MEAC has high hopes

Can Raleigh make good on promises?

Terry Mutakabbir can still remember the call she got years ago from a friend who was attending the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament.

" 'Girl, I'm at Norfolk State, sitting on bleachers,' " said Mutakabbir, president of the North Carolina chapter of Hampton University's alumni association. She could relate to her friend's dismay over the facilities.

Until the late 1980s, the conference of Division I historically black universities held its annual basketball showdown in sweaty college gyms.

The tournament stepped up when it moved to Richmond, with its central arena, coliseum and nearby restaurants.

This week, the tournament moves to Raleigh, a city that may offer an even bigger boost. The city and county officials lured the MEAC with promises of larger crowds, better facilities and a history of recent success.

So, as the conference's 35th annual basketball tournament begins today, MEAC fans and local taxpayers will be watching for signs that Raleigh can deliver on its promise.

"This is an event that really has tremendous growth potential," said Scott Dupree, director of sports marketing at the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Our interest in the MEAC wasn't because of what it was in Richmond, but what we think it can become in Raleigh."

At its peak in Richmond, the MEAC tournament drew about 42,000 fans and had a $3 million to $4 million economic impact.

Raleigh officials are predicting that the 2006 MEAC tournament will draw 50,000 fans and have a $2.5 million economic impact on the area. Both figures have been scaled back since Raleigh announced in June that it would host the MEAC.

Back then, the city based its predictions on information gathered by Richmond officials. Raleigh likes to take a more conservative approach to attendance and economic impact forecasting, Dupree said.

"We feel pretty confident that Raleigh is the place where the MEAC is going to come into its own," Mayor Charles Meeker said.

A 'destination' city

A city that grows tournaments has to have top-tier athletic facilities and ample hotels, restaurants and entertainment to keep tournament-goers busy when the games are over, said Jonathan Casper, an associate professor of sports marketing, recreation and tourism at N.C. State University.

A tournament is most likely to thrive, Casper said, in a "destination city," where there's more to draw people than just a week of sports. In North Carolina, the beach and the mountains are considered the places to visit.

But Raleigh has a track record of growing sporting events, said Dupree, who wrote Raleigh's bid.

When the National Hockey League drew 16,000 to 17,000 people to its June 2004 draft at the RBC Center, it was the largest draft-day crowd in league history, Dupree said. The 2004 NCAA first- and second-round tournament competition was so well attended that Raleigh has been awarded the same event for 2008.

And then, of course, there is the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

The tournament was lured away last year by Charlotte and its relatively tight ring of downtown hotels, restaurants, a professional basketball arena and a convention center.

In its pitch to host the MEAC, Raleigh and Wake County didn't just allude to the CIAA's growth in the capital city; a section was dedicated to it.

When the CIAA tournament moved to Raleigh in 2000, its largest audience had been the 42,111 it drew a year earlier in Winston-Salem. By the time the tournament left Raleigh, overall attendance had jumped to 110,028. In its final year in Raleigh, the CIAA had a $12 million economic impact.