SPRINGFIELD - The Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic is moving from Springfield's MassMutual Center to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., taking with it a much-needed opportunity to draw people to downtown Springfield.
"Any time there is an event at the MassMutual Center it brings increased business," said Keith P. Makarowski, co-owner of JT's Sports Pub and Theodores', both
A disappointed Paul C. Picknelly, president of the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel, said tournament organizers failed to reach out to either the local business community or to the downtown Business Improvement District, where Picknelly serves on the board.
"Springfield is the birthplace of basketball," Picknelly said. "The first tournament of the year should be held in Springfield."
Economics and a scheduling conflict with the MassMutual Center for the desired dates - the weekend of Nov. 19 and 20 - spurred the move, according to Hall of Fame president and CEO John L. Doleva.
"Financially, it made more sense for the Hall of Fame, and secondly, the dates for the MassMutual Center were not available," Doleva said in a telephone interview from the West coast. "Economics have a lot to do with everything."
According to MassMutual Center officials, the Market America Northeast Regional Conference will utilize the main arena and other portions of the facility Nov. 17-20. They said the conference has attracted between 5,000 and 6,000 people to downtown Springfield in the past.
The Tip-Off Classic was held in Springfield from 1979 to 2005, a successful college basketball game and event for both the shrine and the city. That ended when the event could not secure exempted status from the NCAA, meaning teams could schedule the game without it counting against their regular schedule.
The Hall of Fame brought the Tip-Off back in November, but the format - featuring on-campus games as well as Division II and III games - and ticket pricing led to very low fan turnout.
A game between the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and New Mexico State drew just 2,274 fans. Overall, the event drew 4,842 fans over three days, well short of the 12,000 people organizers had predicted. Basketball capacity for the MassMutual Center is listed at 6,679.
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