SPOKANE, Wash – The Spokane Public Facilities District says parking will be “business as usual”, even with a busy weekend ahead.
With the NCAA Tournament, the Pacific Northwest Qualifier volleyball tournament at The Podium and Convention Center, and the Velocity game at ONE Spokane Stadium, thousands of fans and visitors will be downtown this weekend.
The Spokane Arena holds over 12 thousand people during basketball games. However, the NCAA sells tickets for two games at a time, and they clear the stadium between the first and second sessions of games. This could mean thousands of fans both arriving and leaving the stadium all at the same time.
Matt Meyers, Director of Entertainment for the Spokane Public Facilities District, said that many of those who will be at the arena won’t be getting there by car.
“We have about 6,000 to 7,000 tickets sold here locally, but the rest of those, 4,000 to 5,000 are to teams that are coming in from outside the city. So again, walking, taking an Uber, all of that. Nice thing about all the facilities is they are in walking distance from all these hotels,” Meyers said.
The events do overlap, but having the NCAA Tournament on Friday and Sunday with the Velocity match Saturday allows it to be a standalone event and makes parking much easier, Meyers said.
Many fans, including Spokane resident Parker Fulkerson, plan on getting here early and trusting that spots will be available.
“Luckily, this parking lot is pretty big, and I’ve been to a few events here and they do a good job of managing the traffic so I’m kind of relying on the event staff to do a good job, but I think they will,” Fulkerson said.
There are plenty of options within a couple blocks of the arena, and even walking through Riverfront Park will make finding a spot much easier, Meyers said.
“The easiest thing, with the weather being as nice as it has been, I know it’s supposed to turn a little bit going into tomorrow, but being able to park downtown, eat before you come up here if you want to and then just walk across the park [to the stadium],” Meyers said.
