CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- City leaders raised questions on Thursday about price gouging at uptown hotels and parking facilities during the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association college basketball tournament while emphasizing the need to keep the annual event in Charlotte. At the same time, they learned that ticket sales fell 13.5 percent during the past year.
The complaints aren’t new. Both the former and current commissioners of the 13-member conference of historically black colleges and universities have voiced similar concerns.
Tom Murray, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, answered questions about room rates and other matters Thursday while making a presentation on preliminary findings from the 2013 tournament. Publicly owned Time Warner Cable Arena hosted the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments last winter, the eighth consecutive year the CIAA’s showcase event has been played in Charlotte.
Despite smaller schools and a level of competition below the familiar names in the NCAA men’s championship, the CIAA ranks among the most popular college basketball events in the nation. It combines basketball with alumni parties, fashion shows, musical competitions and a nonstop parade of tie-in parties.
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