As any University of Kentucky men's basketball fan painfully knows, UK would much rather have played in the "Big Dance," the prestigious NCAA Tournament, than what some derisively refer to the "Not Invited Tournament." UK even admits as much. "Let me make it very clear, we would much rather be competing for the national championship, period," said Rob Mullens, Deputy Director of Athletics at UK. "But playing the cards we were dealt, our staff did a good job of taking this opportunity and making the most of it."
Even before the SEC Tournament was played in early March, UK anticipated it might not be invited to the NCAA Tournament and would have to settle for an NIT bid. So Mullins' staff held a contingency meeting to plan for that eventuality. The staff also worked up a bid to host NIT games. "Your bid becomes your budget," said Mullens. The bid also included a request to host a game Tuesday, March 17 at Memorial Coliseum "to avoid conflicting with the Boys Sweet 16 tournament in town. So what it did was add another night of basketball in Lexington for those in town early for the Sweet 16," explained Mullens.
What made UK's bid perhaps more attractive to NIT officials than other venues was the possibility of playing a men's game, for the first time in 33 years, in historic Memorial Coliseum, the building that helped launch UK's basketball dynasty. "It was another opportunity to showcase Kentucky basketball on TV. It was a national audience on ESPN," said Mullens. "You'd be amazed the number of phone calls and the people who walked up to buy tickets who were excited to see a game in Memorial, given its history. People said they came there when they were ten years old with their father or grandfather and were coming back and bringing a child. There was a buzz."
When the bid was accepted, Mullens' staff rallied. It was "all hands on deck" with everyone helping. "We have an absolutely terrific staff. To see 7,500 tickets sold in 48 hours is incredible. For event management staff to set up, handle traffic, parking, ticket taking and will-call. We have an A+ system," he said proudly.
UK beat UNLV 70-60 in a first round game that saw ESPN showcasing Memorial Coliseum, its history, fans and championship banners on the wall. The ESPN game announcers, including former UK assistant basketball coach Jimmy Dykes, spoke glowingly of UK's storied past.
However, the UK-UNLV game wasn't very profitable for UK. The majority of the net proceeds were returned to the NIT. As a host institution, UK got to keep a 15 percent "honorarium." In 2008, NIT home teams earned an average of $19,195 per game. "What you do get to keep as the home institution is the concession revenue, which wasn't significant," said Mullens. Since Creighton beat Bowling Green in the first round, Creighton, a higher seed than UK, got to host a second round game so it was one and done; the Cats did not return to Lexington to play.
There is no reliable formula available to measure the economic impact on Lexington from this year's NIT visit, said Niki Heichelbech, Media/Communications Manager for the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Since a majority of the crowd was local, there was an impact on restaurants and bars but little additional hotel business. "But it was certainly welcomed. It did have an impact because of the national publicity. We are always delighted to have sporting events like the NCAA, Rolex Three Day Event or Little League baseball. They're all important to Lexington," said Heichelbech.
Memorial Coliseum, the largest arena in the South when it opened in 1950, has hosted the NCAA Tournament ten times, four as a regional site and six as a sub-regional site. Rupp Arena has played host to the NCAA in eleven different years, including the Final Four in 1985. These games drew thousands of rabid fans from around the country. "Any time we can host a national tournament game it's good marketing for Lexington and Central Kentucky," said Rich Hatcher, President of the Lexington Area Sports Authority. Only a small group of UNLV fans attended the NIT game at Memorial. The school did not sell tickets directly to its fans. Hatcher admitted that the economic impact in Lexington was considerably less than it would have been with an NCAA visit "because there was only one visiting team and it was in a smaller arena, about one-third the size of Rupp," he said. "Many fans just drove in and left after."
Rupp Arena is not scheduled for any NCAA games in 2010. It has bids out for games in 2011 and 2012, according to Carl Hall, Director of Arena Management. So the only way Lexington could possibly host another men's basketball tournament game next year is if the Cats return to the NIT, a circumstance that no doubt would infuriate their fans.