Mohegan Sun hopes to make basketball tournament; NCAA target
Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut has strong ties to women's basketball. Mohegan Sun Arena, home to the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, is excited about what the University of Connecticut Huskies have accomplished as they are the women's top team of the past decade. The winningest team in college basketball.
Women’s NCAA Basketball Bid
Given that background, it’s no surprise that Mohegan wants to be involved in women’s college basketball. That's why the casino is preparing a bid to host the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, a major event that will draw large, enthusiastic crowds to the arena.
Recently, USATF agreed to host the 2014 end-of-season championships at Mohegan Sun, giving casinos hope. Although the agreement has not yet been officially signed, AAC coaches and athletic directors agreed to the plan during a meeting.
While it's nice to host a conference tournament, Mohegan Sun knows there's big money to be made in hosting games that are televised on a national stage. Unfortunately, the NCAA doesn’t seem interested in moving the tournament to casinos.
NCAA strongly opposes
"At this time, NCAA policy (regarding casinos) has not changed, so we are unable to consider their regional casino proposal," said NCAA spokesman Rick Nixon.
The NCAA has a strong anti-gambling stance, which was on display during last year's NCAA women's basketball tournament. The Eastern Regional finals were originally scheduled to be played in Trenton, New Jersey, in March, but the NCAA requested a postponement after New Jersey legalized sports betting. Even if the law prohibits betting on college sports events held in New Jersey, that would not be enough for the NCAA to allow championship games to be played in the state.
Mohegan Sun tried to put up money to act as a replacement promoter but was turned down for the same anti-gambling reasons. Casinos had hoped that, since the NCAA did not allow sports betting, they would allow games to be held there.
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Source: www.casino.org
