Thursday, January 17, 2008

It's official: CIAA is here through 2011

The CIAA will indeed be in Charlotte for another three years.

That came straight from CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry Thursday during a press conference at the Convention Center. Watch the video.

"The next three years it's going to be Charlotte. We're working on that. Will we put it up for bids in the next few years, I don't know, probably... Things you gotta watch for is hotels. We're trying to get great rates from the hotels. Fans drive here, gas is high, you gotta pay tipping, you gotta pay for parking. But the good thing about Charlotte is the new rail system, you can ride in... Sometime in February we'll submit a deal to be in Charlotte through 2011."

Kerry also said ticket sales are going well.

"We still got about 2,000 upper-level seats, 100 box seats... They're still selling tickets at the individual schools. My office has sold over $1 million in tickets already. So ticket sales are ahead of schedule, compared to last year."

Other highlights from the press conference:

- Entertainment will feature gospel great CeCe Winans and rapper Chingy.

- The Steve Harvey Morning Show will return. (Big hit last year).

- Golf tournament at Ballantyne.

- The CIAA's official Web site will show tournament game highlights.

For the complete list of events and dates, go to http://www.ciaatournament.org/

Comments, questions: Post them below. Thanks

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sucks.

I had a bad experience with some hooligans CIAA Basketball Players loitering around uptown before the tournament one year.

Anonymous said...

Wooo Hooo! This is great for the city and great for the conference.

Anonymous said...

This is great for the city and great for the conference.

Anonymous said...

I am really glad to hear that. It is a great event for Charlotte, and with it bring nearly $30 million to the city's economy, everybody wins.

Anonymous said...

Great for the 'AA, Queen City and all concerned. Having the convenience of being able to walk to most of the events is definitely what separates Charlotte from the other venues to date. The only other city that comes close is Richmond.

As an aside, I would repsectfully suggest to the Commissioner's office that they broker a deal with the hotels because the prices are a bit "off the chain".