State Tournament leaving Columbus?

UD Arena is an awesome venue. Sits directly on I-75 and is no more than 10-15 minutes south from I-70. Plenty of on-site parking. Hotels directly across the street from the venue and many restaurants within a 5-10 minute drive. Lower bowl seating is as good as it gets anywhere and they have hosted numerous NCAA regionals in addition to the many HS tourney games.
 
UD Arena has already hosted the Boys Final 4 in 1986 and 1987 and has hosted more NCAA Tourney games than any other venue--UD will do a great job and it's an excellent place to watch a basketball game---even in the 300/400 level its a good view. I have been fortunate to coach in 4 district games and 1 regional game at UD and always felt it was an excellent facility for players and fans. I do prefer Columbus as a final 4 site just because from all parts of the state it's not a long drive to reach the arena. Of course SW Ohio teams and fans have had to drive 3-4 hours for the football championships for years and there doesn't seem to be an "outrage" about the distance those folks are required to go compared to teams playing in NE or Central Ohio---In my opinion a sports championship played in SW Ohio makes sense when its at a top-notch facility like UD Arena and is at an affordable cost for OHSAA---my recollection from 86/87 was that people liked UD, but still preferred going to St. John Arena because that's what they were used to at the time.
We'll see how St. John Arena works next year and maybe it will turn out to still be a good experience!!
 
This is a done deal already. It has already been announced in coaching circles. As long as things align with the NCAA first four the girls and boys state tournaments will both be in Dayton.
 
SMARTY22 said:
Fifth Third Arena has enough parking around for UC Football,Basketball and FC Cincinnati Games but not a High School State Tournament? You have any clue what your talking about?
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It honestly doesn't have parking for those college events either. There are some parking garages, but they don't hold much. The majority of parking at UC is on street parking throughout Clifton. So as someone sarcastically asked "how people get to the games, walk?" the answer is, yes lol. Parking at UC is like parking at Akron, though I'll actually give Akron credit for having more parking garage space, maybe even twice as much.
 
The Dock said:
My guess is in the absence of prominent Ohio State figures advocating for the school to try and get football + basketball finals held at the school every year, tOSU won't see a visibly strong relationship with the OHSAA (read: hosting football + basketball) as a priority. When it comes to the hosting arrangements: I don't claim to know much of the story, but you can't make someone dance with you. And if you have to force someone or guilt them into dancing with you, then there's no heart, shared interest or engagement in the dance for either party. Such I presume to be the case with OHSAA + Ohio State. Ohio State has a good idea of how they want to utilize their facilities in future planning, and evidently the OHSAA isn't #1 on the list.

But is it a rocky state of affairs? Probably not. There's no doubt the people from the OHSAA and Ohio State are professionals looking out for their organizations, and they likely are cordial and respectful with each other. The OHSAA understands to accept "no" for an answer.

Unless Ryan Day and Chris Holtmann start advocating and fighting for Ohio State to host OHSAA state finals in football and basketball, Ohio State doesn't have anyone in their walls calling on them to answer the bell.
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That is a good point. But I know Urban was pushing for the football finals to be at OSU but it never really happened consistently. Part of the problem might be with needing the stadium for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You would have to close off the stadium parking lot etc. I also think Stark County throws in some extra perks with their deal and OSU is not that interested. Oh well, no biggie. but I would think they would take into account the distance and location of the schools for the finals. Winton Woods playing Hoban on Thursday night really made no sense in terms of attracting general SWO fans to see WW play. UD is a very nice facility and if SWO teams have to travel for football, NEO teams traveling for basketball seems like a fair trade to me.
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
That is a good point. But I know Urban was pushing for the football finals to be at OSU but it never really happened consistently. Part of the problem might be with needing the stadium for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You would have to close off the stadium parking lot etc. I also think Stark County throws in some extra perks with their deal and OSU is not that interested. Oh well, no biggie. but I would think they would take into account the distance and location of the schools for the finals. Winton Woods playing Hoban on Thursday night really made no sense in terms of attracting general SWO fans to see WW play. UD is a very nice facility and if SWO teams have to travel for football, NEO teams traveling for basketball seems like a fair trade to me.
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agreed. while Columbus is ideal for all sports, Dayton and Canton are probably your next two best "central" options (although both are not exactly central, they're not in a corner of the state). both off of major highways which is the big thing.
 
From what I've heard, Ohio State's biggest problem is losing parking space on Thursday regardless of which tournament is involved (GBK, BBK, WR, or FB). Friday parking is an issue, but not as big as Thursday since that is a busier day on the campus.
 
bucksman said:
From what I've heard, Ohio State's biggest problem is losing parking space on Thursday regardless of which tournament is involved (GBK, BBK, WR, or FB). Friday parking is an issue, but not as big as Thursday since that is a busier day on the campus.
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That is what I remember from my days walking across the parking lot from the Morrill Tower.
 
PA has historically had their basketball and football games in Hershey which is actually more towards the Eastern part of the state. A while back they decided to move the championships to Penn St, which is more centrally located. That didn't last long. I think it was only a handful of years before they went back to Hershey. I'm not sure what brought it back, but I'm gonna guess that trying to do it on a college campus brought all of the same challenges you all are bringing up here.
 
Philly_Cat said:
PA has historically had their basketball and football games in Hershey which is actually more towards the Eastern part of the state. A while back they decided to move the championships to Penn St, which is more centrally located. That didn't last long. I think it was only a handful of years before they went back to Hershey. I'm not sure what brought it back, but I'm gonna guess that trying to do it on a college campus brought all of the same challenges you all are bringing up here.
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Plus, it's Hershey goodness sake. Who wouldn't want to have an excuse to go visit the home of chocolate in America!!!
 
BASESWIMPARENT said:
Plus, it's Hershey goodness sake. Who wouldn't want to have an excuse to go visit the home of chocolate in America!!!
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I can't lie, for literally being in the middle of nowhere, it's actually a great location for the tournament. Pretty much every issue people have brought up here about being at OSU, and even other locations, is nonexistent at Hershey.

And it's literally at an amusement park.
 
OSU has to reserve their facilities now for Big Ten hockey and NCAA women's tournaments, eliminating two weekends. Wrestling has to be at the Schott due to floor space. Boys bball likely moves to Dayton after 2021.
 
Geez, everyone in Ohio wants the football games in Canton - I guess the mileage is less if you're driving north, right? :)

Seriously - I think tOSU is

- a/ tired of being played off against other sites for money-losing events,
- b/ is going to have their hands full with keeping their own house in order. The Athletlic Department has reamed the fans to the point where many fans don't even consider in-person attendance, and with declining sports attendance, skyrocketing coaching salaries, and with the players now getting a cut, the AD staff has to consider abandoning charity cases like the OSHAA.
 
Philly_Cat said:
I'm not a fan of Wright St's arena. With how the seats flare out you feel like you're a million miles away even in the lower bowl. Dayton has a similar feel I don't care for, but Wright feels worse. On the flip side, I love Xavier. You can be in the upper tier and still feel like your on top of the action. I think lighting plays a part as well. Xavier feels the brightest of the 3 while Wright St feels like a dungeon to me.
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Dayton is the best, WSU sucks, and Xavier is worse than that.....

Dayton is right off the high way, easy to get to and is one of the top basketball arena's in the country. If your team makes state then travel should not be an issue.
 
vamp2syd said:
Dayton is the best, WSU sucks, and Xavier is worse than that.....

Dayton is right off the high way, easy to get to and is one of the top basketball arena's in the country. If your team makes state then travel should not be an issue.
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How exactly does Cintas suck?
 
SMARTY22 said:
Fifth Third Arena has enough parking around for UC Football,Basketball and FC Cincinnati Games but not a High School State Tournament? You have any clue what your talking about?
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So they can’t handle 7-8 thousand people on average ?
 
vamp2syd said:
Dayton is the best, WSU sucks, and Xavier is worse than that.....

Dayton is right off the high way, easy to get to and is one of the top basketball arena's in the country. If your team makes state then travel should not be an issue.
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I think football and basketball finals should do like they do throughout the early part of the tournaments/playoffs. Regionalize the last week for better attendance. Have a site in Columbus/Cincinnati/Cleveland areas that have 20,000 for football and 10,000 for basketball. Might be a scheduling nightmare, but Columbus is ideal for most schools at smaller venues then they currently have. Now take your shots ?
 
1 time said:
I think football and basketball finals should do like they do throughout the early part of the tournaments/playoffs. Regionalize the last week for better attendance. Have a site in Columbus/Cincinnati/Cleveland areas that have 20,000 for football and 10,000 for basketball. Might be a scheduling nightmare, but Columbus is ideal for most schools at smaller venues then they currently have. Now take your shots ?
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Cost prohibitive
 
I will agree about getting to the Cintas Ctr is difficult but I think the seating is tremendous. Accessible to all areas and great sightlines.
Parking at any UC venue is dificult. Went to a HS football game there a few years back and had to park over by Bogarts. Summer games at the baseball stadium are easy to get to as well as the HS regionals as most sudents are off campus by then.
 
How about regionalization the final four and rotating it. Northwest/ Toledo-Bowling Green one year then Northeast/Cleveland Akron the next year. Then Southwest/ Dayton Cincy. And Southeast/ Athens. .just a thought. All these places Have big enough arenas to host the final four
 
I kind of like that idea, but there aren't any facilities large enough to host this event in the NW part of the state IMO.

BGSU can provide a tremendous district/regional atmosphere, but seats under 4,500. UT seats a little over 7,000 and the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo seats about 8,000.
 
Tallone said:
How about regionalization the final four and rotating it. Northwest/ Toledo-Bowling Green one year then Northeast/Cleveland Akron the next year. Then Southwest/ Dayton Cincy. And Southeast/ Athens. .just a thought. All these places Have big enough arenas to host the final four
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I understand your point and it would be equitable for everyone if a rotation system could be implemented. A few problems though. Toledo/BG while accessible, probably don't have big enough arenas. Athens is just too far out of the way for people from the NW, NE and SW (I'd still go, the beer in Athens is just as cold as the rest of the state). The SW has UC, Cintas and UD, with UD being the best option for the rest of the state due to location. The NE has 2 arenas that are options, both in downtown Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and CSU) and accessible from 77, 71 and the turnpike. Akron is not an option as the JAR only seats 5,500.
So we're really only left with the NE and the SW.
Also, will people from Cinci want to drive all the way to Cle and will people from Cle want to drive all the way to Cin. Long hauls for both and in an age of dwindling attendances, probably not the best. So if the games can't be played at Nationwide in C-bus, Dayton appears to be the best option.
Just my opinion.
 
You only need 15,000 at the most for football and 7-8 thousand for basketball. The good old days are done.
 
The D4 state finals got almost 8,000 last year for Harvest Prep and Lutheran East who collectively have almost no following. Attendance is bad and trending down, but it's not bad enough to put the games in small arenas.

At least with UD the lower bowl provides a more intimate atmosphere for the inevitable matchups between D3 and D4 privates while having the additional upper tier seating to accommodate the schools that will travel and push the attendance towards 10,000 for the championship games. If not in Columbus, it is the least bad option ala Canton for football.
 
UD is a pretty nice arena. Seems like Ohsaa is having ego issues with the colleges. Ohio University is having issues with Ohsaa
 
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