Sun Belt Conference commissioner Keith Gill couldn't help but laugh a little toward the end of his response to a question about what makes the city of Pensacola so attractive to host the conference's basketball tournament every year.
"I mean, how bad can it be to go out on the beach?" Gill said with a chuckle. "I mean, just driving here today, it's so beautiful outside."
The Sun Belt Conference just wrapped up its championships for basketball on Tuesday at the Pensacola Bay Center. The Arkansas State women's basketball and Troy University men's basketball teams claimed conference titles - it was the Red Wolves' first title in program history - to punch their tickets to the NCAA Tournament later this month.
As the sun sets on another conference championship in Pensacola, where the tournament has been held annually since 2021, and the Sun Belt Championship banners are taken down off the Pensacola Bay Center, it won't be that long until they're back up.
Albeit it's a year away, but the Sun Belt Championships are in Pensacola for at least another five years after the conference announced a contract extension through 2030, as the league continues its partnership with Pensacola Sports and Visit Pensacola, as well as the county and city to use the Bay Center.
The extension makes Pensacola the longest-tenured host of the Sun Belt Basketball Championships, which will now span 10 years. It's also the most frequent, surpassing New Orleans, which hosted the championships from 2014-2020.
"Pensacola has been a great home for us. The community is unbelievable. We love being in the Bay Center. Our fans like coming here. This is where they vacation when there isn't any basketball. They're familiar with it. They enjoy it," Gill told the PNJ during the week. "So it really is the perfect place for our tournament and our championship. We're ecstatic to be here for another five years."
Despite the closest college in the Sun Belt Conference being an hour away, Gill still noted that Pensacola is a perfect place for the championships. Southern Alabama, which - at least this past season - had a couple local alums on the women's basketball team, is the closest school to Northwest Florida in Mobile.
There are a few others within driving distance, such as Troy University, Southern Miss and even Louisiana-Lafayette. But Gill mentioned that the conference has added some new teams since the championships have been held in Pensacola, including some in more northern climates.
He said it's a "combination" of the location of Pensacola, the facilities that the area offers - not just the Bay Center, but different attractions throughout the week - as well as the community itself.
"Our fans already come to vacation here. ... It's a good excuse for (northern teams) to come to Pensacola to get warm," Gill said. "I really do think the location is perfect and ideal. The Bay Center is perfectly sized for us. It's a good facility for what we're trying to do. ... The community support has been great. We've been able to build it over time. Working with Ray Palmer, the county commissioners, it's all been a good process."
Visit Pensacola CEO Darien Schaefer, one of the other partnership organizations that works with the Sun Belt, said Pensacola is a good spot "centrally located" for the Sun Belt. Gill also mentioned that a couple other sports have their championships close to Pensacola, including Sun Belt baseball in Montgomery, and Sun Belt soccer in Foley.
On top of that, it's more than just the location.
"I think the transition from New Orleans to Pensacola put a bigger spotlight on the event, than what it was receiving in New Orleans. ... I think, as a destination, we have a lot to offer both in the fact that we have the white-sand beaches and blue-green water, but also a thriving downtown, plus things like the Naval Aviation Museum. We have a strong airport that's doing phenomenally well," Schaefer said. "And a venue that the Sun Belt is able to take over for the week they're here. Those are all things that bode well for them. And because of the relationship over these last five years, there's been a number of improvements to the Bay Center as a result. I think it shows how the community - Escambia County, the city of Pensacola, Pensacola Sports and Visit Pensacola - have all responded to requests and suggestions the Sun Belt has to make the experience better for their student-athletes."
For both Gill and Schaefer, they've been able to watch the growth from the start of the championships in Pensacola to, now, the beginning of the extended contract. Gill took over as the Sun Belt commissioner in 2019, while Schaefer has been with Visit Pensacola for the last five years.
As the championship tournament has grown, Gill said, he's also watched the city of Pensacola and the Bay Center expand its offerings. He called it a "symbiotic relationship" with "growth all around."
The Sun Belt has been able to provide financial support some certain upgrades to the Bay Center, Schaefer noted, while also having its own input on certain improvements to the venue, in working with ASM Global, the company that operates and manages the Bay Center.
Noted upgrades to the venue included the new scoreboard, sound system, lighting, video board and locker room improvements among many other things.
"The Sun Belt has made a financial contribution, as well, to some of these upgrades. Not a lot of events that are held at the Bay Center are making that kind of investment. It's really been a good, working relationship," Schaefer said. ""The way the facility is as decorated for the event and the capabilities that have come along with signing this agreement has encouraged the county to make those investments into the Bay Center. ... Those are all things that came out of signing this agreement in the first place."
Also growing is the attendance of the tournament. While it partially helped that Arkansas State had both the men's and women's teams playing for a conference title on Monday, plus the Troy men's team was playing in the evening - a quick drive for the Trojan faithful - there were 3,187 fans at the men's game. There were just under 1,000 at the women's game, which started at 1 p.m.
That means more dollars being spent in the city and the county throughout the week, as well. While 2025 numbers aren't available yet, Schaefer did bring up stats from last year. Those included a total 7,250 room nights at hotels and other paid accommodations across the board, with the average length of stay at 3.6 nights.
There were 8,800 unique attendees to the 2024 tournament, with about 43% from outside Escambia County. It was estimated that those visitors spent over $3 million in the Pensacola area, which generated "about a 4.8 total economic impact on Escambia County."
"You've got that tax generation that comes with visitation. There's the tourism and development tax, which is collected by hotels. You have local option sales tax that's collected by restaurants, retail and gas stations. When a visitor comes into our market, they're not spending all of their time just at the Bay Center," Schaefer said. "They're going out to eat. They're doing other activities. And while most are driving in, there are a good number flying in through the airport."
Gill also mentioned the growth of different programming events during the week, trying to promote and push attendance at the earlier games. While it's always going to be tough to have large crowds at games that start at 11:30 a.m. on a weekday, the Sun Belt has instituted events such as an education day, where there were 650 Pensacola-area high school students in attendance on Wednesday's women's game between Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Monroe.
Other daily events included a Mardi Gras Day, a Youth Day, a Military Appreciation Day and the Fan Fest on Saturday.
"It's one of those things, where this is a great thing about being here for a long time, running the operations of the tournament gets easier. The more familiar we are with the staff, with the arena. That allows us to add programming on top of that," Gill said. "Running the game operations is so much easier that now we can add more programming."
Over the next five years, there's obvious goals to grow the championships and attendance, as well.
"It's like muscle memory," Gill said, referring to being in the same location for five years. "What can we add and how can we enhance the championship?"
On the Visit Pensacola side of things, Schaefer said the organization's goal is to not only get out-of-area attendees to visit Pensacola - and potentially stay if their team is no longer in the tournament - but also to have residents in the community continue to support the growth of the Sun Belt.
"Hosting something like this is always a source of pride for the community. It's also gotten us national attention because of how these games are being televised," Schaefer said. "Our goal is to encourage the fan base for these teams to come for the entire experience. Whether it's college students, friends and family, or alumni, we're encouraging them to take advantage of putting it on their calendar every year."
From the Sun Belt's view, it's the conference's goal to get more people in seats throughout the week, and continue to establish and grow roots within the Pensacola community. That includes continuing upgrades to the Bay Center, such as work on the parking lot, new seats and other things to enhance the experience.
"Hopefully we can add a new wrinkle each year to the Bay Center to make it better for fans," Gill said.
"I think those are all benefits and improvements that our residents can enjoy throughout the year," Schaefer said of the Bay Center's upgrades. "Hopefully there will be more in the near future that we see invested into the Bay Center."
As the working relationship between the Sun Belt and the several local stakeholders continues to grow, there's also the chance of bringing more sports to Pensacola for their championships. Baseball was one sport that was brought up to potentially be held locally, but that contract was extended with Montgomery through 2030.
Schaefer said he had heard other conversations regarding golf and tennis for at least the Sun Belt. That's on top of other championships Pensacola hosts, such as the SEC soccer tournament, the NAIA soccer tournament and the NAIA lacrosse tournament.
"As we look at upgrading facilities in the county, that continues to open up more doors. I think it's also the level of hospitality that we provide as a community," Schaefer said. "I don't that to be lost on anyone: the friendliness of our residents. That comes from the pride they have in their community, and sharing that with visitors. That goes a long way for someone's overall experience. That's part of the recipe for the Pensacola area."
"I don't think there's anything specific. I think we just want to keep it rolling, you know? We want to keep seeing some facility improvements. We want to keep growing the crowds. We want to keep growing the number of fans we have visit. It's about growing together," Gill said. "We want to get better and continue to improve. We want them to continue to get better and improve. ... Doing that in concert, then this championship will keep growing."