By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Fans of college basketball powerhouse Gonzaga typically make Orleans Arena Spokane South for a week in mid-March during the West Coast Conference hoops tournament.
But not this year.
The WCC said no fans will be allowed to attend the West Coast tourney at Orleans Arena.
Same for the Mountain West Conference tournament at Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.
And no general public fans at Pac-12 college basketball tournament games at T-Mobile Arena. Though, players’ family members can attend the games.
The Big West will also have no fans at its conference tournament at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, now called Michelob Ultra Arena under a new naming rights deal.
“This decision was made in the interest of protecting our teams in their pursuit of the NCAA Tournament and honoring the sacrifices they’ve made to get to this point,” Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly said. “Our families and fans are an important part of what makes Big West basketball so special but, after much deliberation, there was unanimous support for this course of action. We encourage everyone with a rooting interest in the Big West to download the digital game program and follow the action on the ESPN networks.”
As Las Vegas eases Vegas Golden Knights and NASCAR fans back into sports venues like T-Mobile Arena and Las Vegas Motor Speedway amid loosening COVID-19 restrictions for March, arenas hosting college basketball conference tournaments are still off-limits to general fans.
Gonzaga Bulldog fans are famous for traveling to Las Vegas for the WCC tourney at Orleans Arena. They typically pack the venue.
The positivity rates for the novel coronavirus are dropping in Nevada and the Las Vegas area. So under Gov. Steve Sisolak’s directive, the Golden Knights and Las Vegas Motor Speedway are selling limited capacity tickets for events in March.
But the Pac-12, Mountain West, WCC and Big West college basketball tourneys will have no fans, which is a big hit financially to the Las Vegas hotel business and the hotel room tax coffers.
For example, the Gonzaga fans usually mean room buys at Orleans Arena. But not this year.
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