When organizers of the $1 million, winner-take-all TBT – The Basketball Tournament – started looking to expand their footprint and add some new regional host locations this summer, the Pit seemed intriguing.
Not only did TBT need to stretch farther west, but that gym built 37 feet into the ground in southeast Albuquerque has a bit of an aura to it.
Nevertheless, there were questions about whether the Albuquerque experiment would work.
TBT co-founder Dan Friel said he knows the exact instant any doubt was erased.
“It didn’t take much more than when The Panamaniacs came on the court (Monday night) and were immediately and roundly booed as though they were a WWE villain,” Friel said, referring to Monday night’s nationally televised game between the team of mostly former NMSU Aggies playing tournament host The Enchantment, a team of mostly former UNM Lobos.