Despite "sparse crowds" in its inaugural year, Vegas 16 Tournament Chair Jim Livengood said that the three-day postseason college basketball tournament will return for a second year at Mandalay Bay, according to Adam Hill of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Pictures of empty sections of seats "replaced jokes about the event only featuring eight teams instead of the planned 16 as the comedy du jour on social media." But Livengood said, "We're not disappointed in attendance. That's going to happen. We knew that, and the plan was built on that. The most important thing was to have those eight teams have a really great experience, from the players to the coaches to the fans. Livengood added, "A lot of people just look at the attendance, and they'd say, 'Oh, it wasn't successful.' That's not our worry. In future years, obviously that's going to be very important, but not this year." Livengood said that he "fully expects 16 teams to fill next year's bracket," and he "hopes the fans will follow" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 4/1). BD Global Founder Brooks Downing, who runs the event, said that the tournament's field was "reduced to eight teams on Selection Sunday after programs from Power 5 conferences that had asked Downing to hold slots for them backed out." Downing and Livengood said that rather than invite teams ranked lower in the RPI, they "decided to invited the strongest eight teams they could find." In N.Y., William Rhoden noted each participating team "paid $50,000 to take part." The fee "covered each team's transportation and hotel accommodations, an arrangement more common in college football's postseason" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/31).
