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From the Orlando Sentinal
The American hosted its inaugural championship tournament in Memphis in 2014. The league is set to announce the 2015 tournament will be held in Hartford.
The Central Florida Sports Commission will announce a deal to bring the American Athletic Conference tournament to the Amway Center in 2016 and 2017, according to sources with knowledge of the agreement.
The full details will be announced tomorrow. One would assume that the Hartford site would be the XL Center. I have no real complaint with the XL Center getting the nod for next year. Even if UConn should fail to make the conference finals I think attendance would still be fine. Certainly better than it was this year, when just over 13,000 showed up for the final.
Which brings me to the next point. Why exactly is it a good idea to put the tournament in Orlando? UCF has no basketball tradition to speak of and constant attendance issues despite a glistening new facility. I get that a Cincinnati fan complaining of another teams attendance woes is inherently hilarious. Now Orlando does have the Amway Center which is a pretty spectacular venue. But will the locals come out for the event if UCF isn't involved in the proceedings? I have my doubts.