Baltimore’s fifth-year hosting the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournament is quickly coming to a close. Thirteen of the country’s historically Black colleges and universities have been fighting it out for glory at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena since Tuesday.
It’s been a bolster for downtown and small businesses - but now the city is fighting to keep the event as it goes out to bid.
On the Thursday night before the big final CIAA weekend, a big setup is underway. Volunteers gathered at the Harborplace Light Street pavilion, blowing up balloons in the colors of the competing schools in the conference. Another set of volunteers build the frame for what will be a pop-up make-up bar where visitors can have their faces transformed by a Baltimore-local celebrity make-up artist.
“We're going to have vendors loaded in this area, a stage right there,” said Monesha Phillips, gesturing to a stage in front of the now-vacant Hooters’ Restaurant.
Phillips paints the picture for Hoops and Happenings, a two-day event that will feature over 30 vendors and regular entertainment for the close of the CIAA tournament.
The event is the latest venture for Phillips, who owns Pandora’s Box Boutique in Federal Hill, and has been part of CIAA in some aspect or another since the tournament came to Baltimore in 2021.
This year she wanted to do something that felt super local and authentically Charm City.
“The idea was just to find another location to kind of bring all small businesses together. And this was a good space,” she explains. “It's central… it's very close to the arena, so it's easy for our visitors and fans that could find us here. The Harbor is just a cool place!”
Phillips has had her own booth at CIAA’s beloved Fan Fest. But sometimes it felt too corporate holding a booth next to Coca-Cola, she said.
“You kind of get lost in the air,” she said.
Vendor fees for Hoops and Happenings are kept small compared to Fan Fest or other city events, like Artscape. Some of the vendors don’t have storefronts or have never worked as part of a larger festival. When the idea for a side event like Hoops and Happenings came about, Phillips saw it as an opportunity for visitors to experience businesses they wouldn’t otherwise.
It’s become an example of the organic way that CIAA has worked into the city’s late winter economic fabric.
According to Live Baltimore– the city’s tourism arm-- $1.4 M was spent at small business during last year’s CIAA tournament week. That’s out of an estimated $32.5M economic impact. However, Live Baltimore President Al Hutchinson hopes that number will come in bigger this year.
“When we went to bid on this tournament back in 2018 one of the commitments to the CIAA was, if they selected Baltimore, you would see a strong connection in partnership with our small businesses, especially our black owned small businesses in Baltimore,” he said.
The city now faces a competing bid from Charlotte, North Carolina, who hosted the tournament previously. In turn, Baltimore is pulling out every stop to increase traffic and boost local business.
“We've also partnered with the Lord Baltimore Hotel and a local designer, where we curated a room, and folks who have tickets, they can enter a drawing to get a two night stay at the Lord Baltimore.”
Hutchinson explained that there’s also the city’s Black business directory and the “BoP” Pass (an app that gives visitors points for shopping Black) that also encourage “shopping Black.”
Back at Harborplace, Chef-owner Alicia Adibe of vegan restaurant Oleum is celebrating her first CIAA in the space. Adibe says she’s able to power athletes with her hearty plant-based food.
“This has been beneficial to us. We've seen a lot of very tall, tall people coming through our doors,” she says.
The 13 CIAA school presidents will vote later this year on which city will host the basketball tournament starting in 2027. Adibe believes it would be a loss for businesses like hers if it moves elsewhere.
“This is a really big boost for these businesses that normally don't see a lot of foot traffic at this time of the year,” she says. “So it is very, very big for all these locally owned businesses that are down here. And if it goes away, I don't even know what will happen, some of them might not survive the winter.”
But where some see loss, others see opportunity. Chardae Farabee runs the Baltimore skincare brand, You Know You Ashy. If CIAA moves, Farabe will follow.
“I already have customers in Charlotte anyway, so I'll just bring it right home to them– show up at their front door, calling them ashy!”
Baltimore’s contract with CIAA runs through 2026.
