It appears the Mountain West Conference basketball tournament is headed back to Las Vegas starting in 2007, but don’t look for the state high school tournament to return to the Pepsi Center anytime soon.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday that the conference and Las Vegas were about to sign a $500,000, five-year contract to bring the tournament back. The tournament has been held in Denver the past two years and will be held there again next spring.
Pepsi Center general manager Dave Jolette all but acknowledged the tournament is leaving Denver.
“We know Las Vegas is a huge attraction and there’s an increased financial opportunity (for the league) in Las Vegas. We can’t match it because they are Vegas and have things that generate money we don’t have. If Las Vegas secures the tournament, we wish them well. We hope it’s successful.”
The Pepsi Center has already sent out feelers to the Colorado High School Activities Association about returning the state tournaments to Denver. The Class 5A and 4A tournaments moved to Boulder when the MWC tournament came to Denver in 2003.
CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said the association has reserved dates at the University of Colorado for 10 years out. “At this point, there are no plans for a change,” he said.
The official announcement of the move could come as soon as next Thursday’s MWC media day in Salt Lake City. League presidents need to vote to finalize the deal.
The MWC Tournament was held in Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Center from 2000-2003. Coaches, however, wanted a neutral site. Although the Pepsi Center drew raves from coaches and players the past two years, attendance was sparse. The ’04 title game between Utah and UNLV drew only 6,526 compared with the UNLV-Colorado State final night crowd of 13,942 in Las Vegas the previous year.
Denver Post sports writer Neil Devlin contributed to this report.
