Huge 12 guys’s, women’s tourneys to stay in K
Mar 12, 2024, 08:54 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo.– The Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball competitions will stay at T-Mobile Center through 2031, commissioner Brett Yormark said Tuesday night, quickly before Texas and Iowa State played for the ladies’s title in the building for the very first time.The women
‘s tournament had long been soft-pedaled the street from the glitzy downtown arena at Local Auditorium, which has incredible history as one of the homes of early NCAA championship games however has grown old over time.One of Yormark
‘s concerns after taking control of leadership of the Huge 12 was to raise the profile of the ladies’s competition, and that suggested moving it to the T-Mobile Center. That also required moving the dates of the championship, with early-round games occurring last week and the title game Tuesday night following the very first two games of the guys’s competition.
“I believe I said to many in 2015, when I came here the very first time to the neighborhood, met many of the leaders, it was a real simple decision when I returned to Dallas that we needed to double down on this neighborhood,” Yormark stated. “It feels like a Super Bowl each time we’re here. The fan assistance is significant. The community is incredible.”
The males’s and women’s competitions were arranged to be played in Kansas City through 2027, so the extension amounts to 4 years. However it likewise comes as the league expands its footprint west with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah replacing Oklahoma and Texas in the league, which provided the Huge 12 other hosting options such as Las Vegas and Phoenix.In truth, the
Huge 12 will be holding its football media days in Las Vegas later on this year.
“We are a national conference now. We remain in 10 states, 4 time zones,” Yormark stated. “When it comes to men’s and females’s basketball, and females’s soccer, this required to be our home. We’re going to football media day in Vegas, which we are delighted about, and there will be other opportunities to move closer to that footprint, however we needed to be in Kansas City.”
In addition to the basketball tournaments, Yormark announced that the Big 12 females’s soccer champion was moving to CPKC Stadium. The first stadium center developed for a females’s expert soccer club in the U.S.– in this case, the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League– is set up to open Saturday when the Current plays Portland.
“It’s an amazing time to be in Kansas City, and it’s a fantastic time to purchase Kansas City,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who has been supportive of an April tally problem to renew a sales tax that would assist fund renovations to Arrowhead Arena, the home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, along with a new downtown ballpark for the Royals.
“The Big 12 Conference is part of Kansas City’s DNA. We all have stories about the Big 12, or if we’re old enough, the Huge Eight here in Kansas City,” Lucas stated. “We’re thrilled to continue to share the story in Kansas City.”
In other news, Yormark stated the lame-duck status of Oklahoma and Texas, which are departing for the SEC after this season, has not created any challenges even as the Huge 12 looks towards the future as a revamped 16-team league.
“Texas and Oklahoma, great contributors to the conference. Been here because Day 1,” Yormark said. “They’re completing strong, undoubtedly, and when the time comes, we’ll want them well. However there’s never ever been a better time to be part of this conference.”
Yormark also indicated that he would favor expanding the NCAA Competition.
“I read what you read, and from what I have actually been informed, and what I read, there could be modest expansion. I think 76 is the number that has actually been out there,” he stated. “The data reveals if you broaden to 76, the power-four conferences will benefit mostly, and that consists of the Huge 12. I’m everything about access. We have the deepest conference in America.”