Carleton University was announced Monday as the only bidder to host the 2013 and 2014 Canadian Interuniversity Sport men’s basketball championships and — by default, unless something unforeseen occurs — will host the events at Scotiabank Place.
Atlantic University Sport is hosting the 2011 and 2012 Final 8s in Halifax.
CIS chief executive officer Marg McGregor said rubberstamping Carleton’s bid should be a “mere formality” next month.
“We’re delighted,” she said. “We know from the Carleton experience in the last three years, they did an outstanding job. It was well-received in the nation’s capital and we’re pleased Carleton stepped forward again.”
After the tournament was hosted by the AUS in Halifax for 24 straight years from 1984 to 2007, Carleton hosted the championship from 2008 to 2010.
Attendance dropped by 29,000 from 2008 to 2010 in Ottawa, a decrease of almost 36 per cent, according to numbers published in the Ottawa Citizen.
The AUS did not submit a bid for the 2013 and 2014 tournaments because it wanted to first test the CIS’s new financial model in 2011, according to executive director Phil Currie. Currie said the new model sees the CIS take 75 per cent of sponsorship inventory instead of handing it all over to the host.
Dalhousie University, meanwhile, learned yesterday it will face competition from five other schools in its bid to host the 2013 and 2014 University Cup men’s hockey tournaments.
Alberta, Calgary, Regina, Saskatchewan and Nipissing in North Bay, Ont., have all submitted competing bids.
“It’s probably a record,” McGregor said. “With so many schools in the running, it ensures whoever does get it will have a quality event.”
The CIS selection committee will meet the week of June 21 to 25 to determine the winning bids.
