Las Vegas merits bigger share of state tournaments

Another high school basketball season is in the books for Nevada, and the state tournament was a boon for local teams. In fact, in the two largest classifications for the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association — Division I and I-A — all eight schools in the state title games (four boys teams, four girls teams) hailed from the Las Vegas area.

So of course, as is the case every other year, the tournament was contested in Reno.

As reported by the Review-Journal’s Damon Seiters, the tournament has alternated between Las Vegas and Reno since 2005. That’s why those eight schools (and others in lower divisions) had to travel more than 400 miles to Reno to play in the tournament at UNR’s Lawlor Events Center. Said NIAA Executive Director Bart Thompson: “It’s mostly economic. so that all the schools in the South that make the tournament aren’t bearing the full cost year after year after year, and vice versa for the North, as well. And with a great gap between, it’s kind of a fan issue and kind of a fairness issue.”

If the issue is fairness in travel, then fine. With three-quarters of the state’s population and schools in Southern Nevada, the tournament should be in Las Vegas far more often. It makes no sense to have Southern Nevada schools and fans travel to Reno every other year, especially the more dominant larger schools.

The Las Vegas Valley runs into this same issue when it comes to highway funding, school funding, the consistent tilt toward UNR from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents and more. Las Vegas is the state’s economic engine, and as it relates to the NIAA, it has the facilities, hotel rooms, enrollment, membership and — based on last weekend’s results — the talent base to merit far more than an every-other-year hosting role, regardless of sport.

State championships should be contested in Las Vegas three out of every four years or even four out of every five years. Because as Mr. Thompson said, “it’s kind of a fan issue and kind of a fairness issue.”