Raleigh has landed a three-year deal to host the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament beginning in March 2006 at the RBC Center
The local bid includes contributions of up to $200,000 a year from both Raleigh and Wake County. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau is contributing $100,000 a year and the Centennial Authority, which oversees the RBC Center, is guaranteeing a $50,000 annual contribution.
Gale Force Holdings, which operates the RBC Center, is providing the arena for the MEAC Tournament.
Local officials began studying the MEAC tournament business late last year shortly after the Triangle lost its host city hold on the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament to a bid from Charlotte.
While a Division I conference, Greensboro-based MEAC's basketball tournament is smaller than the Division II CIAA event.
Hosting the event delivered a $3.2 million bounce for Richmond businesses in 2004. MEAC reported attendance of 41,000 that year.
Projections hint that the 2006 MEAC tournament will attract 55,000 fans, with a projected economic impact on the area of $4.4 million, including bookings for 5,500 hotel room nights.
Attendance for the 2007 Tournament is expected to reach 72,000, with 8,000 hotel room nights booked and an economic impact of $6.5 million. For 2008, the attendance should rise to 90,000, projections show, with approximately 10,000 hotel room nights booked and an economic impact of $7.8 million.
"Raleigh is one of the most progressive cities in the country and they have demonstrated that they know how to market and build a successful tournament," MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said when the news was announced on Thursday. "The MEAC is on the verge of phenomenal growth and I think that the City of Raleigh and Wake County can surely help us achieve our goals."
MEAC received bids from Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Baltimore and Richmond, Va., which hosted the basketball tournament the last seven years. After visiting most of the cities, a committee submitted its recommendation to the MEAC Council of CEOs, who made the final decision in late May.
The MEAC Tournament is held during the first week of March and includes all 11 members in both men and women's basketball.
For the sake of this being a skyscraper thread site, I am surprised. Raleigh was up against some competition as far as skylines go.
The local bid includes contributions of up to $200,000 a year from both Raleigh and Wake County. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau is contributing $100,000 a year and the Centennial Authority, which oversees the RBC Center, is guaranteeing a $50,000 annual contribution.
Gale Force Holdings, which operates the RBC Center, is providing the arena for the MEAC Tournament.
Local officials began studying the MEAC tournament business late last year shortly after the Triangle lost its host city hold on the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament to a bid from Charlotte.
While a Division I conference, Greensboro-based MEAC's basketball tournament is smaller than the Division II CIAA event.
Hosting the event delivered a $3.2 million bounce for Richmond businesses in 2004. MEAC reported attendance of 41,000 that year.
Projections hint that the 2006 MEAC tournament will attract 55,000 fans, with a projected economic impact on the area of $4.4 million, including bookings for 5,500 hotel room nights.
Attendance for the 2007 Tournament is expected to reach 72,000, with 8,000 hotel room nights booked and an economic impact of $6.5 million. For 2008, the attendance should rise to 90,000, projections show, with approximately 10,000 hotel room nights booked and an economic impact of $7.8 million.
"Raleigh is one of the most progressive cities in the country and they have demonstrated that they know how to market and build a successful tournament," MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said when the news was announced on Thursday. "The MEAC is on the verge of phenomenal growth and I think that the City of Raleigh and Wake County can surely help us achieve our goals."
MEAC received bids from Raleigh, Winston-Salem, Baltimore and Richmond, Va., which hosted the basketball tournament the last seven years. After visiting most of the cities, a committee submitted its recommendation to the MEAC Council of CEOs, who made the final decision in late May.
The MEAC Tournament is held during the first week of March and includes all 11 members in both men and women's basketball.
For the sake of this being a skyscraper thread site, I am surprised. Raleigh was up against some competition as far as skylines go.