March Madness Remains a Big Deal in Small Divisions

Thursday tips off the Sweet Sixteen for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with the women’s action picking up on Friday, shining a spotlight on a total of six cities throughout the United States. The winners of those regionals will head to either San Antonio or Tampa Bay, basking in the glow and national attention of being in the Final Four.

But what about those teams that have already qualified for the Final Four and been part of the competition? Do you know about those teams or where they played? While Division I makes up the vast majority of March Madness coverage, what goes unnoticed by many is the Division II and Division III Tournaments.

For those athletes, schools and families, those moments are as much a thrill of a lifetime as for a Division I man or woman. For the destinations that host those events, they know that matters all the more in putting together an organized, efficient, athlete-first experience that fans both locally and visiting can appreciate.

Fort Wayne Grows Hosting Reputation

Before 2019, Fort Wayne, Indiana, had never hosted an NCAA basketball championship. Now, the city has become a regular on the schedule and fine-tuned its hosting approach.

Visit Fort Wayne welcomed the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship March 20–22, with the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum as the site for the national semifinals and championship game as Trinity (Connecticut) held off New York University 64-60 for the title.

During the 2017 bid cycle, Visit Fort Wayne strategized on which sports — and divisions — they would focus bids on. Division III basketball made the most sense for their hosting capabilities and for what the community could support.

“We just thought with the NCAA headquarters being in Indianapolis and Indiana being such a strong basketball state, that we were going to try and see if we could get them here,” said Jazmin Zavala, Visit Fort Wayne sports sales manager.  “Since our first year hosting in 2019 we’ve really gained a great relationship with the NCAA and the D-III basketball championship managers. They’ve been impressed with what we’re able to produce. And that goes a lot to the Memorial Coliseum as the host venue and Manchester University as the host institution.”

When Fort Wayne hosted its first semifinals and final in 2019, the estimated economic impact for the community was around $1 million.

“It really carries into a large impact,” Zavala said. “In large metropolitan cities, it could maybe be a fraction of their revenue. But for us, that’s a really large economic impact number when it relates to sports.”

Including this year, Fort Wayne has hosted the past four men’s D-III semifinals and finals. Zavala says once they got their foot in the door in 2019, they took full advantage of showing what the community is capable of when hosting an NCAA championship.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that the student-athlete experience is something that the NCAA prioritizes and requires of host cities,” Zavala said. “So we not only want to produce that, but we also want to produce that at a higher level than anybody else.

“This past year we’ve decided to elevate some of those activations around the community. Those main streets leading to the Coliseum are all decorated with NCAA décor, so when those athletes get to Fort Wayne, that’s essentially us rolling out that red carpet for them.”

The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum plays a big part in making the event feel big time. It has 12,000 seats — many of which are curtained off — and one million square feet of total space. The arena is attached to an expo/conference center and allows the teams to do ancillary events such as community service initiatives after practices.

Next year, when the NCAA holds all three divisions of its men’s championship game in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne will receive the D-III men’s quarterfinals and semifinals. Beginning in 2027, Fort Wayne will host the men’s and women’s D-II Elite Eight in 2027 and 2028.

“We’ll go from four teams this year to eight next year to 16 in 2027,” Zavala said. “It’s exciting because that expanded revenue carries over into the hotels and restaurants —without them this event wouldn’t be successful and the community wouldn’t be able to host it.”

Pittsburgh Rallies Around Division II

The Steel City is no stranger to hosting NCAA basketball and other championship events, having hosted the Division I early rounds multiple times in the past along with the 2022 Division III women’s championships at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and 2023 NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship at UPMC Events Center.

The ability to make each event feel similar is the goal for SportsPittsburgh, said Vice President Jim Britt. Wednesday’s Division II women’s semifinals saw Grand Valley State (Michigan) beat Pittsburgh State (Kansas) 68-61 while Cal State-Dominguez Hills beat Union (Tennessee) 68-50.

Friday’s championship will be 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN Plus. Pittsburgh also hosted Monday’s Elite Eight matchups.

“I’d even say that we have an opportunity to be a little more hands on with these events and there are a few more opportunities to get our local community involved,” he said. “Whether that is local national anthem singers and halftime entertainment or the participating teams volunteering throughout the city, it’s something our entire community rallies around.”

From the time teams arrive at Pittsburgh International Airport, local organizers work to provide event signage on site and recognition wherever teams go from the hotel to other events. SportsPittsburgh is working with Tickets for Kids, Special Olympics of Western PA, St. Anthony School Programs and Big Brothers, Big Sisters to be a part of the experience with teams spending time volunteering in the community ahead of the competition as well.

“Hosting this event allows us to showcase Pittsburgh to eight new teams, fan bases and media that traditionally are not in are market on a regular basis,” Britt said. “We hope that they have such a great time while here for the Championship, that it will make them want to come back as visitors.”

As visitors come to town, SportsPittsburgh will be prepared in part after a year’s worth of meetings with the NCAA and local partners on how to make the tournament go smoothly from an operational standpoint.

“We’re lucky to have established great partnerships that work seamlessly to offer the best experience to all incoming teams, families and fans,” Britt said. “This way, they can expect what we consider to be our signature event right from the point that they find out they’ll be moving closer to the championship. All they need to do is show up in Pittsburgh and compete.”

And when they show up, the families and team supporters also will — mixing in with local fans who want to watch some national championship basketball, no matter the level.

“With the nature of this particular championship having eight teams from different regions all across the United States, it’s hard to gauge what kind of fanbases you might get and how far they’ll travel to watch their team play,” Britt said. “What we do know is that Pittsburgh sports fans love to support high-level championship caliber play, so our team puts effort into marketing locally well in advance as well as strategically targeting key regional drive markets to bolster an audience no matter who is playing.”

Salem Pivots to Women’s D-III Hoops

Before Fort Wayne took over the D-III men’s basketball championship in 2019, the event had been hosted in Salem, Virginia, for 21 out of 22 years.

So in 2019, Salem switched to hosting Division III women’s basketball. It was also supposed to be the site in 2021, before Covid cancelled that tournament.

Now, Salem will have the 2025 and 2026 women’s D-III semifinals and finals at the Cregger Center, with this year’s addition having taken place March 20–22 with New York University beating Smith College (Massachusetts). The event may change, but the mindset does not.

“Every championship is special and we want all of the student athletes that come to Salem to leave with a great experience, even if they don’t win the national championship trophy,” said Carey Harveycutter, City of Salem director of tourism. “We want that team that lost the first day to leave Salem with a good experience that they’d like to come back sometime, whether it’s for a basketball championship, or they want to hike on the Appalachian Trail.”

Harveycutter has worked for the city of Salem for decades and says the secret for the region to put on a great show everybody supports it from city administration, city manager, elected city council — even the mayor attends the banquet and comes to the games.

“The teams like the southern hospitality,” Harveycutter said. “If they had to go to Walmart to get something they forgot and the person working there says, ‘Hey, have a great day,’ and they genuinely mean it. The players like going out to dinner and the waitstaff will say, ‘Hey, how’d you do? When do you play? Who are you playing?’ It’s the little things like that.”

Visit Salem puts its attention on student athletes and their experience. When players arrive at their hotel, they have a gift basket from Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge with snacks and local candy waiting. There’s a banquet in nearby Roanoke, which leads to the athletes receiving vouchers for a local candy shop and playing in a 200-game arcade which is opened for free.

“Anytime we can do events for multiple years, it’s very good for the community,” said Harveycutter. “Because you have so many people that overlap, so many teams are multiple-year participants. After you put on a good product, it’s easier to sell it to the fans the second year.”

The Cregger Center — a 2,500-seat venue that opened less than a decade ago — provides a perfect backdrop for D-II or D-III basketball events that typically net between $1–1.2 million in economic impact.

“It’s so dependent on the teams that come,” Harveycutter said. “If we get a team that’s within a couple hundred miles that can drive in and the students can come, it draws more. We’re playing a lot of times during spring break and you worry about that. But we get good local support. We get a lot of local teams that come to it and add to the economic impact.”