Huge volleyball tournament at Cobo Center

A volleyball village is being constructed in Cobo Center to cater to 25,000 people expected to visit for a 10-day USA Volleyball Championship event starting Monday.More than 1,270 club teams around the nation, ages 11-and-under to 17-and-under, are scheduled to compete in the annual Girls' National Championship for its first installment in Detroit, said Marty Dobek, spokesman for the Detroit Sports Commission.

The tournament runs Monday through July 4. One-day passes are $15, and tournament passes cost $45. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online . More information about the tournament and its structure can be found at USA Volleyball's website .

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Originally Posted by GPCharles

The tournament runs Monday through July 4. One-day passes are $15, and tournament passes cost $45. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online . More information about the tournament and its structure can be found at USA Volleyball's website .

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Thanks - that explains the families with kids in athletic gear in the RenCen today!

It's good to see more of these events. They're smaller than, say, a political convention, but they bring in good revenue and have lots of people from all over the country.

I helped give some restaurant suggestions to some visitors for this event passing by on the street last night. I asked their overall impression of their visit. The general reaction was positive. The line that hit me the most was "it is nothing like what we expected based on stereotypes."

The same people did suggest that they were having a hard time navigating from place to place without good signage. I completely understand this. It's been my biggest pet peeve of this entire resurgence...we get people downtown, but dont help them navigate our unique street grid.

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Originally Posted by archfan

Thanks - that explains the families with kids in athletic gear in the RenCen today!

It's good to see more of these events. They're smaller than, say, a political convention, but they bring in good revenue and have lots of people from all over the country.

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I would argue they net more revenue than a political convention. The people attending actually have down time and get around the city spending money, whereas political conventioneers just go back and forth to the site. Not to mention the money saved on security costs.

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Originally Posted by 401don

I would argue they net more revenue than a political convention. The people attending actually have down time and get around the city spending money, whereas political conventioneers just go back and forth to the site. Not to mention the money saved on security costs.

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Good point - and it's small enough the restaurants don't get overwhelmed.

It's been so lovely seeing all the extra families in downtown Detroit. Can't we find a way to keep them all?!

1953

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Originally Posted by archfan

Good point - and it's small enough the restaurants don't get overwhelmed.

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It's not just the restaurants--almost nowhere except NYC and Las Vegas have enough hotel rooms for a political convention, so people end up 30 miles away. Not only does that not bring so much business into the city, but it also makes transportation a huge hassle, especially when combined with the security requirements of a national political convention.

These kind of events are much better. Also, they happen more often. I'm a fencer, and there are about eight national tournaments/year, each of which will attract something like 5-10,000 people. Sometimes they come to Detroit, last time was in fall of 2016.