CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tim Brady, the president and CEO of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau is hopeful the crowds at this week’s girls’ and next week’s boys’ state high school state basketball tournaments will be at pre-pandemic levels.
In 2020, the tournament came to a screeching halt due to the pandemic beginning and then in 2021, there were restrictions with seating and COVID-19 guidelines in place. Brady told MetroNews flagship 580-WCHS in Charleston that before the pandemic, the tournaments brought in $10 million in economic impact.
“If we look at what has been happening with concert ticket sales in the last couple of months as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, we are incredibly optimistic about the crowds this week and next week,” Brady said of ticket sales for the tournament.
Brady included that hotel rooms are booked around the city if that’s an indication of ticket sales. He noted that this includes visitors from around the entire state and some out of state, which makes the event special.
“I wouldn’t want to be in the position of trying to get a hotel room in Charleston for the next two weeks because we stay pretty full. When you talk about the teams, coaches, support personnel, cheerleaders, and then fans on top of that staying,” Brady said.
Everyone participating in the tournament will notice a new court, which will debut on Tuesday. It features the state of West Virginia outline at midcourt in blue paint, blue behind the hoops with ‘Charleston’ in white and ‘Charleston Coliseum’ in white along the sideline at mid-court.
Patrick Leahy, General Manager of Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center told 580-WCHS that the West Virginia logo is much smaller than the previous court because officials noticed a pattern while basketball games were broadcast on television.
“As a camera pans up and down the court, you see bits and pieces of the state logo but you don’t really get the whole logo, whole state outline in one shot,” Leahy said of the old logo on television.
New CHARLESTON Coliseum & Convention Center’s Basketball Floor Photo courtesy of @WSAZnews. Thoughts? I like it. #WVPrepBB #WVGirlsBB pic.twitter.com/jfqflXuHBE
— haus media (@haus_media) March 7, 2022
Like Brady, Leahy expects large crowds to head out to the coliseum for hoops.
“I think there is renewed interest in coming, checking it out, going out and watching basketball. I am hopeful and we are preparing for it to be good crowds. I think that will make it more exciting,” Leahy said.
The games for the girls’ tournament tips off at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Tickets went on sale Monday morning on Ticketmaster. At the Coliseum box office, tickets will be on sale 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.