OT: Great Alaska Shootout

[Frozen]

Kind of sad to see how far this once-elite tournament has fallen. This year's field, besides host Alaska-Anchorage, includes Cal Poly, Cal State-Bakersfield, Central Michigan, College of Charleston, Idaho, Sam Houston State and Santa Clara. Blechh.

 

[CuseTroop]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm not sure when they'll hit a big anniversary (I guess I could google it) but maybe one day they will bring in the big boys for a 20th anniversary tourny or something. Idk.

Since there's no "destination tourny" this year (I refuse to count Kansas @Miami as a destination tourny), I'm kind of thinking about heading to Anchorage to check it out.

 

[longtimefan]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm not sure when they'll hit a big anniversary (I guess I could google it) but maybe one day they will bring in the big boys for a 20th anniversary tourny or something. Idk.

Since there's no "destination tourny" this year (I refuse to count Kansas @Miami as a destination tourny), I'm kind of thinking about heading to Anchorage to check it out.

And miss the opportunity to fly 4000+ miles?

 

[SUfanNC]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm not sure when they'll hit a big anniversary (I guess I could google it) but maybe one day they will bring in the big boys for a 20th anniversary tourny or something. Idk.

Since there's no "destination tourny" this year (I refuse to count Kansas @Miami as a destination tourny), I'm kind of thinking about heading to Anchorage to check it out.

1978 is when it looks to have started. It looks to fall off about 2008 not really sure why. There are a couple of names you will see after but no one like some of the past teams. I wonder why the fall off unless it was logistics? Curious

 

[longtimefan]

1978 is when it looks to have started. It looks to fall off about 2008 not really sure why. There are a couple of names you will see after but no one like some of the past teams. I wonder why the fall off unless it was logistics? Curious

I think Alaska went down when all of the new, warm-weather, same time zone, tournaments popped up. Atlantis, Puerto Rico, Orlando, etc.

 

[Eric15]

It looks to fall off about 2008 not really sure why.

That's when the economy crashed, so perhaps colleges had to cut down on travel costs due to tighter budgets. But then again, the Maui tourney is fine, so who knows.

 

[Waltdods]

That's when the economy crashed, so perhaps colleges had to cut down on travel costs due to tighter budgets. But then again, the Maui tourney is fine, so who knows.

There's a pretty interesting history here.

Both the rise and fall of the Great Alaska Shootout are more or less direct results of NCAA rules. Both it and Maui developed out of NCAA rules designed to encourage schools to travel to play schools outside the mainland U.S. Originally, these games were exempt - they didn't count against the maximum number of games a team could play. These exempt games over time expanded from Alaska/Maui to a dozen or so other tournaments, but they were tightly limited. In the late 90s, the NCAA adopted a rule barring a school from playing in an exempt tournament more than twice every four years. The complex rules around exempt tournaments were challenged in court, and eventually significantly revised starting in 2006. The 2006 amendments majorly relaxed what a tournament needed to do to get teams relief from the number of games limitation. This led to the creation of all sorts of tournaments that aren't really tournaments (where the big-time schools advance even if they lose). It's a heck of a lot easier for a team to travel to the Barclays Center than Anchorage, so that's what teams are doing.

(You probably don't see the quality dipping for a couple years because teams were committed before the rules change and it took a bit of time for the new market to shake out.)

 

[Briancuse]

I think Alaska went down when all of the new, warm-weather, same time zone, tournaments popped up. Atlantis, Puerto Rico, Orlando, etc.

Those tournaments killed the Alaskan shootout, it used to be just that and Maui so you would get big schools,now who wants to go to Alaska when you can go to Atlantis or Orlando?

 

[Frozen]

It went downhill when ESPN stopped covering the tournament. ESPN doesn't just broadcast a lot of these tournaments; they own them.

 

[Frozen]

Great Alaska Shootout enters 39th year, but a 40th isn’t guaranteed

...ESPN’s decision following the 2007 tournament to part ways with the Great Alaska Shootout has made recruiting teams difficult, despite the Shootout’s current national television contract with the CBS Sports Network.

“We have to pay a guarantee to get teams here, and they range from $40,000-70,000, depending on distance and quality,” Hackett said. “So yeah, we have to pay, but by comparison, other tournaments are paying $150,000 or $200,000 to teams to come.”

 

[AlaskaSU]

due to current rules there are now 42 pre-season tournaments. Without ESPN the Shootout brings in $450,000 in revenue. Costs come to $775,000. This might be their last gasp.

 

[CuseTroop]

And miss the opportunity to fly 4000+ miles?

Traveling to these games keeps me at MVP for the Alaska Air millage program, so I don't complain about the distance all that much. I had planned on hitting this game, but an unexpected trip home in May, taking time off while my little brother is here next month, and the LSU trip, might eat up all my time off. I'll calculate how much time I have around October, and make the call then.

Even though our PFD is supposed to be cut in half this year, it should still cover airfare to Miami and back and a game ticket. Might need a floor to sleep on tho

 

[CuseTroop]

due to current rules there are now 42 pre-season tournaments. Without ESPN the Shootout brings in $450,000 in revenue. Costs come to $775,000. This might be their last gasp.

They have that brand new arena down there too... Such a shame.

They should have built it here in Fairbanks, we could have filled it with Nanook and Ice Dog hockey.

 

[Hoo's That]

In addition to the NCAA limitations, the conferences also stepped in as well. The ACC, for one, has set up a rotation to spread out the chance to play in Atlantis, Maui, etc., over the whole conference and not just for the two blues. I think it would be smart for the conference to put an official version of the year-by-year participation chart on their website.