The Atlantic 10 Conference has announced a partnership with the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority in Virginia to bring the 2024 and 2025 A-10 Women’s Basketball Championships to the 3,500-seat Henrico Sports & Events Center.
The A-10 is one of seven conferences where the women’s basketball championship operates at a neutral site as a standalone event. The A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship will be the first collegiate championship in the new arena.
“We are absolutely ecstatic to partner with the Atlantic 10 to bring all the excitement and fun of March Madness to Henrico County and our region,” said Dennis Bickmeier, executive director of Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority. “The Women’s Basketball Championship is precisely the kind of prestigious, high-impact event that the Henrico Sports & Events Center is designed to attract. It will deliver a strong economic impact, particularly for local hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and it will give local hoops fans an opportunity to watch outstanding, high-stakes college basketball in a beautiful, intimate setting.”
The 2024 event will be the seventh time in the last decade the championship has been hosted in the Richmond region. From 2014 through 2018, the tournament was played at the Richmond Coliseum and in 2021, VCU hosted the league tournament on campus at the Siegel Center.
“We are excited to welcome the A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship back to the Richmond region,” said Jerrine Lee, vice president of sales at Richmond Region Tourism. “Along with our partners at the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, we look forward to rolling out the red carpet to teams, staff and fans as they experience the brand-new Henrico Sports & Events Center.”
The arena, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2023, features a high-tech LED scoreboard, four team locker rooms, two locker room areas for officials and ancillary meeting and support space. Full modern broadcast connections will provide for enhanced television and streaming coverage of the championship.
“The Henrico Sports & Events Center is a perfect fit for the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship. It’s a new, state-of-the-art arena with all of the amenities to provide our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans with a first-class championship experience,” said A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “It allows us to continue to host one of our premier events at a neutral venue, which is important to our membership. Additionally, the Richmond region community and media has provided extensive support for A-10 championships, making this is a win-win for the league and Henrico County.”