Future National Locations - Same Old Story

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

There are many locations/venues that can't host the National for one reason or another:

Some venues are too small and/or don't have enough hotel rooms
Some venues are not convenient to airports
Some venues/cities the union stuff too expensive and/or other legal issues
Some venues charge too much for having events in their building
Some venues/cities are not good baseball and/or sports towns
Some venues don't want it scheduled too far in the future.
etc,... etc,... etc,...

After all of this analysis, it turns out Chicago (and Cleveland before the IX closed) were the only two cities that check all the boxes with the National committee and this is why they were alternating between these two. Now, since the IX reopened, Cleveland may or may not become a regular venue for the show. And, Atlantic City may or may not also be in the discussion. We shall see.

I believe Tampa would check all the boxes, with the possible exceptions of the first and last. The convention center only has 200K-300K sqft. And the Riverwalk area of downtown is amazing now.

[sb1]

The one item that is the most important factor is the facility cost. They are in this business to make money and that weighs head shoulders above the other factors, all of which also have a part in the decision where to hold the event.

Many of the locations mentioned are cities with first class facilities, but odds are, they want to make good money off their facility.

[Frank A]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

There are many locations/venues that can't host the National for one reason or another:

Some venues are too small and/or don't have enough hotel rooms
Some venues are not convenient to airports
Some venues/cities the union stuff too expensive and/or other legal issues
Some venues charge too much for having events in their building
Some venues/cities are not good baseball and/or sports towns
Some venues don't want it scheduled too far in the future.
etc,... etc,... etc,...

After all of this analysis, it turns out Chicago (and Cleveland before the IX closed) were the only two cities that check all the boxes with the National committee and this is why they were alternating between these two. Now, since the IX reopened, Cleveland may or may not become a regular venue for the show. And, Atlantic City may or may not also be in the discussion. We shall see.

What? Do you work for the National committee. What a bunch of bullshit. There are places all over the country that can host a national quite nicely.

[sb1]

See post above...........

[Jewish-collector]

Originally Posted by Frank A

What? Do you work for the National committee. What a bunch of bullshit. There are places all over the country that can host a national quite nicely.

This is what they have always claimed. I don't agree with them.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by chriskim

Vegas Baby!

Not opposed to Vegas, but wouldn't be surprised if the dealers were against it. They want attendees spending money with them at the show, not in casinos all day and night losing money. Plus, not sure the costs will be very inexpensive for dealers getting in and out.

[egri]

Originally Posted by BobC

Not opposed to Vegas, but wouldn't be surprised if the dealers were against it. They want attendees spending money with them at the show, not in casinos all day and night losing money. Plus, not sure the costs will be very inexpensive for dealers getting in and out.

Couldn’t the same be said about Atlantic City?

[Vintagedeputy]

I live in Richmond, Va. and spend a lot of time in Virginia Beach, Va.

Both locations have convention centers, plenty of hotels, close-by airports, major highways, minor league baseball, and many non-sports activities for the whole family.

The National needs to spread out: Richmond, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Raleigh, Tampa, Denver, etc. Hit the cities that are not Chicago, Detroit, etc.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by egri

Couldn’t the same be said about Atlantic City?

Yes, to an extent, but the gambling scene there isn't as prevalent and as well liked as in Vegas anymore. Plus, it is East coast, which is more accessible for a lot of the dealers that attend. Driving/flying inventory all the way to Vegas isn't cheap I'm guessing either. They also have the boardwalk and ocean, so if anyone comes with family and friends, they have something else to occupy their time, not mainly gambling and casinos. And don't forget, Vegas is exceedingly hot that time of the year.

From what I got from those re-posted remarks in the earlier post #68, the dealers have much more say in the location selection than many would think. And assuming the dealers are pretty consistent from year to year, seems to me that to get some more serious consideration for any of these new locations everyone's touting, the trick to doing so may be to replace more East coast/Midwest US dealers with attending dealers from different parts of the country. But if you add say five such new dealers, and they're from Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, and LA, they are all over the place and very unlikely to get together to vote for one their own cities/areas as a bloc.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by todeen

Although there is no MLB team, Spokane WA has the logistics to hold the National. We have major events here every year: Hoopfest 3 on 3 tournament, Bloomsday race, and tons of other events. Look up how many people attend Hoopfest (24k players) and Bloomsday (30k to 40k runners). Everything is walking distance downtown, and Riverfront Park and mall is a nice distraction. The Davenport Collection of hotels is top notch. Organizers could choose to hold the show in the convention center or the arena, both of which are walking distance to local hotels. And most hotels have shuttles to and from the airport, and to and from the convention center if someone doesn't want to walk. And if you want a beach day, Coeur d'Alene is 30 minutes drive away. CDA is gorgeous in the summertime.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

The venue for the 2021 National - the Donald E. Stephenson Convention Center - is 840,000 sq ft. The Spokane Convention Center is 120,000. And the Spokane Arena is even smaller (32,000 on the floor).

And, unfortunately, after you get past the Davenport hotels, there's not a ton of great options.

I don't think Spokane would be a great fit at all. I'd love it to happen, though, since I live there!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Tabe

The venue for the 2021 National - the Donald E. Stephenson Convention Center - is 840,000 sq ft. The Spokane Convention Center is 120,000. And the Spokane Arena is even smaller (32,000 on the floor).

And, unfortunately, after you get past the Davenport hotels, there's not a ton of great options.

I don't think Spokane would be a great fit at all. I'd love it to happen, though, since I live there!

Pfffft........that's nothing. Cleveland's IX Center is over 2,2 million square feet. And there are multiple floors below ground. That along with its huge surrounding parking lot, freeway access, and literally being at the end of the Cleveland Hopkins Airport runway, pretty much makes its logistics unrivaled by any other convention center I've ever heard of. What it lacks though is all the hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. being crammed all around it, within walking distance. Some would say that is a good thing as it doesn't distract and lure attendees away to other things. Others would say it's a bad thing because some people won't attend due to all those other amenities/distractions not being within walking distance.

Truth is, there is tons to do and see in and around Cleveland and the IX Center, but you really need a car. And unlike most major cities, Cleveland doesn't have anything near the traffic congestion of other cities, like Chicago. You can easily get to where you want, just have to know where you're going. And I'm pretty sure accommodations in Cleveland are more reasonable than say Chicago. The savings can easily go towards a rental car. But for those that just want a shuttle from the airport to their hotel, and can then just walk back and forth to the National, I can understand why they don't care much for Cleveland.

I know a new group came along, as I expected, to reopen the IX Center, but to my knowledge there's been no actual confirmation of booking a specific future date for holding another National there, at least not yet, correct?