Why No Midwest All Star Games Anymore?

[oldfishermen]

The quote below was made a couple days ago, (Feb. 28) at a news conference by Trail Blazers President/CEO Chris McGowan.

He was asked what process has been made to get an ASG to Portland.

“There are many new hotel projects that should improve our chances…there’s 5, 6, 7 big hotel projects on the horizon."

In the past, I believe it was mentioned the required number of hotel rooms needed to be within a certain distance from the arena, but I do not remember what that distance was.

The OPs comment about the problems Indianapolis is having to land an ASG, even with a new arena, sound similar to the Blazer’s problems.

The Blazers have been trying for decades to get an ASG to Portland; their new arena was not enough.

[Mr. E]

yea I was way off oh well. Thanks for the clarification, I always thought of those as central/east states. The word west doesn't even come to mind when I see those states.

It comes from the perspective of Early America, which was at first only along the East coast. As it expanded it everything was "The West." As it became clear that there was a lot of freaking land out there the designations started to appear.

California, Oregon - That's as West as it gets. Everything else up to a point is also West (of existing America), but much closer than those far off lands, so it is west, but not "West," more like Middle-West. Essentially it included the states before you got to the Mountains as a natural dividing line.

Same with Texas & Indian Country (Oklahoma, what would become New Mexico/Arizona) being considered the "South West." For a long time even areas that would become Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, etc. were considered "Southwest," which should really infuriate modern SEC fans.


And there is your useless historical trivia for the day!

[indilakeshow]

Who knew people were so touchy about where the midwest starts and ends...

[Rafael122]

miami's hosted a sh*tload of superbowls and handled it just fine, im sure they could handle an all star game just as well

Most of those have been in the Orange Bowl which is significantly North of Miami, and not near any downtown city space. The Heat play in the city and the traffic there is already a nightmare. I personally think the traffic concerns are overblown. NYC just hosted the game and driving into downtown Manhattan is pretty much a non-starter, but obviously they have a significant amount of other transportation options.

Yup, when talking about a city's ability to host something of this magnitude, it usually needs a certain number of hotels and stuff within like a 5 block radius or something, not just a city as a whole. The only way you could compare Miami's NFL and NBA hosting abilities is if the venues were basically right next door to each other.

All the more reason why I find it ridiculous DC hasn't hosted an All Star game in 15 years. Top notch public transit system, hotels galore and there's a convention center maybe a mile away from the arena where they can have their version of media day.

[theTHIEF]

Wasn't the all star game in houston, dallas and denver recently?

literally none of those are in the midwest.

[old rem]

The quote below was made a couple days ago, (Feb. 28) at a news conference by Trail Blazers President/CEO Chris McGowan.

He was asked what process has been made to get an ASG to Portland.

“There are many new hotel projects that should improve our chances…there’s 5, 6, 7 big hotel projects on the horizon."

In the past, I believe it was mentioned the required number of hotel rooms needed to be within a certain distance from the arena, but I do not remember what that distance was.

The OPs comment about the problems Indianapolis is having to land an ASG, even with a new arena, sound similar to the Blazer’s problems.

The Blazers have been trying for decades to get an ASG to Portland; their new arena was not enough.

Such events are in part about Tourists. Some places ain't "tourist" bait at all..and especially in mid winter. NYC or Chicago are big enough they don't require nice weather..etc.

[oldfishermen]

The quote below was made a couple days ago, (Feb. 28) at a news conference by Trail Blazers President/CEO Chris McGowan.

He was asked what process has been made to get an ASG to Portland.

“There are many new hotel projects that should improve our chances…there’s 5, 6, 7 big hotel projects on the horizon."

In the past, I believe it was mentioned the required number of hotel rooms needed to be within a certain distance from the arena, but I do not remember what that distance was.

The OPs comment about the problems Indianapolis is having to land an ASG, even with a new arena, sound similar to the Blazer’s problems.

The Blazers have been trying for decades to get an ASG to Portland; their new arena was not enough.

Such events are in part about Tourists. Some places ain't "tourist" bait at all..and especially in mid winter. NYC or Chicago are big enough they don't require nice weather..etc.

Agreed, which explains the 2007 ASG that was played in a non-NBA team town, Las Vegas.

BTW, Oregon is not in the West. It is in the Pacific Northwest. To be very touchy, we are the GREAT Pacific Northwest. NEVER put us in the same geographic group as California, the land of fruits and nuts.

[Peja Stojakovic]

i've never heard someone consider the dakotas or missouri to be midwest. i always thought it was just the great lakes states and a few prairie states

and i've always considered toronto to be sort of midwestern but not really. it def isn't an eastern metropolis like a montreal or ny

[ceremony816]

Kansas City could do it. We host the Big 12 tournament every year and have pre-season games in October. Like someone mentioned though: weather. February is the worst part of our winters.

i've never heard someone consider the dakotas or missouri to be midwest. i always thought it was just the great lakes states and a few prairie states

Missouri is pretty much the definition of the Midwest.....

[xBulletproof]

Is is simply lack of new arenas in these cities or are there scheduling conflicts? And as far as the new arena argument why didnt Indianapolis ever get an all-star game after Bankers Life Fieldhouse was built.

I can recall reading something about the All Star game held here in the 1980's. Something along the lines that the NBA didn't or doesn't share revenue with the host team. So basically, the Pacers owners funded the whole event without any help. The Simon brothers pretty much swore off hosting another AS game after that. There have been articles in the Indiana Business Journal about the Pacers not trying to go after it and how it hurts businesses.

We aren't trying to host it. If we can handle the Super Bowl, which is also in the winter, I'm pretty sure its not the city or winter keeping the ASG out as I saw someone suggest.

[funkatron101]

Minneapolis had the ASG in 1994, and I wouldn't doubt it will host it again after the Target Center remodel.

[oldfishermen]

List of NBA All-Star games played in the Midwest

1997 Cleveland
1994 Minneapolis
1988 Chicago
1985 Indianapolis
1981 Richfield, Ohio
1979 Detroit
1977 Milwaukie
1973 Chicago
1966 Cincinnati
1965 St. Louis
1962 St. Louis
1959 Detroit
1958 St. Louis
1953 Fort Wayne, Indiana

The last game played in the Midwest was about 18 years ago.

14 of 65 All-Star games were played in the Midwest. The Midwest dominated the early years.

It appears the Midwest is now “about” the league average for holding All-Star games. You are due for a game soon.

http://www.nba.com/history/all-star/index.html