The Mid-Eastern Athletic Association men's and women's basketball tournaments are moving from Winston-Salem to Norfolk, Va., ending a four-year run at Joel Coliseum.
MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas on Wednesday praised the staff at Joel and said the tournaments' time in Winston-Salem has been well spent.
"The Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority and everyone associated with the coliseum have been nothing but hospitable," Thomas said. "We are not finished in Winston-Salem. We have another tournament to go and we're excited."
This year's tournaments are scheduled for March 5 through 10 at Joel.
A news conference is scheduled for this morning in Norfolk to announce that the tournaments for 2013, 2014 and 2015 will be held at the Norfolk Scope arena.
"We understand that these things move," said Bucky Dame, director of public assembly facilities for the city of Winston-Salem. "We figured this would happen at some point and we wish the MEAC well. We've had a great relationship with them and Dr. Thomas."
Officials have said that the weeklong tournament brings about $3 million annually to Winston-Salem. Attendance was about 40,000 last year.
Norfolk also bid for the tournament four years ago, but it was awarded to Winston-Salem for three years, 2009 to 2011. In February 2011, MEAC officials agreed to extend their contract with the city for one year.
When the tournament was awarded to Winston-Salem in 2008, Winston-Salem State University was positioning itself to join the MEAC and move from Division II to Division I. But that move was abandoned for financial reasons and WSSU remained in Division II and is part of the CIAA.
WSSU's move may have played a role in the MEAC's decision, Dame said.
"That did make a difference when they went back to the CIAA," Dame said. "It would have been nice to have them involved in the tournament."
For this year's tournament, N.C. Central is eligible after moving successfully to Division I. That should give this year's tournament a boost in attendance, Dame said.
"It's good that there's another North Carolina school in the tournament," Dame said.
N.C. Central and N.C. A&T State University are the only two North Carolina schools in 13-school MEAC.
Winston-Salem and Norfolk were the only two cities that submitted bids to host the tournaments, according to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk.
The MEAC Tournament was last played in Norfolk in 1997, the year before Norfolk State joined the conference after leaving the CIAA. The other Virginia school in the MEAC is Hampton.
Norfolk also played host to the tournaments in 1991, '92 and '93.
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