Calkins: C-USA coming, despite missing million
By Geoff Calkins
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March 7, 2005

I come to praise Britton Banowsky, not to bury him.

No, really!

The Conference USA men's basketball tournament will be in Memphis starting Wednesday.

Because of that, the Memphis Tigers still have a shot to make the NCAAs.

Either way, Memphis taverns will sell some more drinks, Memphis hotels will fill some more rooms, Memphis cabbies will carry some more people to and from the airport.

Why?

Because of Britton Banowsky.

Beloved Britton Banowsky?

OK, let's not go too far with that.

"I think he showed great concern for Memphis," said Mike Golub, the Grizzlies vice president of business operations, and the man in charge of FedExForum. "Given the circumstances, he could have taken the tournament elsewhere."

When Golub says "given the circumstances," he means "given the amazing, disappearing $1 million guarantee."

That's how much the Memphis & Shelby County Sports Authority promised C-USA when it bid for the tournament.

No matter how many -- or few -- people bought tickets, the Sports Authority guaranteed that the conference would walk away with a cool million.

Nice deal for the conference, right?

Except something peculiar happened.

"They never signed the contract," said Kevin Kane, president of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Thank God, there never was a signed agreement.

"If there had been, the Sports Authority would have been on the hook for what could have been hundreds of thousands of dollars. The last time the tournament was in Memphis, it cost the Sports Authority $400,000.

"But for whatever reason the contract never was signed and the conference basically had to start from scratch this past fall."

Some of you might think this was another screwup by the C-USA office. Some of you might be right about that.

But, hey, at least Memphis benefited from this one!

"There was no way we were in a position to follow through on the $1 million guarantee," said Kane.

So Banowsky then had three choices:

1) He could scream and yell about Memphis welching on its promises;

2) He could reopen the bidding and move the tournament back to Cincinnati or Louisville;

3) Or he could keep the tournament in Memphis even without the $1 million guarantee because it's best for everybody.

Banowsky chose No. 3. Which was darn sensible really.

Memphis is the obvious location for the tournament, not just this year, but for years to come.

FedExForum is gorgeous. The basketball program will be the class of the new league. The location behind Beale Street sure beats, say, Louisville.

"It sets up perfectly for a basketball tournament," Banowsky said. "People can go to the games, go out to the restaurants, then go back to the games again. We think it's going to be a big success."

Banowsky doesn't mean this year, necessarily. The conference has sold fewer than 6,000 tournament ticket packages. The Tigers' miserable finish has been a real buzz kill. If the wrong teams advance, FedExForum could get mighty lonely this weekend.

And the risk is all on the conference. It's not guaranteed anything. C-USA is leasing FedExForum, paying all the expenses and taking the profits (such as there are) from ticket sales.

"If there's a shortfall, it's on them," said Golub. "But Britton made a calculated decision that it's best for the conference and best for the city. I think you have to hand it to the guy for that."

Awwww, really?

It's been such fun beating on Britton. However can we turn back now?

But he did the right thing on this one. OK, after failing to get a signed contract. Which was the wrong thing. But then he did the right thing. Better late than never, isn't it?

So here's to Banowsky, man of vision.

'Till tomorrow, anyway.

To reach Geoff Calkins, call him at 529-2364 or send an e-mail.

HEY BIG EAST!!!COME GET THE TIGERS!!!
Britton Banowsky makes Trangheses look like Bill Gates.People take his lunch money at will with
no resistance.A million here a million there(pretty soon your talking about real money)
Memphis would take football only membership in the Big East (until the "split")and just tell
Banowsky we will play CUSA in all other sports and thats how its gonna be...don't worry Britton
we'll bring our own contract

Personally...I don't think BB is stupid...I think he created exactly what he wanted all along...a Texas based/football first/SWC light league...the only trouble is schools like Memphis, UCF, ECU and marshall don't really fit that profile for a variety of reasons...I don't think BB would whine a bit if the new EAC came after an ECU and Marshal (not that the EAC would do so...just for the sake of argument)l because then he could add more geographically friendly schools.....also wouldn't be suprised if the next team added to CUSA was ment to give UTEP a closer confernece rival...a New Mexico maybe?

Quote: If the wrong teams advance, FedExForum could get mighty lonely this weekend.

-- just a note for the new Big East teams coming in...this would never happen in our league...MSG is always packed for the BE tourney....it is very special...probably the best part about being in the BE (aside from the BCS) is the men's hoops tourney in MSG


Jackson

BB forget that "business is business." He ignored that fundamental truth when he let his emotions get in the way when he stripped Louisville of the C-USA tournament and gave it to Memphis. Now C-USA is left with a mediocre Memphis team that Tiger fans don't support, and a tournament without a contract.

So C-USA schools will only proft by ticket sales. So Tulane brings its 10, make that 5 fans, Houston brings its 25 fans, TCU brings it 25 fans, UAB brings its 50 fans, and so forth. WOW, C-USA schools will be rolling in money.

I thought the purpose of a tournament was to make money, not lose money?

C-USA better hope that Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati make the sem-final games.

The future is now, and unfortunately, you see what C-USA will (has) become in basketball; a collection of schools that sponsors will not support.

But I do support strongly Memphis for entrance into the Big East.

Actually, he better hope that Memphis advances. In all liklihood, Cincy and UL fans have already bought all session tickets. Memphis fans are buying the single session tickets for Memphis's sessions since they went on sale on Thursday (didn't know when we would play until Sat. night). If Memphis gets eliminated in the first round, the place will be empty the last 3 days.

Quote:just a note for the new Big East teams coming in...this would never happen in our league...MSG is always packed for the BE tourney....it is very special...probably the best part about being in the BE (aside from the BCS) is the men's hoops tourney in MSG

I won't lie, I've watched most of the BE tourney every year since I was a kid.

My favorite tournies in order are:

1. Whichever one Memphis plays in
2. Big East
3. MEAC (They always seem to have the closest games)
4. Patriot
5. Big 12

SEC and ACC always seem to be full of blowouts, that's why I don't list them.

I think we are being too harsh on BB in this instance. When C-USA made the decision for Memphis over Louisville, the Tigers had great prospects for a breakout year. How could anyone have predicted this strange up and down year for Memphis?

BB had to do something to help Memphis. Their fans seem to be staying away for the most part. If they lost a ton of money this year, why would they want to host the tourney in future years? Who else in the NC-USA has the fan base (well, I assume they still have a big fan base) and the facilities to host such an event?

When you think about it, C-USA is losing three of their largest basketball fan bases (Louisville, Cincy, Marquette). Who else in the NC-USA is going to fill the void and put butts in the seats? When we turn on ESPN next year and watch the NC-USA championship game, it might be like the women's championship game in Charlotte yesterday.....hellooooo, is anybody there??!???

Based on last years attendance figures nobody in NC-USA averages over 5300, aside from Memphis, UTEP (10k), and Tulsa (7k).

Re Memphis hosting the tourney, I think BB made the right choice. I mean, what's each individual school really giving up? Revenues of $30,000?

For the remaining schools he pulled off a heckuva coup. And made a statement to the departing: "Don't let it hit ya where the good lord split ya."

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:Based on last years attendance figures nobody in NC-USA averages over 5300, aside from Memphis, UTEP (10k), and Tulsa (7k).

Re Memphis hosting the tourney, I think BB made the right choice. I mean, what's each individual school really giving up? Revenues of $30,000?

For the remaining schools he pulled off a heckuva coup. And made a statement to the departing: "Don't let it hit ya where the good lord split ya."

No, his statement was we don't care about making money we hate you that much.

Nice way to spite yourself.

For the remaining C-USA schools, their $30k paycut goes toward two good causes:

(1) attracting tourist $$$ for NC-USA member city
(2) national exposure for NC-USA new flagship.

For the departing schools? They help pay for that stuff too.

BB won this round.

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:For the remaining C-USA schools, their $30k paycut goes toward two good causes:

(1) attracting tourist $$$ for NC-USA member city
(2) national exposure for NC-USA new flagship.

For the departing schools? They help pay for that stuff too.

BB won this round.

Also, what it exposes is NCUSA's ugly secret

Besides Memphis--the new BB profile is on par with the Missouri Valley and visiting fans won't travel.

You'd be better hosting next year in Tulsa with an 8,000 seat arena and hope for an ESPN championship slot on Wednesday Evening

It is beyond me how some fans of N-CUSA schools can actually view the significantly losses in revenue (due to the tournament in Memphis as opposed to Louisville, and no guaranteed contract from the city of Memphis) as a collective win for their schools, and a collective loss for UL, UC, and the other departing schools.

Talk about a nonsequitur.

These fans need to enroll in a basic logic class.

WacoBearcat Wrote:It is beyond me how some fans of N-CUSA schools can actually view the significantly losses in revenue (due to the tournament in Memphis as opposed to Louisville, and no guaranteed contract from the city of Memphis) as a collective win for their schools, and a collective loss for UL, UC, and the other departing schools.

Talk about a nonsequitur.

These fans need to enroll in a basic logic class.

Please explain what it is that's illogical?

Hailing from both an incoming and a departing school, it's called an UNbiased perspective.

Something rare on these boards.

And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

You would be in the minority in Orlando--IMHO, UCF would take a BE FB only invite in a heartbeat.

Banowsky would have held it in Bismark, North Dakota before he would have given it to UofL or Cincy. I certainly wasn't expecting anything from CUSA in our last season with the league.

TexanMark Wrote:

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

You would be in the minority in Orlando--IMHO, UCF would take a BE FB only invite in a heartbeat.

Yeah but does the BE really need UCF and their 0-11 record?

MHSCard Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

You would be in the minority in Orlando--IMHO, UCF would take a BE FB only invite in a heartbeat.

Yeah but does the BE really need UCF and their 0-11 record?

Things may be very different in 5 years, but if not, then you're right. :thumb:

MHSCard Wrote:

TexanMark Wrote:

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

You would be in the minority in Orlando--IMHO, UCF would take a BE FB only invite in a heartbeat.

Yeah but does the BE really need UCF and their 0-11 record?

UCF like USF is shedding their directional commuter college image. The NBE can't afford another project, yet. They would make an excellent travel partner school for the Northern schools. The nonrevenue sports teams could come down and play Fri-Sun games and save travel costs. Soccer, Tennis, Golf, and Baseball would have two warm weather locales...Keep them on the radar

TexanMark Wrote:

UCF_Cardinals Wrote:And, likewise, I would vote against UCF as a football-only member of the Big East.

You would be in the minority in Orlando--IMHO, UCF would take a BE FB only invite in a heartbeat.

Yap. Good thing I moved to Louisville :wave:

UCF hasn't much to offer the Big East (yet) -- except a gauranteed lower SoS in football.

By 2007 they will have finished construction on both a new 10k seat arena, and also a brand new on-campus stadium. O'Leary will have had enough time to establish HIS football program. And the post-A-Sun era of basketball should average more than 2,000 fans.

Academically, UCF has successfully established an EXCELLENT in-state reputation, second only to the Gaytors. (And, to their credit, South Florida receives more research $$.)

Beautiful campus. Fine females.

2008 evaluation.