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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
They’re back.
Dozens of college basketball teams from campuses like Gonzaga, Oregon, Long Beach State and San Diego to Colorado State, Wyoming, Boise State and Hawaii have landed in Las Vegas to play in no less than five college basketball conference tournaments that will send the tourney’s champs to the NCAA college hoops tournament.
With a bracket spot in the NCAA’s Big Dance at stake, men and women college basketball players will be playing with every last ounce of effort. For many, these basketball games in Las Vegas will be their last games of their college hoops careers.
March Madness in Las Vegas comes with a public price, though.
Las Vegas Events, the LVCVA’s nonprofit events arm, is paying $500,000 in tourism sponsorship money to the Pac-12 Conference, while Las Vegas Events is paying $300,000 to the West Coast Conference (Gonzaga/St. Mary’s Conference) and another $300,000 to the Mountain West Conference (UNLV’s conference).
The Big West Conference, which held the first sports event ever at The Dollar Loan Center arena in Henderson a year ago, was shut out from the sponsorship dollars.
West Coast Commissioner Dan Butterly, who has worked for the Mountain West Conference, said he is hopeful Las Vegas Events will have tourism sponsorship resources available in 2024.
“We continue to look at that and follow up with Dan Butterly,” Las Vegas Events spokesman Michael Mack said of the Big West Conference’s request for sponsorship dollars.
The other conference that also receives no sponsorship dollars from Las Vegas Events is the WAC, the Western Athletic Conference, which, like the West Coast Conference, plays its tourney games at the Orleans Arena.
The Pac-12 plays at T-Mobile Arena (men’s tourney) and Mandalay Bay’s Michelob Ultra Arena (women’s tourney). T-Mobile Arena is home of the NHL Vegas Golden Knights, which flew to Florida to start a five-game road trip with games in South Florida Tuesday and Tampa Thursday.
The Mountain West Conference takes over the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV’s home arena that gets neutralized with UNLV logos covered up and a different floor in the venue.
The Big West plays way off the Strip at The Dollar Loan Center in Green Valley Ranch, a suburban setting that includes the District shopping area off the 215 beltway in Henderson. Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley built the all-purpose, 6,000-seat arena and his Foley sports group runs the venue. The $84 million arena is officially owned by the city of Henderson. Foley and the city each paid $42 million for the arena.
“This is Henderson’s tournament,” Butterly said. “Henderson is the Big West championship city.”
Butterly noted the Big West is paying less to rent the arena in Henderson than it would other arenas like Thomas & Mack. He recalled the Foley sports management team pitching the Big West on staging its tournament at the arena back when the venue was under construction.
In college hoops news Monday:
The West Coast Conference named Stu Jackson from the Big East as its new commissioner, replacing Gloria Nevarez, who became the commissioner of the Mountain West.
The UNLV women’s basketball team wiped out Nevada at Reno by a lopsided score of 84-47.
At Mountain West, women single season tickets are $25 general admission. Also buy one adult ticket and get three kids tickets free (12 and under). Men’s single session lower bowl tickets are $60 for first round, $65 for quarterfinals and $75 for semifinals and championship game. Upper bowl tix are $40 first round, $45 quarters and $50 for semis and final.
At Big West, two-game women’s session is $15 and men’s games are $30.
In the WCC tonight, Saint Mary’s defeated BYU and Gonzaga took care of business with a win over the San Francisco Dons
As usual, Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga will play for the WCC tournament championship in Las Vegas Tuesday night.