We don't get a vote but if we did...

Can anyone offer a reason not to hold the next available WAC tournament in Las Vegas? Mucho hotel rooms at affordable prices, easy to fly in to and out of, lots of other attractions...

WAC may look to neutral sites for future basketball tourneys
Jason Kaneshiro
Honolulu Star Bulletin

LAS CRUCES, N.M. » The Western Athletic Conference may look off campus when the time to pick a site for the league's basketball tournament rolls around again.

The tournament has been held at on-campus arenas for all but three of its 25 years. After two years at New Mexico State's Pan American Center, it's headed for the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev., for the next two. But holding the event outside of a WAC town could be in the tournament's future.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas contacted the WAC about possibly hosting the tournament and Salt Lake City was a close second behind Reno in the last vote. He said representatives in Sacramento, Calif., have also expressed interest.

"There's always going to be advantage-disadvantage in terms of the site," Benson said. "I think as we go into the next cycle we'll continue to seek a site that may be more neutral.

"I think we have some options, but we can't ignore the type of environment and atmosphere a campus community provides."

Benson said Hawaii submitted a bid to host the basketball tournament in the 1990s. But along with the financial burden, the logistics of getting teams back to the mainland for postseason tournaments work against UH if the school were to pursue the tournament. UH will host this year's WAC softball tournament and the volleyball tournament in the fall.

Benson said there are no current talks with ESPN regarding the league's television contract. The negotiation period begins in April 2009. He said there have been "discussions" about extending the contract that runs through the 2009-10 season the last two years, but the league and ESPN couldn't agree on the financial terms.

"I'm confident the WAC and ESPN will be partners for a long time," Benson said.

AND

Idaho Statesman
3/14/08

The Western Athletic Conference's basketball tournaments could be headed to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Sacramento if the league's coaches and athletic directors have their way.

But moving the conference tournament to a neutral site is not that easy, commissioner Karl Benson explained during his 30-minute meeting with the media at the WAC Tournament on Thursday.

"Unless there is a neutral site that can come to the table and narrow the financial gap" on-campus sites will likely continue to hold the tournament, Benson said.

Reno will host the conference tournament in 2009 and 2010. The city edged out Salt Lake City, a neutral site, because of a greater financial commitment.

The vote among the board of directors, however, was 5-4. Coaches and athletic directors supported moving the tournament to Las Vegas, another neutral site, but the league presidents opted for Reno.

Coaches, including Boise State's Greg Graham and Gordy Presnell, are in favor of moving the tournament to a neutral location.

Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Sacramento have expressed interest in holding the 2011 and 2012 tournaments. The league will decide on a host for those events in 2010.