The Big East Conference announced on Thursday that they have signed a 2-year extension with the XL Center in Hartford, CT keeping the Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament there through 2011.
There had been speculation that it could have been moved to Mohegan Sun but for now it stays in Hartford.
“I’m excited for people at the XL Center. I know how much it means to them,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I think the people there will do an awful lot to make the building the best place to have a tournament in the country. Obviously, the last couple of years, there have been some improvements, but there need to be a lot more for our fans and for the league.
“I think the time people need to wait in line for concessions and the general appearance of the place, the locker rooms, the meeting rooms, could be improved. The court itself is much better. But there is a lot of stuff behind the scenes that are equally important. When you travel to other arenas around the country you see a big gap between what the XL Center can provide and what other places have. There are many great facilities around the nation that players and fans have grown accustomed to. But its still the best place to hold the tournament.”
Like Geno said, the XL Center isn’t the greatest place in the world but it’s still the best place right now to hold the tournament. As long as UConn is good, the Big East Women’s Tournament will always get decent numbers. And for the Big East, that means good revenue dollars.
