Was the NCAA tournament a success?

[Nik]

Although some fans complained about the lack of things to do around the arena, players said that meant fewer distractions.

"I can just sit in my hotel, lay back and not really speak to anybody," Arizona guard Lamont Jones said. "Nobody knows about Tulsa, so I can say my phone doesn't have any service and it doesn't work."

Haha. And yeah, I heard there were some complaints about the lack of a sports bar or someplace with a lot of TVs downtown.

[sgrizzle]

I also understand Memphis fans bought a lot of tickets, but Texas fans bought fewer than expected.  How many could one really expect to see from Boston or Oakland, Michigan?

I'm pretty sure Memphis fans hate Tulsa. We stole their conference tournament and they keep losing here.

[Conan71]

I'm pretty sure Memphis fans hate Tulsa. We stole their conference tournament and they keep losing here.

I guess we will find out just how bad they still hate us after they tally up the ticket purchases by zip code.

[patric]

Haha. And yeah, I heard there were some complaints about the lack of a sports bar or someplace with a lot of TVs downtown.

....and then they git into a bar that is only selling 3.2 beer...
"What, are these people Puritans?"

[DTowner]

Memphis fans were easily the 2nd largest contingency here on Friday (behind Kansas).  Texas fans don't seem to travel well to support basketball - I've heard they never have a big presence at the Big XII Tournament).  Had Memphis beat Arizona, I think Sunday would have been a near sell out.

Illinois ans were 3rd, with Arizona showing a weak 4th and UNLV in 5th.  Oakland, for the school's size and distance, had a good showing of students who were energetic (and stood the whole  game - ugh!). 

Given the weak condition of basketball this year by all Oklahoma teams, I think local interest was generally down.  Tulsa got about as good of a draw of teams as we could given who was in the tournament - getting Kansas St. here would have been a big boost.

Until the Boulder bridge is completed, events at the BOK Center will have limited benefit to the Brady District.

Not sure how anyone can complain about a lack of a sports bar downtown given the giant teant with huge tvs, beer, booze and food located directly across the street from the arena.  Another Elliot Nelson homerun.

Overall, I think the NCAA was a qualified success for Tulsa.  The event ran smoothly and Tulsa performed well as a host city.  Attendance was not what it could have been, but I'm not sure Tulsa officials could have done much more on that front given the high prices, state of the economy and teams playing here.

[Red Arrow]

....and then they git into a bar that is only selling 3.2 beer...
"What, are these people Puritans?"

You might be blaming the wrong group.  One of the reasons the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock is that they were either low or out of beer on the boat.

[JCnOwasso]

Was it a success?  Absolutely.  I think for Tulsa's first swing at hosting a large multi-hour/multi-day event, was excellent (most concerts or other shows are only 2-4 hours, Friday was basically 11-10).  Sure the concession lines may have been a little long, but they burned through them pretty quickly.  The restroom issues were pretty much resolved on Sunday.

As for downtown as a whole, I think it was tremendous support.  You did hear alot of business owners complaining about how they didn't get the amount of business they thought they would.  I am not sure what they expected, but since the event is "technically" a no re-entry event, you are not going to get alot of business while the games are going on.  A sports bar would have probably done some tremendous business for the afterhours with people trying to catch the games still being played and enjoying a beverage.  

Elliot Nelson and the other vendors who brought their business to the event were SMART.  They are the businessmen who know how to make something work for them rather than waiting for something to come to you.  

Our capacity percentage was comparable with the other venues.  Regardless of what venue BYU played at, they would have drawn huge numbers.  Cleveland had the benefit of having OSU.  Chicago had both ND and Purdue.  

When you look at it, while we had some great teams, the travel distance of our top four teams were over 250 miles away and they still traveled pretty well.  Texas was completely disappointing.  Also, if Tulsa and ORU had made the tourney, I don't believe they could have played at the tulsa regional... I could be wrong, but I believe that is the case.

[Hoss]

Was it a success?  Absolutely.  I think for Tulsa's first swing at hosting a large multi-hour/multi-day event, was excellent (most concerts or other shows are only 2-4 hours, Friday was basically 11-10).  Sure the concession lines may have been a little long, but they burned through them pretty quickly.  The restroom issues were pretty much resolved on Sunday.

As for downtown as a whole, I think it was tremendous support.  You did hear alot of business owners complaining about how they didn't get the amount of business they thought they would.  I am not sure what they expected, but since the event is "technically" a no re-entry event, you are not going to get alot of business while the games are going on.  A sports bar would have probably done some tremendous business for the afterhours with people trying to catch the games still being played and enjoying a beverage.  

Elliot Nelson and the other vendors who brought their business to the event were SMART.  They are the businessmen who know how to make something work for them rather than waiting for something to come to you.  

Our capacity percentage was comparable with the other venues.  Regardless of what venue BYU played at, they would have drawn huge numbers.  Cleveland had the benefit of having OSU.  Chicago had both ND and Purdue.  

When you look at it, while we had some great teams, the travel distance of our top four teams were over 250 miles away and they still traveled pretty well.  Texas was completely disappointing.  Also, if Tulsa and ORU had made the tourney, I don't believe they could have played at the tulsa regional... I could be wrong, but I believe that is the case.

ORU could have because technically they weren't the host school.  TU was.

[swake]

Tulsa did fine on attendance. Tickets are very high anymore and Tulsa was one of four sites with no nearby team located in the bracket. KU was the closest to us at more than 200 miles away. Tulsa was also hurt by no state teams even being in the tournament and by the fact that UT people don't give a crap about basketball.

Tampa had Florida
Cleveland had Ohio State and Xavier (from Cincy)
Charlotte had UNC and Duke
Chicago had Notre Dame and Purdue

[TheTed]

In some ways, getting more local teams is gonna be difficult. There was a TW story a few weeks ago talking to a bracketologist who said the selection committee wouldn't place ORU in Tulsa (if they'd won their conference tournament) because it would put the higher seeded team at a disadvantage.

They're never gonna put the top four seeds at a crowd disadvantage. So there's basically zero chance of ORU ever playing here. The seed ceiling for a team from the Summit League is probably 11 or 12.

TU would have to go nearly undefeated to get a top-four seed. Even looking at their really good seasons a few years back, their seed would be worse now than it was then, given the fact they're skewing the process more toward BCS schools.

If OSU would've won a few more games down the stretch and made it, they would've gotten too low a seed to get sent here.

Basically our only hope for more local teams are that OU or OSU become nationally dominant enough to get a top four seed.