Earlier in this issue, I celebrated the rich sports history of what’s now known as CFG Bank Arena downtown.
As I stated in The 15, team sports aren’t a significant part of the future plans for the building. It’s understandable. The NHL and NBA aren’t coming to Baltimore. The smaller team sports need weekend dates in order to maximize their chances of drawing significant crowds, but those dates are important for landing concerts that can actually fill the building.
Both general manager Frank Remesch and Mayor Brandon Scott made it clear to me that sports will play a role in the arena’s future, just via one-off events. There is a commitment to the CIAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournament through 2025 that the city would like to continue (the mayor would like to make it permanent).
Most parties are interested in a return of the NCAA Tournament. The women’s tournament could be in play. Wizards games, whether they be preseason or regular-season games, have been mentioned as an option. And after the wild success of UFC 172 and the Gervonta Davis-Ricardo Nunez fight in the last decade, it feels obvious that similar events would be priorities for the new building.
But without permanent tenants, how else could there be a sports impact at the new building? I have a suggestion.
Towson men’s basketball coach Pat Skerry was recently named Skip Prosser Man of the Year by CollegeInsider.com, in large part because of the work he’s done with Autism Speaks. It’s been a major commitment for the longtime Tigers coach that includes an annual Autism Awareness Game at SECU Arena. But for everything Skerry has already done for the cause, he’d actually like to do more.
“Honestly, what we really need, and there are some rock star coaches that I think are really good guys, what we need to figure out [is] how to get [with], you know, he’s a good friend, Ed Cooley at Georgetown or [Maryland head coach Kevin Willard]. We need to get an early season nonconference doubleheader,” Skerry told Glenn Clark Radio April 3.
This. Yes. All of this. Creating an annual marquee basketball event in Baltimore that also benefits a charity so meaningful to the region’s longest-tenured coach is a no-brainer. If Skerry would like to maximize his friendships with Cooley and Willard, a Towson-Georgetown matchup could kick off a doubleheader that also features Maryland squaring off with … a returning Ryan Odom and VCU? A Villanova program that has always prioritized recruiting in Baltimore? Perhaps an ACC opponent like Virginia now that the ACC-Big Ten Challenge has come to an end? Any of those options would make sense.
Ideally, Maryland would be a regular of such an event should it continue. It is difficult for the Terps to give up home games at Xfinity Center annually but former coach Gary Williams long said he would prefer to play games in Baltimore more frequently (for recruiting purposes) if the city had a more suitable venue. Perhaps now with a feasible facility, the Naismith Hall of Famer could convince the school of the value of regular Baltimore games.
My preference would be that the folks with Oak View Group (which owns and operates the arena) and the city prioritize an occasional high school basketball event as well. It goes a long way toward connecting the community with the venue. But sporting events at the new building don’t have to be limited to basketball. The principals have suggested that ice hockey might be tough at any level due to the difficulty of ice-making.
But how about swimming? Given the city’s rich history in the pool, a future national championships or Olympic Swim Trials would be a fitting event. (The trials are moving out of their Omaha home in 2024 for a run at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, perhaps proving that particular event has outgrown a building of the arena’s size.)
If I had an extreme amount of money to waste, I’d make myself my own corporate sponsor and have Maryland native Frances Tiafoe play a charity exhibition against young superstar Carlos Alcaraz in the fall. So if any of you has an actual extreme amount of money to waste, my DMs are open.
It won’t be the same as the last few iterations of the building, that’s for sure. But there are unique opportunities for the city’s premier indoor venue to author iconic sports memories for the next century.
For more from Skerry, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credits: Colin Murphy/PressBox
Originally published April 19, 2023