A look at the games, the bid and what’s next
March Madness is coming to Memphis.
The University of Memphis was one of eight sites selected to host first and second round games of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, with the games set to be played at Fedexforum.
Jeff Crane is the deputy athletic director at the University of Memphis. He said being part of the tournament is great exposure for U of M and the city.
“One of the things, it’s a way we can serve our city,” he said. “We can bring a high-caliber event to this city for the people in Memphis to be able to watch fantastic college basketball. It’s also a great opportunity for us to showcase our city and showcase our university in front of thousands of fans, who are traveling across the country to Memphis to cheer on their team.
“There is also the national television opportunity, where for three or four days the eyes of the country are going to be on Memphis. We also get to showcase our hospitality and all the wonderful things happening around our city.”
Here’s what we know about the NCAA Tournament in Memphis, the bidding process and when March Madness could hit the Bluff City again.
How many NCAA Tournament games will be played at Fedexforum in Memphis?
The tournament games on the horizon will be played at the 18,000-plus seat Fedexforum on March 22 and March 24. Four first round games will be played on March 22, with two second round games on March 24.
This marks the first time the NCAA Tournament has come to Memphis since 2017. The eight teams coming to Memphis will be announced during Selection Sunday on March 17.
Is this year a makeup for when Memphis didn’t get to host South Regional games in 2021?
U of M was supposed to host the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball South Regional at the Fedexforum, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented that from happening in 2021. In an effort to safely execute the event, each round of the NCAA Tournament was held at sites in Indiana with the championship game played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
But Crane said U of M being selected to host games for 2024 wasn’t a makeup from 2021.
“This (2024) bid was unrelated to that,” he said. “The fact that we missed the opportunity to host in 2021, certainly and probably helped our chances to get it this particular year to host. However, the NCAA made it pretty clear that everybody needed to bid again. It was just an unfortunate impact that we and everybody else experienced.”
He said sites are typically awarded NCAA duties every four years. The U of M received the nod in October 2020 to be a host site in 2024.
What goes into a bid to host NCAA Tournament games?
According to Crane, the university worked in partnership with Memphis Tourism and Fedexforum to create a comprehensive bid package to host the tournament this year. It included putting together a proposed budget as well as promotional and ticket sales plans for the NCAA.
What is the University of Memphis’ role in hosting NCAA Tournament games?
Crane said the university’s main role is to assist with the operations of the tournament from coordination of teams’ bands and cheerleaders to coordination of teams’ transportation and hotels in Memphis.
“We’ve had a handful of staff members that have been working on this for about a year, and probably for the last six months, we had probably a dozen staff people working on this,” he said. “During the week of the tournament, we’ll probably have two dozen staff people involved in the execution of the tournament. The people at Fedexforum because of the requirement of the building are a huge part of this and they’re running the operation of the building, so we lean on them pretty heavily for assistance from making sure the court gets put down to having appropriate security in the building.”
How many hotel rooms are needed for NCAA Tournament host sites?
Malvin Gipson is the executive vice president of convention sales, sports and services for Memphis Tourism. He leads the Memphis Sports Council for Memphis Tourism.
Gipson said for Memphis to host the tournament’s first and second round games that it had to meet hotel requirements by the NCAA, which included blocking thousands of hotel rooms in Downtown Memphis and East Memphis.
“People coming for the tournament are expecting fullservice hotels, and we only have a few full-service hotels Downtown, but we have more out east that we can utilize,” Gipson said.
Crane said there are about a half dozen hotels that will be used throughout the city for various reasons, including for media and teams. He said NCAA representatives came to Memphis about a year ago to tour and check hotels where teams will be staying.
How many Memphis hotel rooms have been added since 2017?
An abundance of new hotel rooms has been added since Memphis hosted the South Regional in 2017. Chuck Pinkowski, owner of hospitality consulting firm Pinkowski & Co., said 2,254 new hotel rooms were added to the Memphis metro hotel market between December 2017 and December 2023. Citing data from hotel analytics firm Smith Travel Research (STR), he said the number of hotel rooms climbed from 23,381 to 25,635 in the market, which includes Memphis, West Memphis and Desoto County.
Through data gathered from STR there were 23,381 hotel rooms open in the Memphis metro hotel market that includes Memphis, West Memphis, and Desoto County at the end of December 2017. Pinkowski said by the end of December 2023 there were 25,635 hotel rooms open. He noted from December 2017 to December 2023, that there were a net increase of 2,254 new hotel rooms added during that sevenyear period.
As for the Downtown Memphis’ hotel market, Pinkowski said 3,232 hotel rooms were open in December 2017, compared to 4,080 in December 2023 — an increase of 848 new hotel rooms.
When could Memphis host
NCAA Tournament games again?
Crane said U of M plans to put in a bid to host the NCAA Men’s tournament in 2029 and 2030. The process for organizations to start bidding for those years begins in January 2025. The university plans to bid to host a regional as well as first- and second-round games in one of those years.
Does Memphis plan to bid on
NCAA tournaments for other sports?
Crane said the U of M also plans to place future bids to host the NCAA tennis tournaments at the new $26.5 million Leftwich Tennis Center that opened in November. The center serves as the home for both the University of Memphis men’s and women’s tennis teams.
Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.