ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
With Big Ten tournament going to Minneapolis, could Columbus or other cities host in future?
The college basketball season comes to an end tonight as UConn faces San Diego State in the national championship game in Houston. (Check it out on CBS at 9 p.m. Eastern time.)
Once again, the city of Columbus was an important stop on the way to the NCAA Final Four. Columbus hosted first weekend match-ups in both the men’s and women’s tournaments with the men downtown at Nationwide Arena and the women at OSU’s Value City Arena.
The Big Ten tournament began with the 1997-98 season and has been predominantly held in Chicago and Indianapolis. The United Center in Chicago held it each of the first four years and has hosted it 11 times, including this season. Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis – under various names – has hosted it 12 times. Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis also hosted it in the Covid-impacted 2020-21 season.
With Maryland and Rutgers added to the Big Ten for the 2014-15 school year, the tournament was held in Washington, D.C., in 2017 and at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in 2018.
This past year, the Big Ten announced it would branch out to a new frontier as it contracted with the city of Minneapolis and the Target Center – home of the NBA’s Minneapolis Timberwolves – to host the women’s tournament this year and the men’s tournament in March 2024.
Accordingly, that announcement has given rise to speculation and maybe some hope that some of the Big Ten’s other “old line” major cities could also be considered to host these tournaments in future years. These potential host sites could include Detroit, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Columbus.
As it stands, the 2024 Big Ten men’s and women’s tournaments will both be held at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The conference will be calling for bids on those tournaments for future years.
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THE CASE FOR COLUMBUS
Fans packed Nationwide Arena for NCAA men's opening round action in March (Photo: 247Sports)
Nationwide Arena opened in downtown Columbus in 2000 as the home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. It has hosted first weekend NCAA men’s tournament games on six occasions, beginning in 2004 and continuing through the games earlier this month. Each of those tournaments brought eight college teams and their fanbases to Columbus.
Nationwide Arena also hosted the NCAA women’s basketball Final Four in April 2018. It is estimated that Final Four generated nearly $22 million in visitor spending in the city in 2018. Columbus has already been tapped to host the women’s Final Four again in 2027.
According to Columbus Business First, Columbus sold the most tickets of all of the NCAA men’s first weekend sites for the 2023 tournament. Nationwide Arena was sold out for the two Friday sessions and one on Sunday, with nearly 60,000 tickets sold — roughly 19,564 tickets per session.
"We're just excited and blessed that everyone in the city, as well as all the markets that are close by, came to Columbus to enjoy some great basketball," Nationwide Arena general manager Mike Gatto told Columbus Business First.
"I say it sometimes tongue-in-cheek, but I do mean it, the vision for Columbus Arena Sports and Entertainment — that's our group that oversees both Nationwide and the (Schottenstein Center), as well as Ohio Stadium — is for Columbus to be the sports and entertainment capital of the Midwest, and I really feel like we're on our way there."
Just sayin': Yeah, it would be great to see a future B1G Basketball Tournament in Columbus.