Big Ten tourney at MSG

[Texas Western]

The Big Ten is trying to be something they aren't . Rutgers is not a NYC team and no one cares about it in the area.

 Yes I think they will do well with their tournament in NY in 2018 simply because they have 14 teams and a ton of alumni in the NY area , so they will be able to get some bodies in the arena. However, there simply is no tradition with the Big Ten tournament and will likely continue to be seen as a money grab. The thing that made the Big Ten great was the double round robin format. The regular season always had much more value and the enthusiasm for the schools for those last few games of the regular season was high.

I think moving the tournament around is a mistake . Keep it in Chicago where it is easily accessible and not dependent on high prices hotels the way NY is.

The Big East has to continue to deliver quality teams . St. John's Georegtown and Villanova need to do well every year in the tournament. Our conference trajectory is based on performance and excitement of the tournament. The local element makes that easier . Having one or more teams from Marquette, Xavier, Butler or Creighton in the top 25 is essential too.

The Big Ten will have very little impact on us. Our destiny is in our teams hands.

[GGGG]

The Big Ten tournament is doing just fine.  Last I saw the numbers, it is the most watched of all conference tournaments.  In 2013, each of its semifinals outdrew the BE Championship and its Championship had twice the audience of the ACC's. 

[The Equalizer]

What discussion here about keeping the Big East Tournament in MSG? I'm not aware of any suggestion here - or elsewhere - that the BE tournament move to Omaha or Milwaukee .... at least until you just raised it. The discussion here is about the Big ?? holding its tourney occasionally in MSG and how that would somehow damage the BE brand.

The reason there is no discussion about moving the Big East Tournament from MSG is because your idea that venue doesn't matter is wrong. 

And you actually invited the discussion by saying that "The value/level of interest in the tourney is going to be determined almost entirely by the quality of the teams and matchups, not the building in which the games are played."

I'm merely pointing out that for you to truly believe that, then you have to believe that it wouldn't matter if the BET was played in Omaha or Milwaukee.

The discussion here is about the Big ?? holding its tourney occasionally in MSG and how that would somehow damage the BE brand.

That's great for the networks and their announcers, I guess, but I don't see how that's bad for the Big East.

Here's two possibilities for starters:

1. Media has a fixed amount of time to fill. With two major conference hosting back-to-back tournaments in New York for the first time, they will devote air time to the event-driven nature of the "back-to-back-in-NY" story arc.  That leaves less time for everyone else including the Big East.

2. The co-location of the three tournaments in the same city will invite direct comparisons, which are likely be unfavorable to the Big East.  Especially from the A-team reporters from media outlets across the country who are in town to cover the Big Ten and ACC.