Permanent sweet 16 site?

[Carnac]

Las Vegas certainly can be quite a bargain if you're not there during one of the big convention/show weeks....it's always fascinating to see the hotel room you paid $119 the night before rise to $399 for the rest of the week.....food costs are significantly lower then most big cities although you can find ridiculously good but expensive meals if that's your thing...if you can stay out of the casinos you can have a fun and remarkably cheap vacation there....

Las Vegas also has several RV parks for your consideration. I recommend the Oasis RV Resort. It's the only RV park I use when we take our RV for a 4-7 day stay. The rates are reasonable, it's clean, safe, and pet friendly. It's located right off the I-15 freeway (Blue Diamond offramp) Their daily rates range from $47 - $84 depending on the day of the week. The $84 is the holiday rate for a premium site. RV parks are much cheaper than a hotel room, and there are no resort fees.

Note - As Las Vegas Yank commented, those "DAILY resort fees" are no joke. They usually are not included in the advertised daily room rate you'll see when shopping for hotels on the Internet. There are hotels (usually far away from the strip) that do not charge resort fees, but you have to hunt for them.

 

[Charliebball]

Las Vegas also has several RV parks for your consideration. I recommend the Oasis RV Resort. It's the only RV park I use when we take our RV for a 4-7 day stay. The rates are reasonable, it's clean, safe, and pet friendly. It's located right off the I-15 freeway (Blue Diamond offramp) Their daily rates range from $47 - $84 depending on the day of the week. The $84 is the holiday rate for a premium site. RV parks are much cheaper than a hotel room, and there are no resort fees.

How much for an RV?.............

 

[Carnac]

I don't think many fans will pay out the money to go Vegas and then pay big bucks to go to the Final Four.[/QUOTE]

The numbers might surprise you. It's a gamble the NCAA may be willing to look at. Remember, some teams always travel well, regardless of the venue they're assigned to. Some fans will follow their team during the tournament all three weekends. They are "die-hard" fans, and want to attend EVERY game their team plays. This is a once-a-year event. Some even treat this as a vacation. But, as you say, some won't. UConn has a large fan base, but only a scant few travel to every road game, including the post season tournament games.

The NCAA seldom has a problem selling tickets for the final four. Those fans buy their tickets far in advance obviously not knowing if their team will make it that far or not. They are WCBB fans who want to see the final games featuring the 4 remaining teams, and watch the crowing of the eventual champion regardless of the participants. Some fans will buy tickets at the last minute IF their team makes it that far. Last minute tickets are always available. There are ALWAYS scalpers outside of the arena eagerly waiting to satisfy all of your needs. So getting a last minute ticket is never a problem.

The final four weekend is not in competition with the regional games weekend. If you're going to go, you're going to go. Some fans go to both, others only to one. I think it depends on on'e level of interest, finances and if they can get the time off work (if they are employed), or if they are retired and able to travel freely. This is an idea I'd like to see tried maybe for 2 years in Las Vegas, then 2 years at another venue. If the numbers meet or exceed expectations, then perhaps they can make the "one-site" for the regionals permanent, if not, they can always return to it's current format.

 

[MSGRET]

The above is the complaint of the casinos. Sure, they make good money in whatever fashion from shows, restaurants, shops all the rest of it.

But gambling is the mint. And it isn't (as I understand it) as popular as it once was.

We have been 5 times, from one night to 6 nights. For conventions or shows. Usually stay at the Southpoint. Love visiting the strip, but it is a good place to spend a lot of money even if you don't gamble. Shows and concerts are not cheap.

That said, Pac WBB tourney will be there next 2 years while permanent home in Seattle is renovated. Hope to be able to get to at least one of them, Seattle is way to far unless Arizona is expected to win it (I can dream, can't I).

Actually food and entertainment makes more money and profit then the gambling according to the Nevada Gaming Commission. It has been that way for the past 5 years.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Actually food and entertainment makes more money and profit then the gambling according to the Nevada Gaming Commission. It has been that way for the past 5 years.

That was what I read. The point being - according to the article I read - the gambling has a higher profit percentage. Put another way, they aren't complaining about the money they make from the food and entertainment, but complaining that they are not making more from gambling.

OTH, I'm sure there are lots of folks like us, who don't gamble at all. Still plenty to do.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I suppose that's the other solution to the current problem. Attendances suffer unless there is a team within driving distance with a large fanbase.

Therefore, permanently put the regionals in the following locations:
EAST: Bridgeport (UConn)
SOUTH: Columbia OR Knoxville (SCar & Tenn.)
MIDWEST: Chicago OR Louisville (Notre Dame & Louisville)
WEST: Spokane (Gonzaga is not a perennial sweet 16 team but they have easily the best attendance for west coast teams)

It's not fair but you'll get good attendances. Otherwise you are in this in between state of having it be somewhat fair (teams sometimes can still play in regionals on virtual home courts) and badly attended. Putting regionals in places like Kansas City works for no one.

If nothing else, put the Regionals in places that are easy to get to. I went to the Regional in Sioux Falls a few years ago and that was decidedly not easy to get to; I flew from Columbia to Omaha and rented a car. Omaha was a cheaper flight than MSP. It would mess up the seedings a bit, but at least put teams in their geographic region to the greatest extent possible.

 

[SportsPageMike]

The territories are somewhat wrong. You can't cater to everyone but can make it close for fans to travel to.

EAST: Should be Washington D.C. - Even though I would prefer NYC.
SOUTH: San Anotonio - Or either Memphis or Knoxville would work.
MIDWEST: Chicago - Indianapolis would be just fine as well.
WEST: Las Vegas - No other choice.

All of these locations are easy and affordable to get to. Hotels, entertainment and anything else needed are plentiful.

 

[Husky fanatic]

What about, choice of seats? This past spring in Albany, I had 2 seats in the 2nd row behind the Uconn bench(because of the help of a poster on this site).
I would wager anything, that I would never be able to get a seat like that in Vegas.
I do NOT like to go to a game and watch the action with binoculars. I would rather stay home and watch the games on TV.

Shout out to Farley

 

[Monte]

Just as an aside, the new casino in Springfield, MA, opens in August (along with a 4,000 space parking garage). That's less than 25 minutes North of Hartford, Interstate 91 all the way. That's significantly less travel time and distance than the rides to The Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods (back roads mostly).

NO Racebook in Springfield.