It’s no secret why the University Cup has never been contested in Halifax. For about 25 years, this was CIS Final 8 basketball tournament territory. That was great for Halifax, Atlantic University Sport and basketball fans. But it also meant Halifax wasn’t going to get the University Cup at the same time. Two of the three highest-profile national university championships simply weren’t going to the same city.
Dalhousie made unsuccessful bids to host the hockey nationals for the 2011-12 and 2013-14 contracts, but it’s hard to see Dal also making a bid for 2015-16. The Tigers have been hurting on the ice, and the internal problems in their program in the past few months, with the program being under CIS investigation, don’t help the cause.
The AUS has also stepped back from hosting large-scale national tournaments because of the investment risk involved. It has been putting more emphasis and investment into its own regional events instead of the nationals, and that’s an understandable decision the AUS appears comfortable with.
Certainly, AUS expertise would be available to any potential local host, and that would be of considerable value. But don’t expect the AUS to lead the charge to bring the University Cup here.
That leaves Saint Mary’s as the most logical choice to chase a University Cup tournament for Halifax. The Huskies are strong national contenders every year, and Saint Mary’s could pull in partners such as the Metro Centre, Halifax Regional Municipality and even the AUS, in a reduced role, to help cover the costs and lessen the financial risk.
Actually, I don’t believe the University Cup would be an investment gamble in this market. I’d be surprised if the all-time attendance mark weren’t busted at a Metro Centre tournament. Despite generally weak regular-season AUHC support here, Halifax hockey fans love the big event, and with the strong pre-sale history in this market, would guarantee this would be a highly profitable tournament.
The bottom line is that the Final 8 is gone from this market, at least for the foreseeable future. The next best available option, as a big-ticket spring sporting event, is the University Cup.
The best championship market in all of CIS sports deserves at least one of the two highest-profile winter tournaments. Hopefully, Saint Mary’s will step up in an effort to make that happen.