For the third time in four years, the America East Men’s Basketball Championship will hit Binghamton University, and both campus and the surrounding area are gearing up for the weekend’s festivities.
The tournament, which is set to kick off tonight in the Events Center, will feature nine teams competing over the course of the weekend. The first game will begin tonight at 7; the next four will be quarterfinal games on Saturday; and the final two games will be semifinal games on Sunday.
Campus officials and community members are expecting to see a flood of visitors. BU’s Office of Institutional Research estimates that 16,000 people, 6,000 of whom are out-of-towners, will come to campus this weekend, said University Spokesman Ryan Yarosh.
Yarosh said the tournament is expected to bring in an estimated $4 million to the Broome County economy, and $5 million to the New York State economy.
“We’d like to see this thing packed,” said Eric Backlund, Events Center director. “We’re excited. This is a great event.”
This year the Athletics Department set aside 1,500 student tickets — which are set at $5 — for BU’s game, which is scheduled for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. In 2006 the Department set aside 750 tickets for the BU game, Backlund said.
Ticket sales for the Championship reached nearly 16,000 in 2005, and more than 13,000 in 2006, according to Jason Siegel, senior associate director of athletics.
“This is the fourth time we’ve hosted,” Siegel said. “We’re feeling like we’re in good shape. There’s always a surprise or two, but we’ll be prepared.”
Both Siegal and Backlund emphasized the difference between actual attendance and ticket sales, the latter of which doesn’t account for staff, players and other event participants.
“Right now our ticket sales are at 75 percent of what our attendance was for 2006,” Backlund said.
One of the tournament’s vendors, Sodexho, will be providing concession stands for the event, along with additional catering functions. But Bob Griffin, the company’s marketing manager, said preparations will be “business as usual” for the most part.
“It’s not necessarily out of the ordinary because we have busy weekends throughout the year, so this isn’t really very different for us,” Griffin said.
Tourism and Special Events Manager Judi Hess of the Greater Binghamton Convention and Visitors Bureau said the community has the “infrastructure” to handle events like the conference.
“Because we’re a smaller community, events like this take center stage. If you’re a larger city, maybe other events taking place would drain away,” Hess said.
The Bureau provides information on the community for visitors and collaborates with local hotels, among other things, in an effort to help guests feel welcome and encourage future visits to the area.
Yarosh said the out-of-town visitors are expected to spend money for entertainment, dining and lodging. In the past over 125 local hotel rooms were booked, from the ones on Vestal Parkway to Downtown businesses, he added.
But President of the Downtown Business Association Ron Sall said members of his organization were not anticipating a huge surge in business because of the tournament’s location.
“I don’t know what the impact is for Downtown, but I’m sure there will be an impact in Vestal,” Sall said.