Horizon League Ready for Motor City Madness

By Mike Lopresti

Introducing Motor City Madness. Catchy name, huh? But now comes the challenging part. May the basketball be compelling, the customers happy, the stands filled and the moody Detroit weather in early March friendly.

Or so go the Horizon League’s best hopes and fondest wishes.

The conference tournament is headed for Detroit and Joe Louis Arena next March. No more on-campus games. No more playing one round hither and the next round yon. All 10 teams, one big-city and bright-light location, one major change in the Horizon League thinking – and its landscape.

"I think it’s going to be extraordinary for our league,’’ commissioner Jon LeCrone said. ``Is it a risk? Sure. But you never can do anything innovative or new without risk, and we’re willing to take the risk.’'

How do LeCrone and the conference at large love this idea? Let us count the ways.

Location. We know what you’re thinking. Detroit? But that rap is growing obsolete. Downtown Detroit is on the move with new commerce and activity. District Detroit is a project that will include blocks and blocks of retail, entertainment, dining, life.

"What’s happening in Detroit is pretty amazing. It’s a complete renaissance in our city,’’ said Tom Wilson, CEO of Olympia Entertainment, the Detroit sports marketing experts who are partnering with the Horizon League for this move."

"The more we learned about it,’’ LeCrone said, ``the more excited we got.'

Wilson mentioned how Detroit in the past has been host for the Super Bowl, Final Four, Frozen Four, several Stanley Cups, the Ryder Cup. If the place is good enough for the NFL to throw its Roman-numeraled party, it’s good enough for the Horizon League. And a big city, with its leisure and cultural options, can transform a basketball tournament into an event. Go see where the famous Motown acts recorded their music in the morning, and watch the semifinals at night. That’s the idea, anyway.

"That’s one of the things about the Horizon League better than other leagues, you have metropolitan cities,’’ Detroit coach Ray McCallum said. ``The population’s here, the media’s here."

Facilities. The Horizon League has a five-year agreement for Detroit. The first two years will be in Joe Louis Arena, beloved home of the even more beloved Red Wings. ``Sort of hockey’s version of Wrigley Field,’’ Wilson said. Since basketball has no hat tricks, presumably no octopus will come flying from the stands, like they do at Red Wing games.

Starting in 2018, the games will be in the new and highly touted Events Center, which will be one of the anchors of District Detroit.

Perception. The Horizon League yearns to be thought of with the bigger fish in college basketball. That wish comes with certain requirements.

"We’re going to have to do things similar to how the power-5 conferences do them," said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. "And one of those things you have to do is you have to have a neutral site tournament.

"I believe it’s going to be not just a big deal, but an unbelievable deal."

Partnership. Olympia has been around the block a few times when it comes to staging sports events, and is so excited by this opportunity, it has 45 people already working on it.

"Anytime you go into a partnership with somebody, you want to feel like your partner is established and will do a good job," Wright State coach Billy Donlon said. "Not only is Olympia established, they might be the world leader in it."

Said Wilson, "We’re kind of a big-event city. We’ve always had the ability to take something great and make it greater, or take something good and make it better. We’re going to make this a must-see tournament.

"That’s one of the reasons we wanted to have a five-year commitment as opposed to putting our toes into the water. We wanted everybody to know, from our schools, from our city, from the league, that we’re in this thing with you."

Two teams in the neighborhood.

"Not lost on us is we now have two member schools there,’’ LeCrone said of Detroit and Oakland. ``Would we do this if we didn’t have two member schools there? I don’t know, maybe not."

The main risk LeCrone mentioned is obvious. A championship game on campus nearly guaranteed a full house. A Detroit or Oakland run to the title would make the Joe Louis turnstiles hum. They both make it to the last day, and it’s a winning Powerball ticket for the league. But what if it’s Valparaiso vs. Green Bay?

Olympia has set an attendance goal of 35,000 for the four days, and 8.500 for the championship game. An ambitious and high bar.

"I think it’s one of the reasons we have a five-year agreement, we need some time to grow into it," LeCrone said. "We all know it won’t be easy to put 8,500 to 10,000 people into the stands for the championship game if it happens to be between two schools that are a longer distance away. But Detroit is a pretty good driving location for most of our schools."

Besides, he can tick off the reasons why the risk is worth it, as if he were announcing a starting lineup.

"First, I think it provides a wonderful educational and competitive experience for our student-athletes, and that’s what we’re most concerned with.

"Secondly, we feel like we’re helping rehabilitate a great American city, and that fits our core values.

"Third, does it help promote our brand? Sure."

"Fourth, is it a place we can build equity in over time?"

So Motor City Madness is prepping for its big debut. The question remains, once it’s built, will the people come? The Horizon League and the Olympia folks are vowing yes.

"t’s going to be an interesting five-year journey," Wilson said.

It’d be nice if the sun was out, when the Horizon League masses hit Detroit looking for things to do.

"We need decent weather," LeCrone said. "Then we can play golf."