#15 San Antonio
▶ RÉSUMÉ: Annual events include: San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo (since 1949); college football Valero Alamo Bowl (1993); and All-American Bowl presented by American Family Insurance national high school football allstar game (2002). Other recent events include: 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s and 2021 Women’s Basketball Final Fours; 2023 Naismith Hall of Fame Division I college basketball tournament; 2023 USA Flag Football UA World Championships; 2023 National Sports Safety and Security Conference & Exhibition; and 2023 Forcecon Gaming Expo & Esports Championship.
▶ RECENT WINS: 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s and 2029 Women’s Basketball Final Fours.
▶ HISTORY: Before the city-owned Alamodome hosts next year’s NCAA Men’s Final Four (the event’s fifth visit to Mission City) and its fourth Women’s Final Four in 2029, the 31-year-old building will undergo a $29 million makeover. The city gains national television exposure every year during ESPN’s coverage of the Valero Alamo Bowl. Additionally, NBC and Peacock’s New Year’s weekend coverage of the All-American Bowl is annually the most-watched high school sporting event on TV. The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, a two-week event that draws 1.5 million visitors annually to Frost Bank Center, wrapped up its 75th year in February.
▶ VENUES: The 3,100-seat, $70 million Boeing Center at Tech Port was designed to host esports events. The San Antonio Spurs’ $500 million training facility, Victory Capital Performance Center, opened last fall next to Six Flag Fiesta Texas with 500,000 square feet of event-use space.
▶ FORWARD PROGRESS: Half a dozen hotels are under construction in the city, including the $158 million renovation at the 391-room InterContinental San Antonio on the celebrated River Walk, and the new The Monarch, a 200-room hotel at Hemisfair, the 1968 World’s Fair site.
▶ STAY AND PLAY: The River Walk, also known as Paseo del Rio, is a 15mile must-do, as is, of course, the site of the Alamo.