It is being reported by the Associated Press that the Big East Conference is looking into moving the Women’s Basketball Tournament to the Mohegan Sun Arena at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT.
The Big East, which has held the tournament at the Hartford Civic Center the last two years and is booked at the venue through 2009, has had trouble selling tickets at the 16,000 seat arena. The host school, UConn has in the past continually sold out both of their home courts, the Civic Center and their on campus home the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. But for some reason the success of the UConn program does not translate into ticket sales for the conference tournament.
The Mohegan Sun Arena is being considered because of its size (10,000 seats), the proximity to Big East Schools, locker room and hotel room availability as well as fan access. Gampel Pavilion, which was used for the tournament in the past, is probably not a viable option as it has poor fan access, hotels are tough to come by and the lack of space needed for the working media and conference officials. Hartford, as well as other locations, remains an option for hosting the event.
UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who has a restaurant at the casino, said he sees no problem with holding the event at a gambling establishment.
“Say what you want, if you are going to take money from them as corporate sponsors, you can’t have it both ways,” Auriemma said. “If you are going to let beer companies sponsor you, and you are going to let casinos be corporate sponsors, then you can’t have it the other way and say, ‘Well we’re not going to play any games there because there is gambling there.'”
There is no sports book at the casino but with all the NCAA does to educate it’s student-athletes about the dangers of gambling, holding a conference tournament in a casino seems like a bad idea to me.
The Big East has no policy against holding events at a casino.
