State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Tournament To Remain In St. Louis
11/13/2007 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ST. LOUIS -- The Missouri Valley Conference has agreed to a four-year contract extension to conduct its men's basketball championship -- the State Farm MVC Tournament -- at Scottrade Center through the 2011 season, with the league holding an option for two additional years, commissioner Doug Elgin has announced. On Monday, the MVC Presidents Council approved a recommendation from university athletic administrators and faculty representatives to keep the event in St. Louis.
“This was an important decision for our conference, and we are excited to be able to continue the remarkable run that our tournament has enjoyed in this neutral city,” said Elgin. “We entered into the bid process hoping to find ways to improve the tournament experience for our teams and fans. We believe that we will see that happen in St. Louis over the course of this agreement.”
The Valley had sent a request for proposals to cities that had previously expressed interest in hosting future State Farm MVC Tournaments during the summer, and four cities ? Kansas City (Sprint Center), Omaha (Qwest Center), Des Moines (Wells Fargo Arena) and St. Louis (Scottrade Center) responded with bids.
“All four cities made proposals that included creativity and expressed a strong interest in hosting future Valley tournaments,” Elgin said. “We truly appreciate the effort that the individuals and organizations in these cities put forth, as well as the commitments they were willing to make to our schools. But in the end, it was clear that St. Louis had momentum plus the corporate and fan support that has been established through here over the past 17 years.”
Terms of the Valley's agreement with Scottrade Center were not disclosed.
“We are indebted to Scottrade Center and to State Farm and many other corporate supporters who have made it possible for us to grow our tournament in a first-class fashion at a neutral site,” Elgin said. “Scottrade Center played a very big role in convincing us to keep the tournament here. The facility has been an ideal venue for our tournament, and is as well-managed as any basketball arena in the country.”
Only the Big East Conference has had a longer, continuously-running event at the same neutral site than has the Missouri Valley with its Arch Madness, which has built a strong tradition with the men's basketball championship in St. Louis. The Big East has played its men's tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City every year since 1981 (28th consecutive year in 2008). Before moving to the new American Airlines Center in Dallas for the 2003 tournament, the Big 12/Big 8 event had been staged at Kemper Arena in Kansas City since 1977 before moving to the Texas site (a string of 26-straight in Kansas City). With the signing of the extension, the Missouri Valley Conference will be celebrating its 20th year in St. Louis with the 2010 tournament.
The tournament site has moved from campus sites (1977-90) to Kiel Auditorium (1991) to the Saint Louis Arena (1992-94) to Scottrade Center (1995-present). In 2007, the semifinal and championship session crowds of 22,612 set an all-time basketball attendance records for Scottrade Center ? and marked the only two St. Louis sellouts in State Farm MVC Tournament history. The championship game crowd was the largest of any conference tournament title game in the country. Overall, the Valley ranked fifth nationally in total per-session average as the league had a record total of 85,704 fans in five sessions last March.
Creighton has won six of the last nine MVC Men's Basketball Tournaments, and its 10 overall tourney titles are twice as many as any other two league schools combined.
