North Little Rock Picked for 2015 SEC Women's Hoops

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The Southeastern Conference has awarded the 2015 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament to North Little Rock, Ark., Commissioner Mike Slive announced today.

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#3
#3
Another terrible decision by the SEC! Didn't they learn last time it was there and attendance was significantly lower? Lady Vols fans make up 80% of the crowd anyway, so if they really want to keep people in the stands, it should never leave Deluth or Nashville.
 
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#4
#4
Live here and don't get it either. Verizon arena holds plenty of people, but this is not an easy place to fly to for visiting teams. Few direct flights to other areas around the SEC. Oh well, good for the local economy.
 
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#6
#6
bmj4life said:
Another terrible decision by the SEC! Didn't they learn last time it was there and attendance was significantly lower? Lady Vols fans make up 80% of the crowd anyway, so if they really want to keep people in the stands, it should never leave Deluth or Nashville.
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Chattanooga usually had good attendance when they had it.
 
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#7
#7
I always liked going to Little Rock. It was a long way but we always had a good time. Stayed in the team hotel last time and got to spend some time with the team and Coach Summit.
 
#8
#8
Nashville couldn't host due to the SEC partnership with Bridgestone Arena and the Men's tournament being there in 2015, 2016, & 2017. Nashville is hosting in 2018, 2022, and 2026. The mens will be there the other years.

I assume Gwinnett and Little Rock will be hosting the years not in Nashville.
 
#9
#9
Scorangevol said:
Chattanooga usually had good attendance when they had it.
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The SEC has parameters and guidelines that the host city has to follow, and Chattanooga doesn't meet them right now. If there was a larger arena downtown, I guarantee that Chattanooga would host.
 
#11
#11
mtsuraider06 said:
The SEC has parameters and guidelines that the host city has to follow, and Chattanooga doesn't meet them right now. If there was a larger arena downtown, I guarantee that Chattanooga would host.
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UTC has just recently finished renovating part of Mackenzie Arena (lower bowl).

Seating Project Underway at McKenzie Arena

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena is undergoing a noticeable upgrade this summer. All of the 2,016 retractable seats in the lower bowl are being replaced. Over 800 padded seats and all new accommodations below the gold circle will welcome Mocs fans back to the Roundhouse when the men’s and women’s basketball teams tip off in the fall.

Breakdown of the old seats began on June 3 and the project is expected to last until early September. At an estimated cost of around $1.8 million, this is the first major renovation to the spectator area of the venue that opened in 1982.

Renderings of the new layout are available below, while a photo gallery of the progress of the project is attached to this story. News of the renovations to McKenzie Arena was also a hot topic in the local media this week. Links to coverage of the construction are available at the top of the page.
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#13
#13
The last time the tournament was in Little Rock my wife and I were walking back from the trolley area to our hotel (because the trolleys were running very intermittently). We had four cars stop to tell us that it wasn't safe to be out walking in that area after sundown. The last was a North Little Rock police officer who offered to give us a lift to the hotel because the area was so dangerous. And this was within a mile and a half of the arena! We weren't given any such warnings when the tournament was held in Memphis that one year.

Personally, my wife and I are giving serious consideration to not attending the tournament in North Little Rock. I would like to support the Lady Vols, but the location and venue simply makes it highly undesirable from a fan standpoint. Frankly, the only way the SEC office is going to stop putting the tournament at that location is if the Lady Vol fans simply refuse to attend in large numbers. Although, having said that, I have to say, in my opinion, the SEC office only cares about how much the venue bids. So it will take several trips of Lady Vol fans refusing to attend until North Little Rock stops bidding because they are losing money.

We've been attending the SEC tournament since back in the day when it was held at the Roundhouse in Chattanooga and if I were ranking venues I would put Greenville, SC at 1, Nashville at 2 and Duluth at 3. Greenville was the most fan friendly venue and had the loveliest downtown area around the arena with things to do between games. Nashville is a close second because of the availability of other activities. Duluth only falls into third place because of the lack of activities within reasonable walking distance of the arena/hotels. All, of course, in my opinion.

Jim
 
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#14
#14
DeerPark12 said:
Even with those upgrades, it doesn't come close for meeting the current specs to host the SEC tournament. They require a certain numbers of suites, press and hospitality areas, band and cheerleader warmup areas, etc.
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Its a shame when it comes to the Women's SEC Championship as instead of competing in a near sellout arena they instead are in a near empty arena.

Especially if the Lady Vols get knocked out in a opening round or two.
 
#15
#15
CannonVol80 said:
The last time the tournament was in Little Rock my wife and I were walking back from the trolley area to our hotel (because the trolleys were running very intermittently). We had four cars stop to tell us that it wasn't safe to be out walking in that area after sundown. The last was a North Little Rock police officer who offered to give us a lift to the hotel because the area was so dangerous. And this was within a mile and a half of the arena! We weren't given any such warnings when the tournament was held in Memphis that one year.

Personally, my wife and I are giving serious consideration to not attending the tournament in North Little Rock. I would like to support the Lady Vols, but the location and venue simply makes it highly undesirable from a fan standpoint. Frankly, the only way the SEC office is going to stop putting the tournament at that location is if the Lady Vol fans simply refuse to attend in large numbers. Although, having said that, I have to say, in my opinion, the SEC office only cares about how much the venue bids. So it will take several trips of Lady Vol fans refusing to attend until North Little Rock stops bidding because they are losing money.

We've been attending the SEC tournament since back in the day when it was held at the Roundhouse in Chattanooga and if I were ranking venues I would put Greenville, SC at 1, Nashville at 2 and Duluth at 3. Greenville was the most fan friendly venue and had the loveliest downtown area around the arena with things to do between games. Nashville is a close second because of the availability of other activities. Duluth only falls into third place because of the lack of activities within reasonable walking distance of the arena/hotels. All, of course, in my opinion.

Jim
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I agree about Greenville. I thought it was a very nice tourney there. I also liked Little Rock as well. Nashville is good but parking is a pain. Duluth is O.K. but I prefer to go out of town for the event. I always liked it at the Roundhouse as well. Would love for it to go back there. I still think they should do one in Florida where it's nice and warm. I loved going to Tampa for the Final Four.
 
#16
#16
CannonVol80 said:
The last time the tournament was in Little Rock my wife and I were walking back from the trolley area to our hotel (because the trolleys were running very intermittently). We had four cars stop to tell us that it wasn't safe to be out walking in that area after sundown. The last was a North Little Rock police officer who offered to give us a lift to the hotel because the area was so dangerous. And this was within a mile and a half of the arena! We weren't given any such warnings when the tournament was held in Memphis that one year.

Personally, my wife and I are giving serious consideration to not attending the tournament in North Little Rock. I would like to support the Lady Vols, but the location and venue simply makes it highly undesirable from a fan standpoint. Frankly, the only way the SEC office is going to stop putting the tournament at that location is if the Lady Vol fans simply refuse to attend in large numbers. Although, having said that, I have to say, in my opinion, the SEC office only cares about how much the venue bids. So it will take several trips of Lady Vol fans refusing to attend until North Little Rock stops bidding because they are losing money.

We've been attending the SEC tournament since back in the day when it was held at the Roundhouse in Chattanooga and if I were ranking venues I would put Greenville, SC at 1, Nashville at 2 and Duluth at 3. Greenville was the most fan friendly venue and had the loveliest downtown area around the arena with things to do between games. Nashville is a close second because of the availability of other activities. Duluth only falls into third place because of the lack of activities within reasonable walking distance of the arena/hotels. All, of course, in my opinion.

Jim
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You are dead on right. Flew in for the 2009 tournament and stayed at the Peabody. Arena in a lousy location, difficult to get to, transportation poor; overall not well done on Little Rock's part. But then you can only work with what you have so... I dread going there again. But I expect we will; have to support the Ladies. Loved, loved, loved Greenville; Nashville seems to really price gouge but it is a good site. Duluth is just as you say, good facilities, well done, but it is really far away from things.
 
#17
#17
I never went to Little Rock but now living in StL we may give it a try. Interestingly I enjoyed watching all the games each year always felt I was almost watching on television. The game atmosphere of Knoxville is so important. I've always wondered how players feel who come from Miss St other places with no attendance to play in Knox.

Also would be interested in those who have gone to the regionals and final four what cities and arenas you like best.
 
#18
#18
stllvf said:
I never went to Little Rock but now living in StL we may give it a try. Interestingly I enjoyed watching all the games each year always felt I was almost watching on television. The game atmosphere of Knoxville is so important. I've always wondered how players feel who come from Miss St other places with no attendance to play in Knox.

Also would be interested in those who have gone to the regionals and final four what cities and arenas you like best.
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I was at Georgia when Parker played and it was Tasha Humphrey's senior year. There was a door the players came out of after the game to get on the bus. There were probably 150 people there waiting about an hour after the game. The Georgia players came out first and we talked to several of them including Tasha. She remarked how they never had that many people greet them even at home. They were kind of stunned at the crowd. They had 3 or 4 policeman make a way for the Lady Vols to get to the bus. You can't greet the team anymore since they remodeled Stegman. The buses pull inside the building now. The Lady Vols have some very loyal fans.
 
#19
#19
CannonVol80 said:
The last time the tournament was in Little Rock my wife and I were walking back from the trolley area to our hotel (because the trolleys were running very intermittently). We had four cars stop to tell us that it wasn't safe to be out walking in that area after sundown. The last was a North Little Rock police officer who offered to give us a lift to the hotel because the area was so dangerous. And this was within a mile and a half of the arena! We weren't given any such warnings when the tournament was held in Memphis that one year.




Jim
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that is just disturbing as hell
 
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