The NCAA Tournament is having some of their first and second round games in Jacksonville this season. For the first time in four years, Jacksonville will have a first and second round sub-regional.
As of a few weeks ago, about 2000 general admission tickets were available, at $219 for six games.
It is a big deal for Jacksonville, being one of only eight sites in the country for the first and second rounds, and the only one in the South. It's a big deal, as if one of the top seeds around the Southeast (like Kentucky) comes in, they could inject millions into the economy.
Add in seven other fan bases, and it could be big for the city.
Here is an article from January 21:
http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/2010-01-21/story/jacksonville_officials_aim_to_land_top_ncaa_tournament_seeds
Current Bracketology from ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology
I went a few years ago... when florida won the whole thing... great time. They do not serve beer however... :'(
Quote from: BridgeTroll on February 08, 2010, 06:28:15 PM
I went a few years ago... when florida won the whole thing... great time. They do not serve beer however... :'(
not at all? you sure there aren't certain areas for that? I heard the same thing but I went to UF's games against UCF and JU the last two years and am pretty sure there were people with beer containers. it did puzzle me at the time.
Last time the tournament was in Jax, my firm was gracious enough to rent a box and invite some of us low-level employees to use it. There was plenty of beer on that level, but none on the rest of the concourses.
No beer. I brought a cooler and left it in the car. If I remember there is an intermission after the first two or three games and we went out and slammed a few without missing anything. They opened up the ballfield across the street and they served beer and food... but no beer in the arena.
NCAA rules???
This is what the Bracketology 101 blog, one of the most reputable college basketball bracket blogs out there, says:
http://bracketology101.blogspot.com/
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OxkZF8Xm-iI/S4tVxP-6Y7I/AAAAAAAABlI/xcLmRYcUApI/s1600-h/B101+Bracket+-+March+1.jpg
Duke and Tennessee coming would bring a lot of people. This still could change a lot until Selection Sunday.
I'll be there!
Do they have the final teams that are playing in Jax?
I think the brackets come out Sunday.
yes...around 6pm Sunday...but don't look for the Gators in Jax....they'll be in the NIT
Big weekend for Jacksonville in the NCAAs, as these are the 4 games that will be played on Friday.
1 Duke (huge fan base)
16 Winthrop/Arkansas Pine-Bluff
8 California
9 Louisville (big fan base, travels well)
5 Temple
12 Cornell (very good matchup)
4 Wisconsin
13 Wofford (1st time ever in Dance, will travel very well).
Some great matchups headed to Jacksonville on Friday.
Duke & Louisville will draw the locals in as well.
btw....FSU v. Gonzaga in Buffalo, NY.
Anyone wanna carpool?
Quote from: fsu813 on March 14, 2010, 08:52:13 PM
Duke & Louisville will draw the locals in as well.
btw....FSU v. Gonzaga in Buffalo, NY.
Anyone wanna carpool?
And Florida and BYU in Oklahoma - FSU813, I think we better watch our teams at the Cellar!
Thats whats up.
Got my tickets through Temple today...Let's Go Owls!
Just my luck... I am out of town... Go Badgers!
Quote from: charlestondxman on March 14, 2010, 08:09:59 PM
4 Wisconsin
13 Wofford (1st time ever in Dance, will travel very well).
Wisconsin has a huge fanbase that travels well too. And what person in Wisconsin doesn't want to come to Florida in mid-March.
Single day tickets are now available(instead of the two day tickets). If you're interested in going, nows the time to buy!
that's probably because the schools (like Temple sadly) returned some of their session tickets....which means they may even be lower bowl seats
btw...some great first round games to start the tourney...ODU beats ND by 1 point, Robert Morris takes Villanova to OT, and BYU beats Florida in 2OT.
As Corrine Brown might say, Go Gata :D
Some good crowds in Jacksonville, as we got CBS's #1 announcing crew, Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Wisconsin defeated Wofford 53-49, and Cornell defeated Temple in a big upset, 78-65.
Sorry tufsu... Cornell looked pretty good... Badgers did not but pulled it out. Cornell v Badgers should be a good matchup... :)
Yes BT, Go Badgers!!! I'm so glad our home state is well represented on here.
:D The Grateful Red is everywhere... ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grateful_Red
QuoteThe Grateful Red is the student section of the Kohl Center, home of the University of Wisconsinâ€"Madison's NCAA men's basketball team. As a division of the Badger Student Fan Club, it cheers on the Badgers from behind the basket at the Kohl Center. The name is a take-off of the rock group, the Grateful Dead, and members wear tie-dyed t-shirts as their pseudo-uniforms. The Detroit News ranked the section the #1 college basketball student section in February 2007.[1] The section was known as "Mr. Bennett's Neighborhood" for former coach Dick Bennett and debuted as the "grateful red" in 2002.[2]
View from the Grateful Red student sectionThe Grateful Red holds 2,100 students and extends from the floor to the roof of the Kohl Center, a span of three decks. Under current coach Bo Ryan, the men's basketball team achieved a record of 133â€"10 at home and held a 24-game home winning streak through the 2006-07 season.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on March 19, 2010, 06:27:11 PM
Sorry tufsu... Cornell looked pretty good... Badgers did not but pulled it out. Cornell v Badgers should be a good matchup... :)
yep..definitely a rough day for my teams (although I kind of expected FSU to lose)...Cornell did look very good and should give Wisconsin quite a game.
Finished middle of the pack it appears. We have a great location, good venue, but teams sent here definetly had a role.
As a side, with OKC basically smack in the middle of the nation, that really helped them out.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=153651#comments
also keep in mind that most of the host arenas were larger than ours...so it is not an apples to apples comparison...then again, we didn't sell out any of the sessions completely.
Our arena only holds somewhere around 13,000 for basketball games.
Arena size is missing the point- It didn't sell out even with the smaller arena.
The fact is, Jacksonville is a bad town for buying tickets to sporting events. Duke travels well. Wisconsin travels very well. Some of these other sites had less of a traveling fan base than Jacksonville did, and they still sold 18k tickets apiece.
I'm glad the city didn't embarrass itself and attendance wasn't bad, but its also pretty pathetic that we couldn't get 13,000 people to show up and watch.
huh....did you even go to any of the games?
I did and enjoyed a great atmosphere....and oh btw, I've been to past NCAA tourney games in College Park, MD (Washington D.C.), Meadowlands (New York), Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tallahassee, and Orlando....Jax. compared quite favorably.
I didn't go because I am not living in Jacksonville at the moment. I watched on TV/Computer and yes, it looked like a good atmosphere. Atmosphere doesn't change the numbers. None of the sessions sold out. My comment was directed at the perceived unfairness in comparing our numbers with that of larger arenas. It is troubling that none of the sessions sold out with what I am sure was as good as can be expected support from at least two of the fan bases.
Another possible fact could be that given the fact you have only a few days notice of the games and their respective locations, many fans probably couldn't get off work and/or make plans in time.
But it was known months in advance that the tournament would be here. Yes, the teams were unknown. It goes back to my first point, Jacksonville got lucky getting Duke and Wisconsin. If it would have been a bunch of teams similar to Temple and Cornell, I don't think even the 12k would have been there. The issue isn't with the fans who traveled, its with the people of Northeast Florida having a pretty noticeable track record for being pretty unreliable to buy tickets to major sporting events.
QuoteThe issue isn't with the fans who traveled, its with the people of Northeast Florida having a pretty noticeable track record for being pretty unreliable to buy tickets to major sporting events.
Not if the sporting event involves the Florida Gators or a monster truck rally.
Not everyone is a fan of basketball though, I'm not, so I wouldn't waste my money on something that doesn't interest me. I'm sure many feel the same way, and also, not everyone is a fan of the teams that played here and didn't want to waste their money on teams that mean nothing to them.
Comparing this event to Jags games is not really the same thing.
It's fine if you don't like basketball, you certainly should not go. If you do, I don't think it's a waste of money to go. The point remains that the number of tickets needed to sell out this one time only (essentially) event, which people knew about for months in advance, is roughly the same as one Jaguars home game. I know basketball isn't as popular as football and it isn't the "home team", but I think it isn't entirely apples and oranges. Its just disconcerting that yet another major sporting event could not be supported by a sell out.
Quote from: Tripoli1711 on March 22, 2010, 03:41:11 PM
But it was known months in advance that the tournament would be here. Yes, the teams were unknown. It goes back to my first point, Jacksonville got lucky getting Duke and Wisconsin. If it would have been a bunch of teams similar to Temple and Cornell, I don't think even the 12k would have been there.
Actually there were just as many Cornell fans (if not more) than Wisconsin fans on Friday...but the winner for the first session was Wofford....they brought a bunch of folks!
Also remember that the general public tickets that were on sale for several months were for the whole weekend...for $220....which is quite steep when you don't know what teams are coming to town.
Quote from: tufsu1 on March 22, 2010, 03:50:40 PM
Quote from: Tripoli1711 on March 22, 2010, 03:41:11 PM
But it was known months in advance that the tournament would be here. Yes, the teams were unknown. It goes back to my first point, Jacksonville got lucky getting Duke and Wisconsin. If it would have been a bunch of teams similar to Temple and Cornell, I don't think even the 12k would have been there.
Actually there were just as many Cornell fans (if not more) than Wisconsin fans on Friday...but the winner for the first session was Wofford....they brought a bunch of folks!
Also remember that the general public tickets that were on sale for several months were for the whole weekend...for $220....which is quite steep when you don't know what teams are coming to town.
I went to 4 of the 6 games this weekend. All but the Friday night sessions, as I'm a glutton for agony and wanted to stay home and watch my Noles blow it.
I couldn't believe how many fans Wofford brought. Very impressive showing from those guys, despite the excessive amount of Bama Bangs.
Cornell had a very good showing attendance wise, as did Duke and Wisconsin. I heard that Louisville brought quite a few as well.
One thing that benefited Jax for this draw was that we had some excellent academic schools, which equates to more high rollers. I would imagine that the Duke and Cornell alums dropped quite a few $$$ around town Friday and Saturday.
^^Kris at Northstar Substation said he was slammed Friday night. FL/GA level business. With the cheer competition DT as well, it must have been a good weekend for the businesses that were open.