By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
The Mountain West Conference has extended its basketball tournament in Las Vegas for one more year, so UNLV, Nevada-Reno, New Mexico, San Diego State and the rest of the league’s hoops teams will be playing their MW tournament at Thomas & Mack Center through 2020.
The Mountain West’s deal with Las Vegas Events was through 2019 — and now there’s one more year. Las Vegas Events, the event promotional arm of the Las Vegas Conventional and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), pays the Mountain West Conference $500,000 a year to stage its basketball tourney in Las Vegas.
Only a day before, the Pac-12 announced its women’s basketball tournament would be moving from Seattle to Las Vegas, while the men’s tourney has extended its stay at T-Mobile Arena one year through 2020. Las Vegas Events also pays the Pac-12 $500,000 to come to Las Vegas. LVSportsBiz.com reported the Pac-12 decision Thursday.
Two miles east of T-Mobile Arena, Thomas & Mack Center has seen small crowds for its Mountain West match-ups.
New Mexico and San Diego State fans traditionally travel well to watch their basketball teams in the MW Conference tourney But there are thousands of empty seats around Thomas & Mack for most games.
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The fact is most of the Mountain West’s basketball teams are not powerhouses and do not carry a national profile, with only two conference teams expected to receive bids to play in the national basketball tournament.
Years ago, the Mountain West Conference hoops tourney was a popular draw for fans around the MW and in Las Vegas.
But the competition for the sports dollar in Las Vegas has become more intense with more conferences staging their tourneys in Vegas, while March is a busy sports month with many sports options in Southern Nevada, from Golden Knights hockey to UFC to even NASCAR at the Las Vegas Speedway.
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It’s all added up to dismal Mountain West tournament crowds at Thomas & Mack this week.
But the conference will be here in Las Vegas at least through 2020. And Saturday’s conference final between San Diego State, which rocked Nevada-Reno, 90-73, and New Mexico, which beat Utah State, 83-68, should be a decent game between MWC teams that have loyal fans who like to travel and follow their squads.
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