Commissioner McClelland please move the SWAC Tourney to NOLA


tsugraytiger

tsugraytiger

Well-Known Member
The only hope for a lively SWAC Tourney is New Orleans. Why you ask? Let's unpack it

1.) It's the only major city most accessible by ALL SWAC schools. The farthest SWAC bus/car commute would be 6 hours vs 12+ hours to Birmingham (from PV).

2.) World-class restaurants and attractions in New Orleans will entice more alumni, students, and fans to come. Birmingham is a beautiful city but I have no idea what to do once I'm there. In New Orleans, I know to hit Bourbon, French Quarter, find creole seafood restaurants, swamp tours, etc. ... NOLA is an easier good time and better experience.

3.) XULA basketball arena is top notch and the perfect size to hold it. Why not partner with another BLACK INSTITUTION to keep the money "in-house". Also XULA is centrally located in NOLA which is even better when it comes to accessibility.

4.) The attendance this year in Birmingham was not a good representation of the fandom within the SWAC and looked even worse on television which is bad publicity for the conference. Since New Orleans is more accessible and desirable ... a more respectable attendance number will more likely happen.

5.) Louisiana is the only state in the Deep South with a Democratic governor. We should reward Louisiana with the most business as possible until that changes lol.

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tsugraytiger said:
The only hope for a lively SWAC Tourney is New Orleans. Why you ask? Let's unpack it

1.) It's the only major city most accessible by ALL SWAC schools. The farthest SWAC bus/car commute would be 6 hours vs 12+ hours to Birmingham (from PV).

2.) World-class restaurants and attractions in New Orleans will entice more alumni, students, and fans to come. Birmingham is a beautiful city but I have no idea what to do once I'm there. In New Orleans, I know to hit Bourbon, French Quarter, find creole seafood restaurants, swamp tours, etc. ... NOLA is an easier good time.

3.) XULA basketball arena is top notch and the perfect size to hold it. Why not partner with another BLACK INSTITUTION to keep the money "in-house". Also XULA is centrally located in NOLA which is even better when it comes to accessibility.

4.) The attendance this year in Birmingham was not a good representation of the fandom within the SWAC and looked even worse on television which is bad publicity for the conference. Since New Orleans is more accessible and desirable ... a more respectable attendance number will more likely happen.

5.) Louisiana is the only state in the Deep South with a Democratic governor. We should reward Louisiana with the most business as possible until that changes lol.

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I agree. Plus, New Orleans has a few HBCUs (Dillard, Xavier, and SUNO). IMO, my hometown (Alexandria, LA) would be even more centrally located, but there is not much to do. The Rapides Parish Coliseum is bigger than Xavier's arena.
 
Kenn Rashad said:
Has NOLA made a bid to the SWAC to host the tourney, and if so is it in the SWAC's financial interests to do so? If not, this subject is moot.
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I'm not sure if New Orleans submitted a bid or not but I don't see anything wrong with our leadership (SWAC) being proactive in securing a deal in the city. It's in the SWAC best financial interest to do so to optimize attendance and interest in the tournament. It being in Birmingham is having the opposite effect. No SWAC school is even within an hour of Birmingham, at least SU is about an hour away from NOLA ... it makes more sense on so many levels. New Orleans is such a way better marketing tool for the tournament than B-ham. Who gets excited to go to B-ham? Like I can go all day on how NOLA is a better choice.
 
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JAG89 said:
I agree. Plus, New Orleans has a few HBCUs (Dillard, Xavier, and SUNO). IMO, my hometown (Alexandria, LA) would be even more centrally located, but there is not much to do. The Rapides Parish Coliseum is bigger than Xavier's arena.
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Not only that but I think most SWAC schools have respectable alumni bases in the city ... I know for a fact TSU has an active New Orleans alumni chapter and I know a few TSU Tigers living in the city. I know no one in Birmingham. And only the Alabama SWAC schools have respectable alumni bases in Birmingham.

And the SWAC Tourney doesn't need a big arena, XULA arena size is perfect b/c fans in our conference don't really travel heavy for basketball.
 
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tsugraytiger said:
I'm not sure if New Orleans submitted a bid or not but I don't see anything wrong with our leadership (SWAC) being proactive in securing a deal in the city. It's in the SWAC best financial interest to do so to optimize attendance and interest in the tournament. It being in Birmingham is having the opposite effect. No SWAC school is even within an hour of Birmingham, at least SU is about an hour away from NOLA ... it makes more sense on so many levels. New Orleans is such a way better marketing tool for the tournament than B-ham. Who gets excited to go to B-ham? Like I can go all day on how NOLA is a better choice.
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One problem is that since New Orleans is a tourist town they aren't necessarily begging for the SWAC basketball tournament and right after Mardi Gras too.
 
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Herbert77060 said:
One problem is that since New Orleans is a tourist town they are necessarily begging for the SWAC basketball tournament and right after Mardi Gras too.
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A well run city which I believe NOLA is since they elected a HBCU graduate as mayor, always want to attract as much business as possible.
 
Sun Belt Tourney will be in N.O. again. Last year the championship game drew 1400. SWAC drew 2000 in Birmingham last season for the championship game between 2 TEXAS schools.
 
jag4life said:
Sun Belt Tourney will be in N.O. again. Last year the championship game drew 1400. SWAC drew 2000 in Birmingham last season for the championship game between 2 TEXAS schools.
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Our championship game looked closer between 1,000 - 1,500. The Sun Belt and SWAC are very different culturally. Our fans are on average more passionate about our schools and they travel more ... Sun Belt fans are very home based and bland (few exceptions). Have you wondered why you've seen more SWAC conference games on TV than Sun Belt ones? The SWAC is more interesting and draws more interest

Also it's worth mentioning a lot of white people at the Sun Belt schools are bigger followers of bigger white SEC, Big 12, ACC schools. I bet any given day you'll see more LSU fans at ULL than ULL fans at LSU. SWAC people are usually more loyal to the SWAC only.
 
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tsugraytiger said:
A well run city which I believe NOLA is since they elected a HBCU graduate as mayor, always want to attract as much business as possible.
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I get all that but at the end of the day it is the local business owners and mayor, city council and those who decide what they will offer to attract the SWAC. I do not think the govenor has very much to say about it.
 
tsugraytiger said:
Our championship game looked closer between 1,000 - 1,500. The Sun Belt and SWAC are very different culturally. Our fans are on average more passionate about our schools and they travel more ... Sun Belt fans are very home based and bland (few exceptions). Have you wondered why you've seen more SWAC conference games on TV than Sun Belt ones? The SWAC is more interesting and draws more interest
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Which sport? Because they definitely had more football games on TV than the SWAC. And all of their basketball games are on ESPN+.
 
"I can't afford to go all the way to Birmingham!!"

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jag4life said:
Which sport? Because they definitely had more football games on TV than the SWAC. And all of their basketball games are on ESPN+.
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ESPN+ isn't a premium ESPN channel. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classics, and ESPNU are ... the SWAC has had more games on those channels in the last 10 years than the Sun Belt. And the Sun Belt just got that ESPN+ deal this or last year. And we're talking both sports now.
 
C-LeB28 said:
A well run city? New Orleans?
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
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LOL!!! You are so wrong for that. LOL!!!!!! But anyway, wasn't there a thread about how New Orleans businesses would put up "closed for remolding" signs when Black events are in town? And if that is true, then why would we want to take events to New Orleans? Or is this a "lets not throw the baby out with the bath water" situation?
 
TSU/BAMA said:
I can't either. So lets bring it back to Houston.
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You know the dates of the tournament, why not plan well in advance to go. If you could get with others and drive together or catch plane specials when they come out. There are plenty of hotels that have low prices that are close to the arena.
 
Fiyah said:
You know the dates of the tournament, why not plan well in advance to go. If you could get with others and drive together or catch plane specials when they come out. There are plenty of hotels that have low prices that are close to the arena.
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AirBnB too
 
TSU/BAMA said:
LOL!!! You are so wrong for that. LOL!!!!!! But anyway, wasn't there a thread about how New Orleans businesses would put up "closed for remolding" signs when Black events are in town? And if that is true, then why would we want to take events to New Orleans? Or is this a "lets not throw the baby out with the bath water" situation?
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Name a city where there's never any public display of racism against black people, especially in the South?

New Orleans (a black city) doesn't need to be boycotted, we need to take note of those white establishments that do that and boycott them year round (and get white liberals to do the same). And there are enough welcoming businesses (especially BLACK businesses) in NOLA ... besides it's not like the tournament will bring more than 10K to the city. It will never be as big as the Bayou Classic or Essence when they normally close down ... they only close for the mega black events.
 
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tsugraytiger said:
ESPN+ isn't a premium ESPN channel. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classics, and ESPNU are ... the SWAC has had more games on those channels in the last 10 years than the Sun Belt. And the Sun Belt just got that ESPN+ deal this or last year. And we're talking both sports now.
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Check again. I was speaking of on air games as well.
 
Mostly fans from the participating teams will attend the tournament games. It doesn’t matter where the games are played.
 
tsugraytiger said:
Name a city where there's never any public display of racism against black people, especially in the South?

New Orleans (a black city) doesn't need to be boycotted, we need to take note of those white establishments that do that and boycott them year round (and get white liberals to do the same). And there are enough welcoming businesses (especially BLACK businesses) in NOLA ... besides it's not like the tournament will bring more than 10K to the city. It will never be as big as the Bayou Classic or Essence when they normally close down ... they only close for the mega black events.
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Ok. So, this is a "lets not throw the baby out with the bath water" situation. I understand.
 
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