Iowa State officials offer $1.1 million to host wrestling and $135,000 for basketball.
By TOM WITOSKY
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
Iowa State athletic officials jumped hard at becoming the host school for NCAA championship events held at the Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines, but there could be some financial risk for the department.
Cyclone officials and local civic leaders recently gave their pitch to the NCAA wrestling committee in hopes of landing one of the lucrative Division I championship events in 2009, 2010 or 2011.
Iowa State officials offered a $1.1 million guarantee based on projected ticket revenues of $1.9 million or an average of more than 14,000 fans per session. Des Moines – given the intense following of the state high school wrestling tournament as well as Iowa and Iowa State’s traditionally strong programs – looks to have a good shot at landing it.
But that wasn’t enough for Cyclone athletic officials. They also want to host the first two rounds of the 2008 NCAA Division women’s basketball championships and have offered a $135,000 guarantee for that.
But if recent past performance is any indication, that guarantee is a lot riskier than the $1.1 million offered for the wrestling tournament.
Here’s why: In 2004, Iowa State officials had to pay the NCAA $82,479.99 to make up for the lack of ticket sales when the school hosted the West Regional for the women’s tournament at Hilton Coliseum, school records show.
That took place at virtually the same time Iowa State hosted several men’s and women’s National Invitation Tournament games. That cost the school $71,996.
School records show that the 2004 regional, which featured Purdue, Mississippi, Villanova and St. Francis, drew only 4,382 fans. School officials had projected 15,180 when they submitted their bid proposal.
Callie Sanders, associate Iowa State athletic director, said the recent change to eight team groupings for first- and second-round games as well as slotting teams locally when possible should alleviate concern about ticket sales.
“Attendance for the women’s tournament is growing annually for every round and eight teams will bring a lot of fans, “she said.
Sanders acknowledged that the lack of a local team in 2004 curtailed attendance dramatically and could hurt again under certain circumstances.
“Fans love their team right now more than they love the game, “she said. “Still, we think that is changing.”
Sanders also said that Cyclone officials agreed to ask the NCAA wrestling committee to consider Des Moines only for 2009, 2010 and 2011 for that purpose. Originally, Iowa State had said it would be willing to host the 2008 wrestling championships.
“We changed it so that there would not be any competition between our bids, “Sanders said. “This is a great opportunity for the Des Moines area and for us.”
Iowa State should learn next month about both bids.
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