NCAA officials to scout Phoenix area for Final Four Tournament. Days after the National Football League announced Arizona will host the 2023 Super Bowl, NCAA officials will head to Phoenix to consider the area for a second Final Four Tournament.
A band of Valley cities and tourism groups are bidding on the 2024-26 NCAA Men’s Final Four Tournaments.
Arizona held its first Final Four Tournament in 2017. The games were played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale while the other fan events were held around downtown Phoenix.
Officials from the NCAA and the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee will come to Phoenix for a two-day tour of downtown Phoenix and the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale beginning Wednesday.
The NCAA officials will tour downtown Phoenix hotels, the Phoenix Convention Center (site of the 2018 Comic Fest), Margaret T. Hance Park (site of the 2018 music festival) and the stadium, according to the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee, the nonprofit group that hosted the 2017 Final Four.
The NCAA is expected to render a decision about the 2024-26 Final Four locations in mid-July.
Debbie Johnson, co-chair of the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee and director of the Arizona Office of Tourism, said the group is excited to compete for another megaevent in Arizona.
From 2015 to 2017, Arizona hosted the Super Bowl, the College Football Playoff National Championship and the Final Four.
“We are by no means resting on our laurels,” she said.
Other cities competing for the Final Four in those years include Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Detroit and Indianapolis.
Millions in economic impact
The 2017 Final Four generated nearly $325 million in economic impact, according to a study conducted by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.
“Tourism is a critical component of our economic development strategy.
But the economic gain isn’t the only benefit of hosting the Final Four, Johnson said. There’s also the long-term marketing exposure and the community pride.
“There’s a real sense of community pride when your home state is hosting these great megaevents.
Favors said more than 185,000 people participated in the fan events in downtown Phoenix during the 2017 Final Four.
“We’ve become nationally known for our proven record to host large-scale megaevents of this nature,” Favors said.
Favors, Phelps and Johnson said they hope they can continue the momentum created by last week’s 2023 Super Bowl Announcement. And convince the NCAA that Phoenix is ready to host another Final Four as well.
“We don’t want to jinx it, but it would be awesome to do another back-to-back (megaevents),” Favors said.
