The NCAA announced that the formal process for identifying the Women's Final Four host cities for 2027-2031 has begun.
Bid specifications are now available at ncaa.org/bids to prospective Women's Final Four hosts, with the intention of announcing in November the next round of Women's Final Four cities.
"We're excited to begin what we expect to be a competitive bid process," said Nina King, vice president and director of athletics at Duke and chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee. "The Women's Final Four continues to be one of America's top sporting events, and we expect great interest from hosting communities."
The 2022 Women's Final Four will be played in Minneapolis (Target Center), followed by Dallas (American Airlines Center) in 2023; Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) in 2024; Tampa, Florida (Amalie Arena) in 2025; and Phoenix (Footprint Center) in 2026.
Prospective bid cities have until March 11 to submit a declaration of intent to bid, and they must submit a draft budget, summary of hotel availability and rates, and adherence and exceptions to the competition venue agreement by April 15. When evaluating prospective hosts, the committee will review each city's competition venue, transportation and lodging, and the region's overall commitment to the event. Venues must hold at least 17,000 fans.
After the NCAA women's basketball staff meets with representatives of each city's host committee in late April and early May, the Women's Basketball Committee will announce finalists in May.
Completed bids are due in late June, and the committee and staff will review each bid before making site visits to each finalist city in late summer. Representatives from each finalist city will make in-person presentations to the committee in late October/early November. The Division I Women's Basketball Committee then will make recommendations to the Division I Women's Basketball Oversight Committee, followed by the announcement of the winning bids in November.
It was announced recently that the Division I Women's and Men's Basketball Committees would continue to conduct separate Women's and Men's Final Fours in the next round of site selections for both events. Read full story.
