The NCAA has selected Kansas City to host three NCAA Championship Events and Las Vegas as a host site for nine preliminary rounds and finals of predetermined championships in Divisions I, II and III to be held for the 2022-23 through 2025-26 academic years.
The Kansas City Sports Commission and Visit KC, in cooperation with multiple institutional and venue bid partners, submitted 28 bids across five sports. The following championships were awarded to Kansas City:
- 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball – Regionals will be hosted in partnership with the Big 12 Conference at T-Mobile Center, March 23-26, 2023.
- 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be hosted in partnership with the University of Missouri at T-Mobile Center, March 21-23, 2024.
- 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship will be hosted in partnership with the University of Kansas and UMKC at T-Mobile Center, Dec.18-20, 2025.
These three events will generate an estimated economic impact of $35.6 million.
“This is certainly a bright spot in what has been a challenging year for everyone,” said Kathy Nelson, President & CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation.
“Kansas City offers unparalleled hospitality and we consistently deliver the highest quality experience for the student-athletes, coaches and fans that travel to our city to participate in these championships. They help solidify Kansas City’s reputation as one of the best sports cities in the U.S., while generating significant economic impact and raising the visibility of our region.”
“Sports and tourism are significant economic drivers for our community, to the tune of millions each year. And today’s announcement is a culmination of the great work by the Sports Commission and our many destination partners to help build our region’s reputation as a winning city for sports,” said Visit KC Senior Vice President Nathan Hermiston.
“On behalf of KC’s hospitality community of more than 48,000 strong, we look forward to welcoming student athletes, coaches, fans and officials from around the country for these top-tier events that will help showcase our region to the sports world.”
Las Vegas Awarded Nine NCAA Events
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to submit 98 bids to host NCAA Championship Events from Division I, II and III, including tennis, golf, soccer, softball, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, bowling and volleyball.
In addition to bids submitted by the LVCVA, MGM Resorts International partnered with UNLV to apply for events and was awarded the 2023 Division I Men’s Basketball Regional, to be held at T-Mobile Arena. MGM Resorts also collaborated with Las Vegas Events and was awarded the 2026 Frozen Four Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship at T-Mobile Arena.
This was the first time Las Vegas has been permitted to submit bids. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow sports betting nationwide, in May 2019 the NCAA changed its policy, opening the door for Las Vegas to apply to host title events.
For the 2022-23 through 2025-26 academic years, Las Vegas has been selected to host the following events:
- 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Regional, T-Mobile Arena
- 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional, Bear’s Best Las Vegas
- 2023 National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship, South Point Hotel
- 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships, Boulder Creek Golf Club and The Legacy Golf Club
- 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Regional, Spanish Trail Country Club
- 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships, UNLV – Peter Johann Memorial Field
- 2025 NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championships, Boulder Creek Golf Club
- 2026 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships, Boulder Creek Golf Club
- 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship (Frozen Four), T-Mobile Arena
“We’re thrilled with the NCAA’s decision to award nine events to Las Vegas over the 2022-23 to 2025-26 school years,” said Steve Hill, CEO/President of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“Las Vegas will provide both the student athletes and their fans an unparalleled experience. Welcoming events of this caliber is important to the destination as we continue to evolve into the Sports Capital of the World.”
“We are thrilled to welcome upcoming NCAA Championships to Las Vegas and we cannot wait to showcase our great community to participating student-athletes, coaches, their fans and the nation!” said Desiree Reed-Francois, UNLV Director of Athletics, “We are grateful for the partnerships with our local and regional leaders to ensure that Las Vegas is as well-equipped as any city in the nation to host world-class events such as NCAA Championship events, and today’s announcement further solidifies Las Vegas as the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World. We also look forward to our own UNLV student-athletes competing for national titles in our hometown. Today is a great day for UNLV and for the City of Las Vegas.”
“Today’s announcement by the NCAA is another successful step in establishing Las Vegas as the Sports Capital of the World,” said George Kliavkoff, President of Entertainment & Sports for MGM Resorts.
“T-Mobile Arena and MGM Resorts have hosted a wide variety of large scale, championship sporting events and we’re confident that we’ll deliver a world class Las Vegas experience for the student-athletes, their families and the fans.”
For a complete list of championship events sites selected, click here.
