USA Nationals Aug 7-10

[rlayt]

 

[RedBirdie]

I see USAG continues it's delightful tradition of holding it's major events in states where women are second class citizens.

 

[KristyJ]

I definitely had the reaction of, "the south, again?" too

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Stoke of genius by USAG to hold nationals in NOLA during peak hurricane season.

 

[RedBirdie]

Because I'm avoiding work.....locations of where USAG has held Level 10 nationals (labeled "DP Nats" below)/American Cup/Winter Cup/American Classic/US Classic/Nationals/Trials for WAG in from 2014-2024

2014
Am Cup: Greensboro, NC
DP Nats: Jackson, MS
Am Classic: Huntsville, TX
US Classic: Hoffman Estates, IL
Nationals: Pittsburgh, PA

2015
Am Cup: Arlington, TX
DP Nats: Des Moines, IA
Am Classic: Huntsville, TX
US Classic: Hoffman Estates, IL
Nationals: Indianapolis, IN

2016
Am Cup: Newark, NJ
DP Nats: Fort Worth, TX
Am Classic: Huntsville, TX
US Classic: Hartford, CT
Nationals: St. Louis, MO
Trials: San Jose, CA

2017
Am Cup: Newark, NJ
DP Nats: Indianapolis, IN
Am Classic: Huntsville, TX
US Classic: Hoffman Estates, IL
Nationals: Anaheim, CA

2018
Am Cup: Hoffman Estates, IL
DP Nats: Cincinnati, OH
Am Classic: Salt Lake City, UT
US Classic: Columbus, OH
Nationals: Boston, MA

2019
Am Cup: Greensboro, NC
DP Nats: Indianapolis, IN
Am Classic: Salt Lake City, UT
US Classic: Louisville, KY
Nationals: Kansas City, MO

2020
Am Cup: Milwaukee, WI

2021
Winter Cup: Indianapolis, IN
Am Classic: Indianapolis, IN
DP Nats: Daytona Beach, FL
US Classic: Indianapolis, IN
Nationals: Fort Worth, TX
Trials: St. Louis, MO

2022
Winter Cup: Frisco, TX
DP Nats: Mesa, AZ
Am Classic: Katy, TX
US Classic: Salt Lake City, UT
Nationals: Tampa, FL

2023
Winter Cup: Louisville, KY
DP Nats: Oklahoma City, OK
Am Classic: Katy, TX
US Classic: Hoffman Estates, IL
Nationals: San Jose, CA

2024
Winter Cup: Louisville, KY
Am Classic: Katy, TX
DP Nats: Daytona Beach, FL
US Classic: Hartford, CT
Nationals: Forth Worth, TX
Trials: Minneapolis, MN

The same handful of cities host events. Am Classic is typically held at the national team center, although every so often it ends up elsewhere. Excluding Hunstville and Katy, the most popular places to hold events are Indianapolis, Hoffman Estates, Fort Worth, and Louisville.

If you want to have more fun, I coded each city according to the US Census Bureau regions and found that the South leads the way in hosting events, with 21. The Midwest was close with 19, while the northeast and West hosted 6 each. The disparity is even more pronounced post-Covid (2021-2024): South with 12 events, Midwest with 6 (three of these being Indianapolis with 3 in 2021, which makes it appear like they host more than they actually do), 2 in the West, and a single event in the NE. Even throwing out the 3 Am Classics in Katy, USAG awards events to southern cities at a disproportionate rate.

I'd be curious to know who else submits bids for these events, or if they're only getting single bids.

The other thing I noticed is these are largely not to top US cities. It's a lot second-tier cities and suburbs (Newark, Hoffman Estates, Mesa).

Do with this as you will.

 

[rlayt]

And the streak continues.

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

I’m guessing that it is much more expensive to put on these events in large coastal cities. While the senior WAG sessions are very popular, the others are not and just sell a handful of tickets.

NOLA in the middle of August has got to be insanely cheap.

 

[rlayt]

It will be hot in August but I’m sure the air conditioning will be fine.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Not interested in that NOLA heat and humidity and it's hurricane season, but this would be a good reason to go down there and hang out with the childhood bestie I recently got back in contact with.

 

[rlayt]

If there’s a group from here we will have a meetup too.

 

[Caledi]

"Smoothie King Center"? Am I reading that right? I know most stadiums have corporate sponsors but for some reason this one sounds so much weirder to me.

 

[Hatsumomo]

Better than Crypto.com Arena

 

[RedBirdie]

I was unaware that Smoothie King had that sort of revenues to buy the naming rights to an NBA arena.

I agree that Crypto.com is the worst. Although Climate Pledge Arena is pretty bad, too.

 

[RedBirdie]

Stoke of genius by USAG to hold nationals in NOLA during peak hurricane season.

Nationals were in Tampa in August a couple years ago. I'm not sure any place in the US is safe from potential natural disasters. The past couple of years much of the upper Midwest and northeast have been choked at time by smoke from Canadian wildfires. The West coast has the potential for earthquakes, hurricanes are a constant threat to the Gulf coast and southeast.

And if USAG is only get one or two bids for events, as I suspect they are, they're limited in where to go. Could USAG invest in outreach to more cities in an effort to increase bids? Certainly. Do they have the time, money, and people to do so? No idea.

Particularly in Olympic years, arena availability is very limited. This year, US Classic was in May and Nationals in early June. Arenas that are home to NHL and/or NBA teams generally cannot book events from mid-April to mid-June because they have to have the buildings available for playoffs. That dramatically limits what cities can bid. For cities that have an NBA and NHL team share a building, it's absolutely impossible to hold a multi-day event during that timeframe. I'm guessing to some degree, USAG just has to take what they can get.