The Unofficial Furman Football Page

A brief, and I mean brief, perusal of the interwebs shows attendance to the two previous SEC Womens tourney at the Well to be approx. 36,000 one year and 32,000 the next or an average of about 34,000. The one year I found for the Mens SoCon Tourney in Asheville (2017) showed attendance to be approx 25,000. Assuming these numbers are accurate would attendance for the mens tourney go up by 10,000 if it moved the Greenville?

I dont know.

I do know the women have done so well that the Well is one of the locations for the Womens Sweet Sixteen and Elite 8 next March.

DPLOT

Greenville has proven in the past to support big time basketball.

I would like to see the SoCon tourney return to Gville to see how well it would do now the FU is good

Agreed. But the City of Greenville needs to support it. Get the restaurants and hotels behind it. Asheville as a city supports SoCon and for it to move, Gville will have to step up.

CharlieFU wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:01 pm

Agreed. But the City of Greenville needs to support it. Get the restaurants and hotels behind it. Asheville as a city supports SoCon and for it to move, Gville will have to step up.

Not trying to be argumentative, I really don't know what that means for a city to "support" it. What does Asheville do to "support" it?

Bootie wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 19, 2019 6:17 am

CharlieFU wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:01 pm

Agreed. But the City of Greenville needs to support it. Get the restaurants and hotels behind it. Asheville as a city supports SoCon and for it to move, Gville will have to step up.

Not trying to be argumentative, I really don't know what that means for a city to "support" it. What does Asheville do to "support" it?

Was thinking the same thing. The restaurants and hotels profit from it but outside of that I don't know. I am sure the
restaurants and hotels in Greenville would br happy to do the same. Even if you just use the lower bowl at the BSWA you would have 2,500 more seats than the Asheville Covic Center. There would also be many more "good" sideline seats as there is not much floor sideline seating in Asheville.

Bootie wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 19, 2019 6:17 am

CharlieFU wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:01 pm

Agreed. But the City of Greenville needs to support it. Get the restaurants and hotels behind it. Asheville as a city supports SoCon and for it to move, Gville will have to step up.

Not trying to be argumentative, I really don't know what that means for a city to "support" it. What does Asheville do to "support" it?

My comment is based on past comments from those “in the know” that Asheville WANTS the tournament and acts like it. And that Gville’s attitude/efforts had not really matched that.

Does Asheville pay some premium to get it? I don’t know. What stuff do they do to make SoCon welcome? I suspect most of this is behind the scenes. And maybe these statements are dated and/or untrue. Mostly repeating what I have heard in the past.

In sum, there must be SOME reason we don’t get the SoCon tourney. What is it?

I think its simple, Asheville arena comes dirt cheap for the SoCon because its an older, smaller venue.

BUT, I think all that has shifted in the last couple years with the SoCon gaining strength (especially in upstate with Furman and Wofford), the Semifinals and Finals were both sold out last year. So as apaladin has pointed out, there would be potential for 9,000 in the lower bowl of BSWA as opposed to the 6,400 in Asheville, it would be a chance for the league to grow not only to a bigger arena but a more modern venue with suites and and a large VIP area in the endzone overlooking the court.

So let me add some info from a trusted source:

In the past, Asheville was the most passionate, involved and committed to getting and keeping the SoCon. That includes downtown merchants who have signage and great hospitality. I think Gville gets the tourism piece better now but Asheville and Charleston know what it’s like to be dependent on tourism. I am further told that at the time Bi Lo Center’s “presentation” was less than stellar. Today, The Well is a better facility and perhaps would do more to attract the tourney. Especially now that they have hosted NCAA and SEC women. Finally, Asheville does pay (or did) a guarantee to the SoCon.

So there you have it. I for sure think we should make another run at it.

It would seem like a no-brainer as the next step for the growing SoCon to take as long as Gville shows interest