NCAA tourney to be held in Texas
San Antonio region to host; Final Four to be at Alamodome
SAN ANTONIO — The full 2021 NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament will be held in San Antonio, the NCAA confirmed Friday, marking the biggest event in the city since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last March.
Sixty-four teams will fill an estimated 35,000 hotel room nights in San Antonio, competing in 63 games televised on ESPN networks between March 21 and April 4, culminating with the Final Four in the Alamodome.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the effect on the region is “immeasurable.”
“We jumped at the opportunity, knowing not only that San Antonio is the best tournament site in the nation, but that we have proven the ability to host events safely during this very challenging time,” Nirenberg said.
He compared the NCAA’s ap
proach to COVID-19 health and safety protocols to the NBA’s “bubble” last year in Orlando, Fla.
The NCAA said no decision has been reached regarding fan attendance.
Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball, said those determinations will be based on the health guidelines in each county, as well as limitations in place at each venue. The first priority, Holzman said, is accommodating up to six friends and family for each athlete, if possible.
“The environment in which we are living every day is dramatically different, which means our tournament will clearly have a different feel to it,” Holzman said. “But we’re confident we can safely conduct this event despite the challenges we’re all facing.”
Colleen Bridger, assistant city manager, said the NCAA’s guidelines include seven negative tests for the members of each team’s party prior to travel to San
Antonio via private charter.
After the field is selected March 15, teams will travel with a maximum of 34 individuals, arriving in San Antonio during the following two days.
Regular testing will also be conducted on site, with players under guidelines to minimize social interaction. Occupancy in selected hotels will be limited to only team personnel subject to testing, with all practices taking place on nine courts in the Convention Center or the two courts at the Alamodome.
Opening-round games March 21-22 will be split between the Alamodome, the Bill Greehey Arena at St. Mary’s University, the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas State University’s Events Center in San Marcos and the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Convocation Center.
The second round will be held March 23-24 at the three San Antonio venues, with teams converging on the Alamodome for the Sweet 16 on March 27-28, the Elite Eight on March 2930 and the Final Four from April 2-4.
Holzman said many of the NCAA’s specific testing and medical protocols are expected to be finalized next week.
Teams playing in San Marcos or Austin will travel to the venue by bus on the day of the game.
“This is not being designed as an event where a bunch of people are congregating together,” Bridger said. “This is being very well managed and orchestrated to avoid that.”
Nirenberg said the Alamodome’s success hosting an announced crowd of 10,822 for the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 stands as the “high-water mark” for public attendance during the pandemic.
“There are no public ticket sales at this time, and any determinations otherwise will be based on the conditions at the time,” Nirenberg said. “At this time, with regard to the tournament, it’s only the players’ families that will be in attendance. But we will make those determinations, again, because it’s a city venue, closer to the event based on the conditions that are present health-wise at the time.”
The tournament was originally slated to take place at 16 campus locations and four regional sites — Austin; Albany, N.Y.; Cincinnati; and Spokane, Wash. — before converging in San Antonio for the Final Four.
The NCAA announced Dec. 14 that the tournament would instead be held in one geographic area to limit the risk of COVID-19 spread, with San Antonio as the only site mentioned for consideration.
The NCAA reached a similar decision last month regarding the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, electing to hold the entire event in the Indianapolis region.
Holzman said San Antonio was an advantageous location for the women’s tournament because the organizing committee for the Final Four was already in place. The city has proved capable of holding largescale events, hosting the women’s Final Four in 2002 and 2010 and welcoming the men’s Final Four for the fourth time in 2018.
When the NCAA began exploring options for hosting the tournament at a single site, Nirenberg said, San Antonio said yes “without hesitation.”
San Antonio Sports chief operating officer Jenny Carnes said the organizing committee never felt daunted by the task of staging the entire tournament. When the possibility began to seem more realistic in November, Carnes said, she and her staff assembled a proposal within a week.
San Antonio Sports is one of the tournament’s host institutions, along with UTSA and the University of the Incarnate Word, where Carnes played basketball.
“The opportunity is beyond exciting for me. It’s a tremendous thing for San Antonio right now, and our team quickly went into action,” Carnes said. “It’s something that has never happened before, and will likely never happen again. And the fact that San Antonio gets to do it is pretty incredible.”