Colleges

Bay area is praised as a 'great' host for tourney

If the early returns mean anything, the ACC's signature event, the men's basketball tournament, might just return to the St. Pete Times Forum.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 12, 2007

TAMPA - If the early returns mean anything, the ACC's signature event, the men's basketball tournament, might just return to the St. Pete Times Forum.

Although some griped about taking it so far from Tobacco Road, which meant a plane ride and hotel nights instead of a daily commute for many fans of the traditional powers, league officials gushed about how well the tournament played here.

"I think things have gone great," ACC commissioner John Swofford said Sunday. "The fans I've spoken with have been very pleased with the experience. Our schools, without question, have been extremely pleased."

"I would give Tampa Bay an A-plus; absolutely sensational," echoed associate league commissioner Fred Barakat, who has managed and nurtured the tournament for nearly two decades.

He and Swofford praised the Times Forum as a venue, the setup of hotels and the convention center within walking distance, and the hospitality that the schools and their fans were treated to from the time they arrived at Tampa International Airport. They also liked the weather that allowed Tampa to do something unique - have an outdoor FanFest with games, concessions and monitors. That's something you don't try in Greensboro, N.C., which hosts the tourney most years.

Attendance is another key area for a site that wants a return engagement and that was a concern, especially on the opening day Thursday. Even in Greensboro last year, the first time the ACC had four games on that day with the four top teams receiving byes, there were several thousand empty seats.

Although the league doesn't release a turnstile count, only tickets sold all of 22,269, Barakat was pleased, saying crowds were comparable to Greensboro last year. And it got loud.

"It was an ACC venue," Barakat said.

"The attendance has generally been good," Swofford said. "When teams lose and there's a ticket turnover, we haven't quite had the same demand here that we would have in North Carolina, but that's quite understandable because it's the first time we've been here. In North Carolina, that part of it has become a tradition."

So, Tampa got an A. Is it on the A-list?

The ACC has set its rotation through 2015, going to Charlotte next year, then to Atlanta's cavernous Georgia Dome, back to the Greensboro Coliseum, which seats about 23,500, for 2010-11, Atlanta in 2012 and Greensboro for the next three. (The ACC has an option in those last three years to move to another site.)

"Our goal was to have people leaving, not only pleased, but asking, "How soon do we get to come back?' " said Jeff Adams, the tired, but excited Tampa Bay Sports Commission chairman. "From what we've heard, we've met that goal."

Added Sports commission executive director Rob Higgins: "We want the ACC in our community." He and his group placed a billboard by the airport exit off Interstate 275 with a picture of Swofford and says: "Commissioner, We want you back."

Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3347.

[Last modified March 12, 2007, 00:17:48]