktown was on Wednesday night. I'm not sure if it was intentional to the competition or not, but it was a little shady.

We'll have to check with the CVB for final numbers when they come in. Keep in mind the last time we hosted the Big XII, we had perfect, beautiful spring weather in the mid-sixties to seventies. People milled about outside more, especially between the Ford and Cox centers, creating much more of a "festival" atmosphere.

Drizzle and snow such as we had earlier in the week are not exactly "chamber of commerce" weather.

Did the reporter say when he/she was in Bricktown? If it's during pre-game or in between sessions, then you can pretty much guarantee it will be bustling. After the late games, not so much. Many people are going back to their hotels.

Did Kansas' loss in the first round affect the number of their fans who stayed around? You bet. Those are loyal fans thick and through. But this is not reflective of Oklahoma City. This is reflective of what most teams' fans do after a loss...they pack up and go back home - no matter where the tournament is (with notable exceptions, I'm sure).

Will the Baylor/Mizzou final game have nearly the draw that a game with a "home team" might have? Likely not, but that's yet to be seen.

From what I am hearing from some of the local downtown-based attractions, attendance has been good to great. The cold weather in some respects is pushing people to take part in indoor activities as opposed to hanging around the plaza area or wander Bricktown, leading to the perception that Bricktown may or may not be less busy.

People are still doing things, it's just not as obvious, and not all in Bricktown.

Weather definitely didn't help at all this time around. I'm not sure that it will really hurt getting it back here again, but I think that really all depends on the football situation. If that gets locked into being in Dallas every year, Kansas City will likely get the basketball tourney every year and we are locked out.

Did anyone else see the story on News 9 at 10 last night? Kansas City is competing with us for the Big 12 Tourney. A reporter from there tried to show how empty Bricktown was on Wednesday night. I'm not sure if it was intentional to the competition or not, but it was a little shady.

I caught just the tail end of that story the other night so I missed the jest of it, anyone have a link to it??? I tried looking online but only at the KCstar.

What are your (everyones) thoughts on the subject of the Big XII having permanent sites for their championships? I love having the baseball tourney here, that said, if we had to rotate it to get the basketball tourney every few years I wouldn't mind. Football sounds like it might be going to Jerry World. And really there are only a few choices in basketball and football in our league.

Football: San Antonio, Dallas, and KC. Houston isnt a college town, Denver in December? no way

Basketball: San Antonio, Dallas, Okc, KC.

Pros for OKC in Basketball: weather (usually), facilities, college loving town (unlike Dallas), and location, location, location. Okc is a days drive from anywhere in the Big XII. Try driving from Lubbock to KC, or Ames to San Antonio.

I don't like the permanent sites, I always thought it gave an advantage in basketball to KU and MU when it was in KC. And in football the season ticketholders from the host stadium get first crack at the tickets. I hate that. Plus the weather in KC is bad enough in March, let alone December outside. KC is trying to make up for not building an enclosed football stadium. Their vote, their loss. And Dallas just isnt a college town. I say rotate em.

The poor attendance (if there is one) this year was caused by a perfect storm of occurences. Bad economy, bad weather, upsets (Kansas), and local teams losing. Do you really think they'd get 20,000 people to watch 2 south div. teams in KC? In Winter, during spring break?

i was walking around this afternoon and there were a ton of peeps out walking around. A lot of them were probably attending the St. Patrick Day parade.

I deleted a whole bunch of posts. If you guys want to talk OU/OSU rivalry, take it to the College & HS Sports board.

This is a relevant thread in terms of the economic benefit and general comparison to the previous tourneys. Please stay on topic.

Thanks.

watching the game right now, there seems to be a rather large crowd at the game.
i was down there earlier and there was still a lot of ku fans and ou fans out and about.
so, two places that come to mind being dead are bolero and in the raw. no one seemed to be going. has anyone heard how theyve been doing this tourney?

Even thought KU lost early, I'm guessing many of their hotel reservations were booked through the weekend so they may have stuck around. I've been to the tourney when its in Dallas/KC and the hotels generally require a guarantee of X number of nights booking. Even if you leave early, you're still on the hook for the room. That way they don't have people bailing on them when their team gets the boot. I don't know what the hotels in Bricktown did, but I would guess they took the same approach.

I caught just the tail end of that story the other night so I missed the jest of it, anyone have a link to it??? I tried looking online but only at the KCstar.

What are your (everyones) thoughts on the subject of the Big XII having permanent sites for their championships? I love having the baseball tourney here, that said, if we had to rotate it to get the basketball tourney every few years I wouldn't mind. Football sounds like it might be going to Jerry World. And really there are only a few choices in basketball and football in our league.

Football: San Antonio, Dallas, and KC. Houston isnt a college town, Denver in December? no way

Basketball: San Antonio, Dallas, Okc, KC.

Pros for OKC in Basketball: weather (usually), facilities, college loving town (unlike Dallas), and location, location, location. Okc is a days drive from anywhere in the Big XII. Try driving from Lubbock to KC, or Ames to San Antonio.

I don't like the permanent sites, I always thought it gave an advantage in basketball to KU and MU when it was in KC. And in football the season ticketholders from the host stadium get first crack at the tickets. I hate that. Plus the weather in KC is bad enough in March, let alone December outside. KC is trying to make up for not building an enclosed football stadium. Their vote, their loss. And Dallas just isnt a college town. I say rotate em.

The poor attendance (if there is one) this year was caused by a perfect storm of occurences. Bad economy, bad weather, upsets (Kansas), and local teams losing. Do you really think they'd get 20,000 people to watch 2 south div. teams in KC? In Winter, during spring break?

I'm confused about which cities you want to rotate the college and basketball championships through? The cities that have the facilities for the football championship are: St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Arlington, San Antonio, and Houston. I don't see how any of those cities are any more of a "college town" than any other. If we exclude Denver because it's Denver in December, and if, we exclude KC because of weather (even though it has successfully hosted the game several times, we're still left with St. Louis, Houston, Arlington, and San Antonio. Are those the ones you propose rotating the football championship through? (Note, with the addition of KC, and the substitution of Irving for Arlington, that is exactly what has been done).

Basketball is a pretty similar situation, except that weather is not as much of a factor and a few more cities have the necessary facilities:

Houston, San Antonio? I imagine Dallas could come up with a suitable place for the women's tourney, but not sure where... OKC, Tulsa, KC, St. Louis, not sure about Denver, not sure about San Antonio. From what I know of those, OKC has by far the best setup, followed by KC, STL, Houston

Apparently turnout this year was about 20K less than in 07 (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6312400.html) and Dallas isn't even in the running to host anymore

The Big XII basketball tourney has already been awarded to Kansas City for 2010 and 2011, so we know it won't be back for at least three years.

The early Kansas loss killed any hope of having filled seats. Those people swarmed down here and went home after their loss.

I think the improvements done to the Ford Center in the next 2 years will go a long way in our chances of hosting after 2011.

The Big XII basketball tourney has already been awarded to Kansas City for 2010 and 2011, so we know it won't be back for at least three years.

The early Kansas loss killed any hope of having filled seats. Those people swarmed down here and went home after their loss.

That and not having either OU or OSU in the finals.

Thanks guys. I actually made it down to the area Sunday afternoon and there were still some folks around, not tons, but more than you would usually see around bricktown and downtown than on a usual Sunday afternoon. The g/f and I stopped by marble slab to get an ice cream and there was seriously a line of about 20 people in there, so we said no to that.

OC. I should have said "college sports loving towns". KC has deep ties with the Big 8/12, as does Dallas to some extent. STL is a little out of the geographical region even though it is in a Big XII state, same with Houston and Denver. I excluded Denver for the same reason they never host Super Bowls....weather.

And when I said Dallas I meant the Dallas metro. I've always considered Denver, Houston, and Dallas to be "pro sports loving towns". Granted they all have huge alumni bases. I love KC, and KC has been great for the Big 8/12. I have nothing against KC other than the fact that they are the ones (with Dallas/Arlington) that are pushing for permanent sites. Tulsa I've always considered to be more of a "fill in whatever league TU is in this year" city. Nothing personal against Tulsa.

When it comes down to it, its all about pride, exposure and money, so I'll root for OKC.

From the Journal Record:

Tourney fans like what they see in OKC
by Sean Murphy
Associated Press March 16, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY – Having worked for years to improve its national image, Oklahoma City rolled out the red carpet last week as college basketball fans from across Big 12 country flocked to the city for the men’s and women’s Big 12 basketball tournaments.

The venues for the two tournaments – the Ford Center arena and Cox Convention Center – are a well-publicized “58 steps” apart in downtown, adjacent to the city’s Bricktown entertainment area, a revitalized warehouse district that now boasts dozens of restaurants, nightclubs, a movie theater and a canal.“We really like what we see. This area has a lot to offer,” said Scott Barton, an Iowa State fan from Des Moines, Iowa, who wandered Bricktown Thursday with his wife, Sharry. “From the pubs and restaurants to the Bass Pro Shops here.

“We had high expectations, but they’re definitely being met.”

An economic impact study conducted two years ago by the Oklahoma City All Sports Association estimated the two events combine to have a $40 million impact on the city, said ASA executive director Tim Brassfield.

This is the second year Oklahoma City has hosted both tournaments, and early attendance figures show a slight decline from 2007, with average attendance for the men’s games at 15,672 per session for the first four sessions. That compares to 18,879 per session in 2006 and an average attendance of 17,219 per session at all sites for the last 12 years.

But with the nation’s economic condition and a blast of wintry weather that hit the city last week, organizers are pleased with the turnout for the two tournaments, said Mike Carrier, president of the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Obviously, there’s a competitive attitude between the teams, but it’s a friendly rivalry,” Carrier said. “It’s kind of a big tailgate party, and everyone is having a good time.”

For first-time visitors to Oklahoma City or those who haven’t been to the city in a long time, Carrier said most are surprised at how much the city has changed since undergoing a massive renovation as part of the Metropolitan Area Projects, or MAPS, capital improvement program first approved by voters in 1993.

The temporary 1-cent sales tax generated more than $363 million to refurbish the Oklahoma state fairgrounds, build a Triple-A baseball stadium and the Ford Center Arena, transform a seven-mile stretch of the Oklahoma River and construct a canal that runs through Bricktown.

“We continually get comments from people who have been here in the past and come back and say they don’t even recognize the city,” Carrier said. “And from people who have never been here, they come and say it’s nowhere near what they expected ... they just can’t believe how much there is to see and do here.”

Count Missouri student Nate Edwards of Columbia, Mo., as one of those surprised at how much the city has to offer. One of 29 members of the University of Missouri band, the 23-year-old said his first visit to Oklahoma City is a memorable one.

“You don’t think of Oklahoma City as a New York or Chicago, but there are a lot of quality things to do here,” Edwards said as he and a group of his fellow band members finished up a meal in Bricktown. “I think we’ve been blown away.

“Oklahoma City just came out of nowhere.”


The Journal Record - Article (http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=96865)

Interesting thread. I know of people from Missouri that went down to OKC and they were suitably impressed. BTW, I think you can count out St. Louis as ever being a host, permanent or temporary. Not only are we on the very border of the Big 12 (the Big 10 schools have almost as much of an alumni presence in this town as Big 12 schools do), St. Louis is also the permanent host of the Missouri Valley Championship, which takes place at just about the same time.

OC. I should have said "college sports loving towns". KC has deep ties with the Big 8/12, as does Dallas to some extent. STL is a little out of the geographical region even though it is in a Big XII state, same with Houston and Denver. I excluded Denver for the same reason they never host Super Bowls....weather.

And when I said Dallas I meant the Dallas metro. I've always considered Denver, Houston, and Dallas to be "pro sports loving towns". Granted they all have huge alumni bases. I love KC, and KC has been great for the Big 8/12. I have nothing against KC other than the fact that they are the ones (with Dallas/Arlington) that are pushing for permanent sites. Tulsa I've always considered to be more of a "fill in whatever league TU is in this year" city. Nothing personal against Tulsa.

When it comes down to it, its all about pride, exposure and money, so I'll root for OKC.

Agree with all of that. Thanks for the clarification. Looks like it's pretty much going to be down to OKC and KC for the basketball championship. A rotation between those two would be great IMO.

Looks like it's pretty much going to be down to OKC and KC for the basketball championship. A rotation between those two would be great IMO.

I could live with that.

but KC gets the football game every year.

but KC gets the football game every year.

No, they do not. It has rotated between KC and Houston. I think Dallas may now be in the mix with the new Arlington Stadium almost complete.

but KC gets the football game every year.

Once the Cowboys move to the new stadium in Arlington it also wouldn't surprise me if they held the Big 12 Championship there every year. Never have to worry about a cold game in KC ever again.

I think it's great that we have a rotation with the basketball championship but one city needs to be picked for that. Obviously that is going to bring more people here than the baseball tourney, which we've hosted 10 of 11 years. The convenience of the Cox Convention Center and the Ford Center being "58 steps" away from each other is very nice.

So I say move the baseball tournament to KC Royals field & have basketball here every year. Then every centrally located Big 12 city can be happy with what they have and the fans won't be miserable when it comes to weather conditions!

No, they do not. It has rotated between KC and Houston. I think Dallas may now be in the mix with the new Arlington Stadium almost complete.

Great minds think alike!!

No, they do not. It has rotated between KC and Houston.

Both statements are wrong. The Big XII Football championship has been in

St. Louis 1996
San Antonio 1997
St. Louis 1998
San Antonio 1999
Kansas City 2000
Irving 2001
Houston 2002
Kansas City 2003
Kansas City 2004
Houston 2005
Kansas City 2006
San Antonio 2007
Kansas City 2008

and will be held in Arlington this year and next year.

No, they do not. It has rotated between KC and Houston. I think Dallas may now be in the mix with the new Arlington Stadium almost complete.

The Big XII Football Championship has only been in Houston twice. It has also been played in San Antonio's Alamodome three times. It is scheduled for the, as yet unnamed, Dallas stadium in 2009 and 2010. I wish they would just keep it there. Kansas City weather can be dicey that time of year.

Sorry Oil Capital - I responded without seeing your post. We basically made the same correction.

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