Kentucky rarely ever plays on Thursday during the SEC tournament....

 

Which does nothing to alter my overall point, since that would be a travel day for UK fans to the SEC tournament site, still killing attendance at the SW16, since the same fans that go to the SEC tournament are also many of the same fans who would otherwise attend the SW16.

So what's the bottom line here? Is the Sweet 16, boys or girls, supposed to drive revenue or crown a State Champ?

 

The model has changed because society has changed. We are more fragmented because there are more sports, both High School and Club, and more entertainment options, especially digitally. Movie attendance is down. College football attendance was down for the 6th straight year. NFL is down. Remember when NASCAR was a hot ticket? Now they race in front of empty stands. It's happening across all of sports, why would High School be any different?

 

The Sweet 16 attendance is going to keep going down no matter where it's played. All you can do is have a great sponsor and a great venue and put on a great Championship. Planning around the UK schedule or March Madness schedule seems like a waste of effort. If they played the Girl's Sweet 16 at the end of April, would more people go because college hoops was over? Of course not.

 

Have your Championship, don't worry about attendance, and look for other ways to grow revenue. Want to grow attendance and build a fan base? Let every grade school player in for free for the whole tournament.

 

Dallas, you make a lot of sense here. Let's add in they should do a lot of cutbacks at KHSAA internally, and this will help them with their money problems.

Dallas, you make a lot of sense here. Let's add in they should do a lot of cutbacks at KHSAA internally, and this will help them with their money problems.

 

What do you want them to cut? They already give out medals the size of a quarter.

What do you want them to cut? They already give out medals the size of a quarter.

 

Wonder how much per year the Commish makes?

Wonder how much per year the Commish makes?

 

$121,694.00 as per the 2014 tax return.

 

http://khsaa.org/httpdocs/reports/auditdocs/Annual-KHSAA-Form-990/KHSAA%20990%20Fiscal%20Year%206_30_15.pdf

So what's the bottom line here? Is the Sweet 16, boys or girls, supposed to drive revenue or crown a State Champ?

 

The model has changed because society has changed. We are more fragmented because there are more sports, both High School and Club, and more entertainment options, especially digitally. Movie attendance is down. College football attendance was down for the 6th straight year. NFL is down. Remember when NASCAR was a hot ticket? Now they race in front of empty stands. It's happening across all of sports, why would High School be any different?

 

The Sweet 16 attendance is going to keep going down no matter where it's played. All you can do is have a great sponsor and a great venue and put on a great Championship. Planning around the UK schedule or March Madness schedule seems like a waste of effort. If they played the Girl's Sweet 16 at the end of April, would more people go because college hoops was over? Of course not.

 

Have your Championship, don't worry about attendance, and look for other ways to grow revenue. Want to grow attendance and build a fan base? Let every grade school player in for free for the whole tournament.

 

Good points all, just a sign of the times, making changes is probably NOT going to make a huge difference in attendance/revenue, just not going to happen!!

This is the first time ever that I have seen curtains pulled over the upstairs end zones.

There is a lot of chatter that the Girls Sweet 16 will return to BB&T next year and then move to Rupp Arena in 2019 and be played the same week as the boys tournament in something like a Monday through Sunday setup which may mirror how the All A Tournament is run.

St. Elizabeth has been a terrific partner for the KHSAA and they really like the support they have given the girls Sweet 16 at BB&T.

Heard this same rumor. Jason Frakes says it will move to Lexington. Maybe not the same time

NKU

NKU

 

Your opinion or confirming it will stay at NKU?

Your opinion or confirming it will stay at NKU?

My opinion. Enjoyed the fact that it was so close to home.

I still think this tournament needs to be more centrally located. I've been to 3 out of 4 sessions both of the last 2 years and outside of a few minor details, I agree that NKU has done a good job hosting and St Elizabeth from all accounts is a great sponsor. It just doesn't seem equatable that some teams, like a Murray for example, are required to travel 4 1/2 hours to play in the state tournament. Just, of course, my opinion!

For the finals last year, it is listed at 3,444. No listings for other games I researched.

 

Last year's overall attendance at NKU was the 5th highest total in the history of the girl's state tournament and I believe this year's attendance total was a little above that!!

EKU honestly would be the best as far as central location. NKU is too far North, WKU is too far south west, Rupp Arena and the Yum Center are too big, Memorial Coliseum is too small, and I can't see it being in Freedom Hall.

 

EKU has the perfect sized arena and is a central location.

 

There's no way McBrayer Arena holds more people than Memorial Coliseum is there??

There's no way McBrayer Arena holds more people than Memorial Coliseum is there??

 

McBrayer is just a little bit smaller than Memorial.