The Sun Belt Conference is weighing whether to keep its headquarters in New Orleans, where the league office has been based for roughly two decades, as it searches for a long-term home for its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, according to a report by SportsNOLA.com.
Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said the conference is considering New Orleans along with Atlanta, Orlando, Nashville, Memphis and Birmingham as possible sites for the basketball tournaments and as potential locations for the conference office.
Basketball Tournament Is the Priority
“The priority is finding the right location for our basketball tournament,” Benson said.
Benson said the conference wants a site that is easy for fans to travel to and provides a good experience that will lead to better attendance. With member schools spread from Texas to Florida, he said a central location would be ideal.
The Sun Belt basketball tournaments are under contract in Hot Springs, Ark., through the 2013-14 season. Hot Springs also has a 30-day window after the 2013 tournament to negotiate exclusively with the conference on a new contract.
Attendance at the most recent tournaments was 16,109 for the men’s event and 13,253 for the women’s. Last season’s men’s championship game between Western Kentucky and North Texas drew 4,216.
Atlanta Visit
Benson toured the Gwinnett Arena in suburban Atlanta with members of Georgia State’s athletic department and the Atlanta Sports Council and said he liked the facilities. He described Atlanta’s candidacy as “very, very preliminary.”
Of the cities under consideration, only Atlanta and Nashville have Sun Belt schools in or near them. Georgia State, located in Atlanta, will join the conference in 2013, and longtime member Middle Tennessee is located near Nashville.
New Orleans Ties
The University of New Orleans is no longer a Sun Belt member, but the city keeps a connection to the league through the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, which invites the Sun Belt champion each season.
South Alabama, located in Mobile, competes in the Sun Belt Conference, and its men’s basketball team is coached by Ronnie Arrow.
