NCAAs returning to Spokane in 2024; women's regional coming to Spokane in '25
From local and wire reports
If a current freshman on the Gonzaga men's basketball team is still around for his senior season, he could end up playing in an NCAA tourney just 1.6 miles from campus.
The Spokane Arena was picked as one of the first- and second-round sites for the 2024 NCAA Tournament, as the NCAA on Wednesday announced 450 host sites through 2026 for a variety of sports.
Spokane was scheduled to host first- and second-round games this year, and Gonzaga was expected to be assigned to the venue for its opening games of the tourney, but the NCAA Tournament was canceled one week before the tourney due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spokane last hosted the NCAA men's tourney in 2016, and previously hosted first- and second-round games in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2014.
The Spokane Arena will also be the site for an eight-team NCAA women's regional tourney in 2025. The NCAA decided to move to a two-city regional format starting in 2023, with eight teams playing at each site. Birmingham, Ala., was selected as the other women's regional site in 2025.
The Spokane Arena previously hosted women's regionals in 2008, 2011 and 2015.
The NCAA had previously announced future men's Final Four sites: Indianapolis in 2021; New Orleans, 2022; Houston, 2023; Phoenix 2024; San Antonio, 2025; and Indianapolis again in 2026.
The 2020 Final Four in Atlanta was wiped out by the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new Climate Pledge Arena in the Seattle Center will be a 2025 first- and second-round site for the men’s basketball tourney.
Las Vegas will host an NCAA Tournament men's regional for the first time after the NCAA changed a policy that prevented states with sports wagering from hosting championships.
The NCAA announced that a 2023 NCAA Tournament men's regional will be held in Las Vegas, the first time Nevada will host an NCAA championship since a women's basketball regional was held at the Thomas & Mack Center in 1991.
Nevada will host 11 events, including the 2026 men's Frozen Four, after the NCAA changed its stance on cities with sports betting last year.
The NCAA also announced Dayton, Ohio, will continue to host the NCAA First Four through at least 2026. It has served as the site for the start of the NCAA Tournament since 2001.
Portland was one of three finalists for the 2025 and 2026 Women's Final Four. But Tampa was selected to host in 2025, and Phoenix will host in 2026.
Portland will host a women's regional in 2024, and Seattle will host a regional in 2023 at Climate Pledge Arena.
Portland will also host men's first- and second-round games in 2026.
Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., will host the NCAA men's and women's outdoor track and field championships from 2024-27.