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Bay area bids for Final 4s

Officials hope changes impress committee and bring men's and women's tournaments to area.

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 8, 2002

TAMPA -- The bay area might become the center of the college basketball world in the coming years.

Local organizers will submit proposals to host the men's and women's Final Fours, college basketball's marquee events, in 2008, 2009 or 2010. Bids are due Nov. 15. The NCAA will pick finalists in early December and choose the winners in June.

USF athletic director Lee Roy Selmon, whose school would serve as host, said the bids will be "impressive" thanks to cooperation spanning the region.

"These bids will reflect a complete team effort," he said.

The men's bid will present 40,000-plus-seat Tropicana Field, the site of the 1999 Final Four. The women's bid offers the Trop and the St. Pete Times Forum as possible venues.

The men's Final Four will be in the New Orleans Superdome in 2003, followed by San Antonio's Alamodome, St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome, Indianapolis' RCA Dome and the Georgia Dome. All might submit bids for this cycle.

Other competition likely will come from Minneapolis, Houston and Detroit, but each has its shortcomings. The Metrodome hosted the 2001 Final Four, but the threat of cold and snow isn't attractive. Houston hosted the 1971 Final Four, but hotels are clustered, and Detroit has not hosted the Final Four.

Unlike the men's tournament, the women aren't locked into domed facilities, even though last season's finale in the Alamodome was a rousing success. The women's finale will be in the Georgia Dome in 2003 and the RCA Dome in 2005, but is in smaller arenas in 2006 (Boston's FleetCenter) and 2007 (Cleveland's Gund Arena).

"It's good for cities to have options because the committee is committed to mixing it up," said Donna Noonan, the vice president of the Division I women's basketball championship.

The St. Pete Times Forum, which can accommodate almost 22,000 for basketball, is set to host men's first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games in March and the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tournament in 2007.

Local officials concede that the key issue -- for both the men's and women's bids -- figures to be the available hotel space immediately around the facilities.

After the Final Four in 1999, NCAA officials said that a limited number of hotels within a short walk or brief shuttle ride of Tropicana Field prevented a festive feel before and after the games.

Even with the addition of the 91-room Hampton Inn and a 79-room expansion planned at the Heritage Holiday Inn, downtown St. Petersburg's main hotel properties would offer only about 930 rooms. A couple more hotels wouldn't hurt, but expansion isn't in the plans anytime soon.

Since March 1999, the face of downtown St. Petersburg has changed dramatically. BayWalk, a trendy outdoor mall with numerous shops, restaurants and bars, has opened and it could be a gathering place for thousands of fans.

Due in part to the Devil Rays' presence, more restaurants, stores and galleries have opened along Central Avenue.

"That really has become a huge reason why people are walking the downtown," said Carole Ketterhagen, the executive director of the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. "It's a very walkable downtown. The entertainment venues are great. All of that was not totally in place in '99."

But can those changes compensate for a dearth of hotels within earshot of Tropicana Field?

"I think so," said former Division I men's basketball committee chairman C.M. Newton, who championed the Final Four coming to this area the first time. "St. Pete has really revitalized itself. I've been going there for a bunch of years, and what they're doing in the downtown area is neat. But again, the hotel issue is a major thing and ... it's becoming more and more of a hurdle because the other cities St. Petersburg will be bidding against, particularly San Antonio, Indianapolis and New Orleans, have hotels contiguous to the arena."

The bid for the women's finale might face less of a hurdle, especially at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Four new hotels have sprung up, giving the downtown area about 2,500 rooms. That includes 717 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, which was the media headquarters for Super Bowl XXV and is a major plus in Tampa's bid to host the 2004 Republican National Convention. Noonan said the women's committee ideally would like about 3,000 rooms near the facility and a convention center, but the Westshore area a short drive away adds 7,200 rooms.

Both bids will stress new developments in Tampa, including International Plaza, Centro Ybor and a new trolley and electric streetcar service that connects downtown hotels with the tourist areas of Ybor City and Channelside.

"Everyone who visits from the NCAA and the various conferences falls in love with the surroundings here in downtown Tampa," said Ron Campbell, president of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Forum. "The proximity of a beautiful host hotel, the spaciousness for special events at the convention center and the large, state-of-the-art arena with all our amenities, in the downtown setting with so many other first-class accommodations within walking distance, make us a hot property."

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