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Coming Soon: An NCAA Regional In Las Vegas?

By Derek Helling

March 12, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman celebrates after cutting down the net after the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference tournament against the Utah Utes at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Ducks defeated the Utes 88-57. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 12, 2016; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman celebrates after cutting down the net after the championship game of the Pac-12 Conference tournament against the Utah Utes at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Ducks defeated the Utes 88-57. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Brent Musburger recently advocated for a lift on the NCAA’s ban on championship events in Las Vegas, and the idea is neither crazy nor that far-fetched.

As much as it pains me to agree with a guy who is notoriously misogynistic, the idea doesn’t have that quality to it. In fact, it makes a lot of sense for there to be an NCAA regional in Las Vegas soon.

Consider the four men’s conference basketball tournaments, the three women’s conference basketball tournaments and the college football bowl game that are already played in the city. While the NCAA has no control over where its member conferences play their championship tourneys, they do have some control over where bowl games and its championship events are played.

The Pac-12, which just moved its men’s tournament to the MGM Grand Garden three years ago, has already outgrown that location. The conference will begin holding its tournament in the new 20,000-seat T-Mobile Center in 2017. Matt Youmans reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal that the revenue for the city just from the Pac-12 tourney alone was $10.9 million. Combine that with the bowl game and the other basketball tournaments, and the city’s venues are understandably foaming at the mouth at the idea of a NCAA regional.

It clearly makes financial sense for the city to host NCAA championship events, but what about for the NCAA? That’s almost as clearly a yes.

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President of Las Vegas Events Pat Christenson and Musburger make it clear in their comments in Youmans’ article:

"“It’s not just a gaming destination,” Christenson said. “I think the experience here sets us apart. You can’t really compete with Vegas. I don’t know how the schools, the conferences or the NCAA could ask for more. I don’t think we are proving ourselves. We have proved ourselves.”“If I didn’t have the Big 12 tournament, I would stay right here. This is the capital before March Madness starts. I tell everybody, at least once you have got to come out as a fan and go into those sports books for the first week of the (NCAA) tournament.” – Musburger"

Thus Musburger has brought up the issue that has kept the NCAA out of Las Vegas for so long. Regardless of how realistic it might be, there’s a perception that proximity to legalized sports betting would taint the results of an NCAA championship event played there. There’s a perception that Las Vegas has so many more distractions for players than other sites.

Despite the facts that the NCAA is technically a 501-c3 organization and it markets itself as a student-athlete advocate, its annual men’s basketball championship tournament is a sport entertainment business that generates millions of dollars.

What better place to hold part of that event than the place that knows how to operate sport entertainment better than any other place in the United States of America? Whether or not Las Vegas offers more distractions for players is a matter of opinion and difficult to quantify.

While the proximity to legalized sports betting would theoretically present opportunity for tainted results, such actions would be the responsibility of the individuals undertaking them. It’s up to the administrators, coaches and the players to discipline and educate themselves on the NCAA’s rules about betting on games.

The reality is that the ban being lifted is probably more a matter of when than if. Consider this quote from NCAA President Mark Emmert on the matter:

"“I think the membership is trying to figure out what’s the right way to approach this issue again,” Emmert said at the Intercollegiate Athlete Forum in New York. “Where does the membership want to be in this space? How do you manage what often seems to be a hypocritical stance? Let’s talk about it.”"

Talking about it will involve seeing the dollar signs, and that will eventually outweigh the risk of tainted results for the powers that be in the NCAA. Musburger and all the others who bet on NCAA men’s basketball tournament games are going to get their wish of those games happening just down the strip.

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