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re: Where would you move the SEC baseball tournament to?
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:08 am to TheCaterpillar
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:08 am to TheCaterpillar
quote:All that being said though, I do not think Hoover can keep the Met up to standards without a team playing there as their home base. I can't imagine the city being able to attract a grounds' crew talented enough to keep the field to SEC tournament standards year round for just one week per year. The only way to do that is put down sports' turf but I don't think that would be acceptable to most SEC coaches.
TheCaterpillar
My solution would be for the SEC to buy it and build SEC offices out in the soccer fields beyond the outfield.
Aside from that, I see the tournament going elsewhere after the 2016 contract runs out without major promises of upgrades and such from the City of Hoover. I just don't see that as an option but maybe someone from that area knows more about the value of the tournament to the area and how much Hoover could put into it.
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Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:09 am to Tornado Alley
quote:
Do you think the "tailgate party" atmosphere prevalent in Hoover (especially on the weekends) would be present in other locales?
It would for sure in Jax. There's tons of parking and a place for RVs.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:24 am to SwayzeCrazy
If they could work out something with the Astros and Minute Maid that would be the biggest college baseball showcase outside of Omaha easily.
Never will happen though.
Never will happen though.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:26 am to roadGator
quote:That would eliminate 3 of the largest groups of attendees; LSU, Ole Miss and MSU. I enjoyed my trip to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl but it's just got to be a more central site than that.
It would for sure in Jax.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:30 am to Diamondawg
Can we get it once every 5 years or so?
The Jax airport is really easy.
The Jax airport is really easy.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:30 am to SwayzeCrazy
There are plenty of AA baseball parks in the South that could easily host this tournament.
Birmingham
Chattanooga
Jacksonville
Pearl, MS
Lawrenceville, GA (AAA Braves)
Mobile
Charlotte (AAA White Sox)
Not to mention big campus stadiums like Arkansas, South Carolina, and LSU.
Establishing a rotation shouldn't be difficult if the SEC truly wanted to do it.
Birmingham
Chattanooga
Jacksonville
Pearl, MS
Lawrenceville, GA (AAA Braves)
Mobile
Charlotte (AAA White Sox)
Not to mention big campus stadiums like Arkansas, South Carolina, and LSU.
Establishing a rotation shouldn't be difficult if the SEC truly wanted to do it.
This post was edited on 4/20/15 at 10:32 am
Posted on 4/20/15 at 10:46 am to murfvol
quote:
Nashville's stadium is a long walk from anything downtown, but close to Germantown restaurants.
False. Walked ir the other night
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:05 am to Tds & Beer
If you just consider the geography and by looking at the SEC footprint now, I would say Memphis is nearest the center for all 14 schools. Be a pretty good hike for Florida folks, though.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:12 am to GetCocky11
Jacksonville used to host the ACC baseball tournament, FWIW.
A central location for the schools that travel (LSU, tLandmass schools) is Birmingham.
A central location for the schools that travel (LSU, tLandmass schools) is Birmingham.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:15 am to GetCocky11
If it was in Frisco, TX, I'd go every year. If it was in Memphis I'd probably go. I'll never drive to Birmingham for a baseball tournament.
The SEC is missing out on getting more fans involved by keeping it in Alabama every year.
The SEC is missing out on getting more fans involved by keeping it in Alabama every year.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:23 am to Numberwang
quote:
The SEC is missing out on getting more fans involved by keeping it in Alabama every year.
I'd say the SEC is doing a fine job in attracting college baseball fans to Hoover. The attendance for 2014 was 120,386 and was 134,496 for the 2013 tournament (a record).
There are really only a few practical locales because the SEC has no choice but to cater to their largest traveling fanbases. Memphis, New Orleans, Jackson, Mobile, Pensacola, Biloxi, Pensacola, Montgomery, etc. are just as practical as Birmingham, IMO.
If the conference wanted to make the tournament more of an "event," they could have a stadium near an entertainment district host the ballgames - Pensacola, Memphis, and Biloxi come to mind in such a scenario.
This post was edited on 4/20/15 at 11:24 am
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:25 am to Numberwang
quote:That makes no sense. Fans get involved at the school level. Fans are not going to "get involved" just for the tournament. How involved they are at the school level will determine their desire to travel to a tournament regardless of where it is played. I don't know where Frisco, Tx., is but I can bet it's never played there.
The SEC is missing out on getting more fans involved by keeping it in Alabama every year.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:30 am to Diamondawg
quote:
That makes no sense. Fans get involved at the school level. Fans are not going to "get involved" just for the tournament. How involved they are at the school level will determine their desire to travel to a tournament regardless of where it is played.
First off, Bull-fricking-shite.
I'm talking about getting fans involved in the tournament. And no, "how involved they are at the school level" isn't the determining factor. The distance from where they live is the biggest determinant as to whether college baseball fans will travel to a relatively meaningless conference tournament.
With most of the teams in the tournament every year, move it around and you'll see increased attendance. Fans in Texas won't go when its in Florida (or Alabama), but they will go when it is in Texas.
Hell, DFW has a larger and more diverse presence of SEC alums from most schools than Birmingham does, if you want to be real about it. For starters, the metro area is 6 times larger than Birmingham.
This post was edited on 4/20/15 at 11:32 am
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:35 am to Diamondawg
Frisco is an affluent suburb in the DFW area. They have a fantastic minor league baseball park there, however. It is firmly in the heart of Big XII country as Texas and Oklahoma reign. Moving the tournament to Frisco, Texas would be idiotic, plain and simple.
Frisco, TX driving time to SEC West schools
Alabama - 8 hours, 44 minutes
Arkansas - 4 hours, 50 minutes
Auburn - 10 hours, 50 minutes
LSU - 6 hours, 34 minutes
Ole Miss - 8 hours, 1 minute
Mississippi State - 8 hours, 10 minutes
Texas A&M - 3 hours, 11 minutes
Birmingham, AL driving time to SEC West schools
Alabama - 56 minutes
Arkansas - 8 hours, 13 minutes
Auburn - 2 hours, 2 minutes
LSU - 5 hours, 44 minutes
Ole Miss - 2 hours, 46 minutes
Mississippi State - 2 hours, 22 minutes
Texas A&M - 10 hours, 13 minutes
Frisco, TX driving time to SEC West schools
Alabama - 8 hours, 44 minutes
Arkansas - 4 hours, 50 minutes
Auburn - 10 hours, 50 minutes
LSU - 6 hours, 34 minutes
Ole Miss - 8 hours, 1 minute
Mississippi State - 8 hours, 10 minutes
Texas A&M - 3 hours, 11 minutes
Birmingham, AL driving time to SEC West schools
Alabama - 56 minutes
Arkansas - 8 hours, 13 minutes
Auburn - 2 hours, 2 minutes
LSU - 5 hours, 44 minutes
Ole Miss - 2 hours, 46 minutes
Mississippi State - 2 hours, 22 minutes
Texas A&M - 10 hours, 13 minutes
This post was edited on 4/20/15 at 11:38 am
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:36 am to Diamondawg
quote:
How involved they are at the school level will determine their desire to travel to a tournament regardless of where it is played.
This is just insane. Really?
So by your logic, the tournament could be played in Dallas and the same crowd that shows up now would show up. Same crowd would show up in Tampa, too, right? Those Bama and Auburn fans who make up the majority, and those State fans living two hours away, they'd drive to Tampa, too, right?
That's fricking stupid.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:41 am to Numberwang
quote:Nope. A large percentage of the attendees for the games at Hoover are largely local. It takes time to build up that loyalty. It becomes tradition for the families, kids just getting out of school to come to the ball park and watch some great baseball. You wouldn't have that moving it around every year. I have witnessed this phenomenon many times over. If you moved it to Frisco, Tx., for one year and then Memphis the next, no one would know about it much less care.
move it around and you'll see increased attendance.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:43 am to Diamondawg
quote:
A large percentage of the attendees for the games at Hoover are largely local
This is true.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:45 am to Tornado Alley
too lazy to read the whole thread but if it were going to rotate venues, Dickey Stephens Park in Little Rock would be nice. Not an every year place but would be nice in a rotation.
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:46 am to ElDawgHawg
Noted
Posted on 4/20/15 at 11:51 am to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
I'd do a rotation
- Nashville (new stadium)
- Memphis
- Birmingham (Regions)
- Jackson, MS
- Pensacola
- Gwinnett (metro Atlanta)
If it wasn't too small, they could put the Tennessee Smokies stadium in the rotation as well...but at 6,500...that could be a problem. It is a great little venue near the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.
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