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Thursday. March 9, 2006
CIAA, city looking to 2007
Kerry
Continued from page 1A
around on foot, by Gold Rush
or take a $5 cab.”
“The main complaint I
heard was parking.” CIAA
Commissioner
Leon Kerry
said “But the
fans are going
to have to coop
erate, too, by
leaving their
cars at the
hotel and tak
ing the (shut
tle). I walked
to the arena every day”
Since this was a new con
cept to longtime CIAA visi
tors. many fell into the famil
iar pattern of driving from
hotels to restaurants and the
arena That’s what hap
pened in Raleigh, the tour
nament’s home before
Oiarlotte, where the RBC
Center is on the outskirts
and driving is essential
With restaurants and clubs
in Center City, officials
hoped fans would walk to
and from the arena.
“IRat was one of the things
that the CIAA liked, but the
fans didn’t take advantage of
it,” Quiim said.
Figures from the Charlotte
Bobcats Arena show that
more than 124,000 fans
attended games last week.
Though a total tally of the
economic impact of the
weeklong event hasn’t been
done yet, officials estimate
that the CIAA left at least
$12 million in Charlotte.
ESPN, which aired tourna
ment games on ESPN2 and
ESPN Classic, saw growth
as well
In an e-mail from Paul
Melvin, assistant manager
for sports communications at
the network, viewership rose
188 percent.
“In 2006, the viewership
was 130,551 households,
compared to 42,255 in 2005,”
he said
Though there won’t been
an official review of the tour
nament procedures until
mid-month, Quinn said edu
cating visitors on parking
and the location of eateries
in Center City is something
that the city will have to
work on for next year.
‘I think when people get
their hotel conformation or
their tickets, they should get
an information sheet telling
them about parking and
restaurants,” Quinn said.
When Center City
Partners and local CIAA
organizers meet to discuss
the tournament, they’re
going to look at areas where
adjustments should be
made.
“We’re happy with the way
(the tournament) went,”
Quinn said.
Mike Kitchen, a Charlotte
party promoter and longtime
CIAA tournament regular,
said Charlotteans don’t seem
used to having so many
celebrities in town.
‘Teople lost their minds
when the heard P. Diddy
(music impresario Sean
Combs) was having a party
here,” he said
Kitchen said his only com
plaint is that fans didn’t
seem to start partying until
lliursday
‘I was out from Mcaiday to
Saturday and I didn’t find a
crowd until Thursday and
that was at the AKA (Alpha
Inflati on
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party,” he said “I know peo
ple get here late, but why
couldn’t the Charlotteans
come out and take advan
tage of the parties?”
Some tournament visitors
are already looking forward
to next year.
North Carolina Central
University graduate Edward
Cook was making plans
Sunday to get a hotel room
in Center City and tickets for
himself and his wife.
‘1 had a wonderful time,
the hospitality was great
and I can't wait to come
back,” he said
Johnson C. Smith
University President
Dorothy C. Yancy said this
year’s tournament was the
best ever.
“The cooperation we
received from the hotels and
the people of Charlotte was
like an all out welcoming
committee,” she said ‘It was
a great community effort.”
Yancy said it would be a
good idea to give visitors
maps of uptown that shows
where restaurants and park
ing lots are as soon as they
arrive
‘It’s nice to have the maps
in the newspaper but people
need something they can put
in their hands,” she said. ‘1
saw a lot of people wander
ing around looking for places
and not knowing where to go
and it was a case of it being
right around the comer.”
(Thariotte has a three-year
deal to host the tournament
through 2008.
The Triangle Tribune con-
Irihuted to this report.
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