NCAA Women's Final Four Bid Cities Release

June 4th, 2008

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CONTACT: Rick Nixon
Associate Director for Division I Women’s Basketball Championship
317/917-6539  


12 PROSPECTIVE CITIES SUBMIT BIDS TO HOST A FUTURE WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR

INDIANAPOLIS---Seven cities with past Women’s Final Four hosting experience are among the 12 that have submitted bids to the NCAA to serve as hosts for the 2012-16 Women’s Final Fours. Finalists will be determined in August and five cities will be awarded the event in November. The NCAA received bids from past host cities, including Cleveland (2007), Indianapolis (2005), Kansas City (1998), New Orleans (1991, 2004), Philadelphia (2000), San Antonio (2002) and Tampa (2008). Cities submitting bid information to host the Women’s Final Four for the first time include Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston and Nashville. “We are very pleased with the number and quality of bids that we received,” said Judy Southard, senior associate director of athletics at Louisiana State University and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “As we continue to grow our game it’s exciting to see that seven cities that have hosted in the past have a strong interest in bringing this extraordinary event back to their city, and we are equally pleased for the future of our event to have five new cities which have submitted bids to become part of this impressive family of host cities.” After submitting a declaration of intent to bid last November, representatives of each city attended a bid orientation session in January, before meeting with the NCAA staff for individual planning and progress updates at the Women’s Final Four in April. Over the next several weeks, NCAA staff will compile information such as hotel community information, local organizing committee agreements and competition venue agreements for review by members of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. After finalists are determined in August, site visits to each finalist city will be conducted in September and October. Finalist cities will make an in-person presentation to the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee in November and the 2012-16 Women’s Final Four cities will be awarded, pending approval by the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet. Cities that submitted bids for the 2012-16 Women’s Final Fours include:  

City, State	Facility
Cleveland, Ohio	Quicken Loans Arena
Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena
Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center
Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center
Houston, Texas	Toyota Center
Indianapolis, Indiana	Lucas Oil Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri	Sprint Center
Nashville, Tennessee	Sommet Center
New Orleans, Louisiana	New Orleans Arena
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wachovia Center
San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome
Tampa, Florida	St. Pete Times Forum

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Contact Name: Emily Yates
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