SPOKANE, Wash. – Spirit Week rivalry games are going to look a little bit different than high school basketball fans might be used to this season.
All four Spirit Week games have been held at the Spokane Arena in years past, but only two will tip off there this week: the Groovy Shoes–between North Central and Shadle Park high schools–on Tuesday night, and the Rubber Chicken–between Ferris and Lewis and Clark high schools–on Wednesday night.
The battle for the Stinky Sneaker–between Central Valley and University high schools–and the Railroad Rumble–between Cheney and Rogers high schools–will be held on Eastern Washington University’s campus during the first week of February.
The Railroad Rumble being held in Cheney isn’t out of the ordinary, though. The recently-established rivalry game alternates between EWU’s Reese Court and the Spokane Arena every year–last year’s game was played in Spokane, this year’s game was long-scheduled to tip off in Cheney.
However, this will be the first Stinky Sneaker game not played in the Spokane Arena in years.
The reasons? Scheduling challenges and cost.
Both Central Valley and University high schools are in the Central Valley School District (CVSD), and district spokesperson Marla Nunberg says they started looking for other venues when the Spokane Arena didn’t have the date they were hoping for available for this year’s Stinky Sneaker game.
“EWU was a cost effective option for us, and we thought we’d try it out this year and see how it goes,” Nunberg said. “We know it is a little bit farther [away from Spokane Valley than the Spokane Arena], but we are busing our students there, which is a new thing. We haven’t done that for the arena.”
Nunberg says using EWU’s gym and busing their students to Cheney is actually cheaper for the district than renting out the Spokane Arena than in years past, but insists that’s not the main reason why students will vie for the Stinky Sneaker in Cheney this year.
“Really, I think more of it was about the scheduling, therefore we looked into other alternatives,” Nunberg said. “[Reese Court] is a smaller venue, so less cost to the venue themselves as well, and so it is significant cost savings to us.”
The Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD) operates the Spokane Arena, along with ONE Spokane Stadium, The Podium, Spokane Convention Center and First Interstate Center.
SPFD Entertainment Director Matt Meyer says they have raised what they charge school districts for basketball games, in order to cover their overhead operational costs that have increased in recent years, but declined to name specific figures.
“There’s a lot of staffing that goes into this,” Meyer said. “Whether it’s security, the police department being here, the cleaning crews, my operations crew coming in and resetting the building, we have overhead.”
“We’re not raising anything because we want to,” Meyer continued, “it’s because the rent and expenses and everything is going up. It’s not because of us, it’s because of the economy and where we’re at.”
Meyer said they charge Spokane Public Schools (SPS) a slightly different rate for basketball games, because of the partnership between SPS and SPFD on the new ONE Spokane Stadium, but he again didn’t get into specifics.
“We’re not trying to make any money off of these games,” Meyer said. “It’s for the city, it’s for the students, we want the kids playing [at the Spokane Arena]. Just like with the State B Tournament, we want them here, and we’re doing everything we can to keep them here.”
As far as scheduling goes, Meyer described what can be called a balancing act.
“Obviously the Spokane Chiefs are our top priority as our primary tenant,” Meyer said. “After that, it’s concerts and anything entertainment-wise that brings economic benefit to the city and the downtown core. After that is when I start placing where we can get the Spirit Week games in. Sometimes it works for all of them, other times it works for a couple of them.”
Nunberg says all options are on the table for next year’s Stinky Sneaker games, including a potential return to the Spokane Arena.
“I think it’s not necessarily the place that matters–it could be that they’re even playing at CV or U-High,” Nunberg said. “I think the students are just excited, and we’re excited to be a part of that.”
