SPOKANE, Wash.—It’s been nearly a decade since Spokane hosted the NCAA tournament and event coordinators are looking to make it a slam dunk.
Cherie Gwinn, the Senior Director of Events for Spokane Sports, says they’ll be working down to the buzzer to finalize the details of this year’s men’s NCAA tournament.
“It’s heads down and ready to assist those teams, and executing their stay here and ensuring that it is smooth and seamless as they make their way to Spokane,” Gwinn said.
Gwinn adds that the benefits of this tournament span far beyond the walls of the arena, “the impact of bringing in all of these outside universities and teams into the city is going to be huge for our local economy, from hotel night stays to restaurants. So, you’re really going to see a robust downtown poppin’ in these next few days.”
Mayor Lisa Brown says hosting the tournament just fits in with the city’s identity. She hopes visitors will take advantage of everything the Lilac City has to offer, “they will see that this is a great place to live, that we have got that river running through, we’ve got amazing parks and trails, and actually it’s the people, we are friendly and open to new people here.”
However, Gwinn says this weekend is really about creating the ideal competition environment for the players on the court, “this really is a culmination of these athletes’ hard work throughout the year and to be able to know that they worked hard all season to get to this point and know that they are putting their best effort forward.”
Gwinn told NonStop Local they’re already looking ahead and have bid to host the tournament again. Tickets are sold out for the Men’s tournament. However, tickets for the Gonzaga Women’s basketball team are set to go on sale Tuesday.
You can find ticket information here. NCAA Tickets – Gonzaga University Athletics (gozags.com)
