Why Winthrop, with help from Rock Hill, could be an ideal ‘bubble’ college hoops site
Early talks of a college basketball season have thrust Winthrop University, and Rock Hill, into the national conversation.
Multiple national media reports, including those from Action Network’s Darren Rovell and Fox Sports’ John Fanta, say sports marketing firm G3 Marketing is close to finalizing a partnership with Winthrop to use its campus as a “bubble” for college basketball teams to begin the season. The participating college basketball programs would reportedly play eight games each, and the games would take place in late November and early December — when Winthrop students are off-campus for winter break, dorms are unoccupied and dining halls are available.
Turning a few centralized places into sports “bubbles,” where athletes and staff only interact with those who are regularly tested for the novel coronavirus, appears to be the popular strategy for playing sports during the pandemic.
The National Basketball Association is doing it. So is Major League Baseball. And the NCAA already is trying to profit off it. (It filed a trademark for the phrase “Battle in the Bubble” last month, media reports show.)
But why would Winthrop be considered a compelling place to host a college hoops bubble?
The answer involves the city of Rock Hill.
3 reasons Winthrop would be a good host
▪ The university’s campus is less than a mile from the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center, a state-of-the-art facility with nine courts, including one “championship” court that’s built like an arena with stadium seating. Over the summer, the center drew thousands of people to Rock Hill for high-profile basketball tournaments, and it helped bring in the bulk of York County’s $20 million estimated economic impact from May to August, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this facility, in addition to the gyms in the Winthrop Coliseum and the multi-court West Center on campus, Winthrop would have at least 15 courts that are close to living spaces, a convenient and relatively affordable proposition.
▪ The Rock Hill Sports and Event Center is TV friendly. This has been one of the center’s selling points from day one, and it has helped draw televised events. In early May, an American Cornhole League tournament was hosted in the indoor center and was aired on ESPN.
▪ Winthrop and Rock Hill have partnered before, and they’re willing to do this sort of work. Before the event was canceled months ago, the two entities worked together to make the region one of four hosts for the 2020 NCAA Basketball Academies. The academies, a developmental boys’ basketball camp for top college prospects in the country, were drawn to Rock Hill because of Winthrop and the center’s close proximity to each other and close proximity to the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, which is less than 20 miles north of the state line.
It’s also worth noting that the work to put on this type of event isn’t simple. All the things that are likely going on behind closed doors at Winthrop — coordinating coronavirus testing procedures, communicating with teams who are signing contracts to play, working with local and state governments to verify capacities for different venues, etc. — takes time and a willingness to do it, which Winthrop has.
What else is there to know?
It’s been reported that several other campuses are interested in hosting a college basketball bubble for non-conference games. One of which is Winthrop’s mid-major and conference foe Asheville, which is hosting a “Basketball Bubble Webinar” next week, per a press release from the school.
The NCAA voted on Wednesday for the college basketball season to begin Nov. 25. Fanta of Fox Sports reported that the Winthrop bubble basketball competition would begin Nov. 30.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
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