IU Reporter: BTT To DC for a year?
Sorry I'm not good at embedding tweets but I saw this tidbit from Justin Albers, who follows IU basketball and works for Fox Sports:
@Justin_Albers 10m
"Hearing the Big Ten Tournament will be moved out of Indianapolis and to Washington DC for at least one year. Disappointing. #iubb"
I attended the B1G Tournament the last two years in Chicago and Indy and I truly think that it should rotate between those two cities, if not adding Detroit.
I'd love it if it came here. I'm never making it to Chicago or Indy, but would definitely attend some games here.
I think people will be surprised by the large number of Big Ten Alumni that live in this area, not including Maryland.
Hey, what about for all us alums now in SW Florida ?
400 bowl games each year!
We should either get a BTT in Auburn Hills or a BTCG in Detroit. There's no reason that Indianapolis should get everything which is only a stone's throw from Columbus while Michigan gets nothing.
I think the biggest reason that it would never come to Auburn Hills is because other than go to the games, there is nothing to do around the arena. That is what is so great about Indy or Chicago (or potentially Detroit) is that there is things to do after and before the games.
Nebraska and Penn State and you get . . .
I guess they're doing this to reach out to the east coast now with Maryland and Rutgers, but I'm not a fan of these recent moves, the tourney in DC and the headquarters in NY. Part of the reason college sports are great is because of the tribalism but so much for that. The B1G certainly isn't a Midwest conference anymore. I now feel like Maryland and Rutgers are our rivals if only because I want them to do so poorly in our conference.
The B1G is also opening a hdq in DC.
Makes no sense. Boo Maryland and Rutgers
that just seems stupid to me, but what do I know? Seems like that would be a huge advantage for PSU, Rutgers and Maryland. Too bad two of those schools suck ass at basketball.
It's relatively easy to get to DC from anywhere in the conference (except maybe Iowa or Lincoln?) and it's not like there's an especially large Rutgers alumni base here relative to any other B1G school.
It depends who your target market is for tickets. If it's students, then maybe Indiana makes sense, but really you're still not getting students from all the schools there anyway. If it's people you can make money off of, DC is a pretty good choice.
DC is there for the taking for a conference. While it should be ACC country, the ACC has decided to make Charlotte their basketball center and Atlanta their football center. Certainly the B1G should be able to claim it from the A-10 or the Colonial ConferenceS, and the Big East is keeping their tourney in MSG.
The expansion has happened, like it or not. It was clearly done for monetary reasons. Might as well figure out how to make the money off of it.
Being from MD I love this. Always wanted to get to a B1G Tourney, now I finally can.
Just shut it down. It's been real, B1G.
for control of the kill switch. i trust his michigan instincts. as soon as the tourney strays too far from michigan's best interests, he'll zap it.
all in favor, say 'aye'.
There's a solution to every problem.
Secede!
So we can go to Dallas for our tournaments? No thanks.
Kidding!
If Michigan were to leave the B1G again they'd probably go independent.
"You're going to be friends with Rutgers and Maryland, whether you want to be or not."
Tim Miles just vomited after reading.
...because I don't agree.
I think this is great. I would much prefer the game rotate around the conference than to keep it in Indiana every year. Same with the football and hockey tournaments/championship, let's have them all rotate around the league.
They should definitely hold it in London. Or maybe Toronto. Singapore might be cool too.
EXPAND THE BRAND
Definitely London. I would actually be able to attend a game.
Besides, nothing screams Midwest like Big Ben and the River Thames.
They should definitely hold it in London. Or maybe Toronto. Singapore might be cool too.I Agree with you !
Mexico City baby
Beijing or Bust!
The Brand, The BRAND, THE BRAND!
DC is idiotic, obviously. Put it at the Palace. Great facility that hardly hosts any basketball games.
Yes. The Palace hardly hosts real basketball games.
While I think it's an overall good venue for Basketball, it's not a whole tournament/weekend type place. Ford Field would be better IMO.
What about the new Red Wings arena? I doubt they'd put it in a football stadium. Although, that would seem very Big Ten of them.
I suppose this is all part of the branding effort in the east? I know the B1G opened its NYC/NJ office and they are announcing the B1G/Big East challenge today. I wonder if this will be announced today as well? I know there are a lot of alumni in the east that will support this. Bottom line, it comes down to TV money.
I would have reservations about the BTT not being in a somewhat central location with respect to the conference "footprint" (whatever that means anymore) only because if it is in DC, you're asking the westernmost members of the conference to travel much greater distances. The teams would, but their fans...perhaps not so much, at least not in nearly the quantity that they do when it is more central. I mean, Lincoln is actually nearly equidistant from both DC and Las Vegas (only 30-40 miles difference, I think).
To borrow an image from someone on my Twitter feed regarding location:
Indy is a doable day trip for half the conference. DC is close to just 3 teams, 2 of which have a history of doing absolutely nothing in basketball.
It's the midwests NYC, has boatloads of alums from every B1G school, is fairly central, and is actually a place people would like to go for a weekend. I don't know why every Big Ten tournament isn't there
Indy is about as good as it gets. Everything is right there near the Fieldhouse. This doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense.
I get the whole "keeping it in the region" thing, but Indy is truly a zero for me in terms of location. I don't care about proximty, that city will NEVER be a draw for me, so anything that get's events away from there, I'm good with.
But Naptown? How about, Detroit or Chicago?
Yes because Detroit is so much better than Indy. Good thing you two aren't making decisions.
Everything in Indy is downtown. Restaurants, bars, the night scene, shopping and BOTH the Fieldhouse and Lucus Oil Stadium. Park you car once and you can walk to any place you want to go. This isn't possible in Chicago or Detroit ... nor would it be safe to try and do.
The DC concept is just stupid !
Go Blue!
o.O
Can't speak for Chicago, but there is a whole crapload of things within walking distance of the stadiums in downtown Detroit. Very safe too.
But hey, way to give a strong opinion about something you know nothing about.
Back to OP; big thumbs up for BTT in DC. There are TONS of B1G alumni in the DC/Md/NoVa region, and would easily sell out Verizon Center.
I thought the subect was the BTT. I have nothing against Detroit - love the Tigers and Red Wings, but the BTT is perfect in Indy. Just go once and you'll see.
Go Blue!
Setup Ford Field.
Agree that Auburn Hills would not be an ideal setting.
The verizon center is literally in the middle of dc, so all of these arguments for indy because things are near the stadium mean nothing. Unless you think indy is a draw of city for some reason. Atlanta isn't exactly in the middle of the SEC but it still hosts everything because it is the best place in the footprint to do so.
The Verizon Center in Washington DC is located in the Penn Quarter section of Chinatown.
It's surrounded by restaurants, bars, the night scene, shopping, etc--just like the sites in Indianapolis. The DC metro has a stop right on the corner, so you also have a mass transit option as well.
I live in the area and there are a lot of Big Ten alums here, so it's not as crackpot an idea as you present.
isn't the venue or city. It's how far away it is by car from the B1G campuses. Since the tourney is 1 and done, that is quite a drive to make for the potential of just one game.
Go Blue!
I say you hold that shit on an aircraft carrier. Floating at sea. In the middle of the Pacific. While holding Naval drills with South Korea and Japan and Australia. Fucking Delany doesn't know shit about running a conference.
Show North Korea just how awesome freedom is
See now you're talking. I propose that Gordon Berenson be the new B1G commisoner with myself acting as second in command. We'll make so much money. B1G Stage B1G Boats B1G Cash B1G Ten.
Are we hired yet?
Because we should be.