If you are a Philadelphia college student, this year wasn't your only chance to see the NCAA basketball Tournament in your home town.
That's because, as the NCAA announced this week, March Madness will be returning to the city in 2009, with first- and second-round matchups of the 65-team championship being hosted by Saint Joseph's and played at the Wachovia Center.
"We submitted [bids] for the regionals and as well for the finals ... and we got the first and second rounds," said Sarah Hines of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, an organization that aims at bringing sporting events to the city. The regionals instead went to Boston, Indianapolis, Memphis and Glendale, Ariz. As was announced three years ago, the 2009 Final Four will be held in Detroit and the 2010 finals in Indianapolis.
The Philadelphia games will be played on March 19 and 21.
"Saint Joseph's is just one of the city's institutions which has brought high-level events to this area over the years. It is a tribute to the region's fan base, the quality facilities and the outstanding convention and visitors bureau that we can continue to do this," said St. Joe's athletic director Don DiJulia in a statement.
"In March [of 2006] we hosted three sellout sessions at the Wachovia Center, and the NCAA obviously felt great about all that Philadelphia has to offer," said Larry Needle, executive director of the Philadelphia Sports Congress.
"We estimate that the event will generate nearly 5,000 hotel room nights and an economic impact of almost $10 million for the region, not to mention tremendous national exposure." While the exposure may be tremendous, the dollar figure attached to the games, by contrast, is less than half of what was estimated as the economic impact of the NCAA men's lacrosse championships held at Lincoln Financial Field this year.
Other schools that will be hosting play on that weekend include Dayton, Florida International, Minnesota, Washington State and Oregon.
Hines added that the fact that the city was awarded the rights to host during the opening rounds rather than, say, the Final Four was actually a better thing for the city because it would involve more teams and thus generate a greater influx of money into Philadelphia.
Last year, the Wachovia Center also hosted some of the tourney's opening games, seeing such marquee programs as UConn, Kentucky and Arizona come to town. However, the host for last season's matchups was the entire Atlantic 10 conference, of which St. Joe's is a member.
According to Hines, Penn was involved in a bid to serve as a host for the women's tournament in 2009. "We also bid for the women's" tournament, she said. "And the women's location was the Palestra. But we did not get that bid." The NCAA awarded those opening-round game rights to such cities as Piscataway, N.J.; Lubbock, Texas; College Park, Md.; and Baton Rouge, La.
The Wachovia Center has not yet given details on future ticket sales.
The announcement comes at a time when the sports community in Philadelphia is attempting to assert the city as a prime destination for events like this. The press release detailing the 2009 tournament took special note of the fact that this season's men's lacrosse championships were held in Philadelphia and that the city had previously been named the best college basketball town in the nation by The Sporting News.
