The N&R tells us what we already knew —— attendance for this year’s ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum was down.
As a result —- you already know this, too —– profits from concessions and parking were down. Note the interesting quote below:
Community groups also felt the hit as concessions sales from 2006 to 2010 dropped by more than 25 percent, or $224,086. Some profits from those sales go to the volunteer groups working the stands.
“We made a third of what we did last year,” said Dorothy Nichols, president of the Four Seasons Civitan Club, comparing the 2010 tournament to 2006. She said their men’s tournament gross sales in March were about $26,000.
…Nichols put a point on the tournament from her on-the-ground perspective.
“Well, the prices were too high and everybody complains about it, and nobody showed up this year,” she said. The civic group has worked a concessions stand in the coliseum since 1997, she said.
Contrast with the way the media were treated like royalty during the tournament. I don’t see the article posted in the Rhino archives, but Scott Yost seemed almost embarrassed by the way coliseum staff were falling all over him —- and that’s saying something.
Look, I realize the perfect storm hit the tournament this year —- a down economy combined with the fact that Wake, Carolina and State all sucked. But the conference has undergone big changes over the last several years and bigger changes to the national tournament are on their way. And the rumored Big Ten expansion could set in motion another ACC expansion, further weakening the conference brand.
Which in turn means declining interest in the ACC Tournament, which in turn is not good for the coliseum.
