List of NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament venues

The following is a list of venues that have hosted the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Venues that have not yet hosted, but have been officially announced as future tournament sites, are also included.

University of Dayton Arena, in Dayton, Ohio, has hosted more tournament games than any other venue.

Los Angeles Sports Arena

Patten Gymnasium, in Evanston, Illinois, hosted the first championship game in 1939.

Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis

Freedom Hall in Louisville

Five Final Fours have been at New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri

The 1925 Madison Square Garden in New York City hosted six Final Fours in the 1940s.

The Palestra in Philadelphia

Final Four Trivia

• The last time the Final Four was hosted out of a now-defunct rotation ^{[nb 1]} of Arlington, Texas (Cowboys Stadium), Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Dome), Detroit, Michigan (Ford Field), Houston, Texas (Reliant Stadium), Indianapolis, Indiana (Lucas Oil Stadium), New Orleans, Louisiana (Mercedes-Benz Superdome), Minneapolis, Minnesota (Metrodome/Vikings Stadium), and St. Louis, Missouri (Edward Jones Dome) was San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome) in 2008. The last time the Final Four was hosted outside of the aforementioned states was in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1999.
  • The last time the Final Four was hosted on the West Coast of the United States was in Seattle, Washington in 1995.
  • The last time the Final Four was hosted on the East Coast of the United States was in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1996.
  • The last time the Final Four was hosted in a state west of Texas was Seattle in 1995; the last time the Final Four was hosted in a western state other than Washington State was Denver, Colorado in 1990. The 2017 Final Four will be held in Glendale, Arizona.
  • The last time the Final Four was hosted in a southern state other than Louisiana or Georgia was in Florida in 1999.
  • The last time the Final Four was hosted in a northern state other than Michigan, Indiana, or Minnesota was in New Jersey in 1996.
  • The westernmost Final Four was in Seattle (1949, 1952, 1984, 1989, and 1995); the easternmost Final Four was in New York City (1943–1948; 1950).
  • The northernmost Final Four was in Minneapolis (1951, 1992, 2001); the southernmost Final Four was in St. Petersburg (1999). The 2019 Final Four will be held in Minneapolis.
  • In terms of regions, as of 2015, the Final Four has been played in the western United States (west of the Mississippi River) 54% of the time (41/76), but only 17% of the time when Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Texas are excluded (13/76); the eastern United States (east of the Mississippi River) 45% of the time (34/76).
  • As of 2015, the Final Four has been played in the northern United States (north of Tennessee) 41% of the time (31/76) and the southern United States (including Texas, California, Louisiana, and Georgia) 58% of the time (44/76).
• 29 states (58% of the United States) and DC have never hosted the Final Four, as of 2015: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
• The last time an NCAA Tournament Final was not held in a domed stadium was in 1996 (The Meadowlands), which also marked the last time the Final Four was held at a facility that was the regular home of an NCAA Division I basketball team (at the time, the Meadowlands hosted the home games of Seton Hall University). The last time the Final Four was held on a college campus was in 1983, when the University of New Mexico hosted the event at The Pit, then officially known as University Arena. The only other college venue to have hosted the Final Four since 1983 was Rupp Arena in 1985, home to the University of Kentucky but located in downtown Lexington instead of the UK campus.

Tournament Games Trivia

• University of Dayton Arena has hosted the most tournament games.
• Las Vegas is the largest city in the U.S. that has never hosted an NCAA Tournament game.
• Twelve states have never hosted any tournament games at all: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.
• Mississippi has been banned from hosting NCAA Tournament games because of its stance on the Confederate flag.
• North Carolina since 2016 has been banned from hosting NCAA tournament games because of NCAA objections over the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, more commonly known as "House Bill 2".
• Nevada is the only state banned from hosting NCAA tournament games in any sport because this state allows betting on individual sports matches. New Jersey was banned, but the NCAA lifted the ban against New Jersey schools being allowed to host tournament games or championships sanctioned by college sports' governing body. In a statement issued, the NCAA said the court ruling determined that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 was constitutional and continues to outlaw sports betting nationwide, excluding a few states.^[1]
• The only current NBA arenas in the U.S. to never have hosted are the Target Center (Timberwolves), Philips Arena (Hawks), Toyota Center (Rockets), and Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Pacers). All are in metropolitan areas with domed stadiums that either previously hosted or are slated to host NCAA Finals. Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the recently opened Golden 1 Center are slated to host in 2017, along with Philips Arena in 2018.
• Among current NHL arenas in the U.S., the only ones never to have hosted are the Gila River Arena (Coyotes), Xcel Energy Center (Wild), Joe Louis Arena (Red Wings) and BB&T Center (Panthers). All are in metropolitan areas with another venue that has hosted NCAA Tournament games, and all but the BB&T Center are in metropolitan areas with domed stadiums that either previously hosted or are slated to host NCAA Finals. Little Caesars Arena, Joe Louis Arena's replacement, is slated to host in 2018.

See also

• List of basketball arenas by capacity
• List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas

References