Jeff Metcalfe
Whether South Carolina women’s basketball earns its fourth national championship Sunday or UCLA captures its first NCAA title and second overall including the foundational AIAW era, Phoenix seems certain to come away a winner as a first-time Women’s Final Four host.
Semifinal games Friday were close deep into the fourth quarter and included defending champion Connecticut suffering its first loss. Though attendance (15,865) was lowest since 2016 discounting 2021 (Covid restrictions), Friday was a sellout primarily because broadcast needs caused a reduction in seating capacity (listed at 16,795).
Participants, media and fans are predictably happy with an all-downtown layout for games and free ancillary events like Tourney Town and Four It All Fest at Phoenix Convention Center. Basketball and baseball fans, taking in the Diamondbacks vs. Atlanta Braves since Thursday, are co-existing well and increasing overall foot traffic for the Final Four.
Tourney Town is open 9 a.m.-noon Sunday and the outdoor Four It All Fest through the end of the championship game, tipping off at 12:30 p.m.
Phoenix is the first Women’s Final Four host in the West since Denver in 2012 and before that San Jose in 1999. Portland will host in 2030.
“Obviously we need more West Coast cities,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “Not just because I’m at a west coast school, because of the good of the game. We need to have exposure of our great game into a variety of west coast cities. I think that just brings parity. It grows the enthusiasm of the game, TV viewership, all those connecting points. I’m thrilled Phoenix has done this. I think they’ve done a great job.”
Even the weather cooperated with high temperatures 15-20 degrees less than during a record-setting heat wave from March 18-25.
Metro Phoenix successfully hosted the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2017 and 2024. Games were played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale so the event footprint was much larger.
Long before that, though, Arizona State fronted a bid to land the 2007 Women’s Final Four. Sites are awarded years in advance and the Phoenix bid committee was surprised and disappointed to be passed over in July 2001 when Cleveland was the 2007 choice by the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee.
A lack of downtown hotel rooms was given as the prime reason for bypassing Phoenix at the time.
“We hadn’t hosted a lot of big women’s events,” said Betsy Mosher, then ASU senior associate athletic director. ASU and Tennessee played a women’s basketball outdoor game at Chase Field in December 2000 that drew 16,782 which along with the Phoenix Mercury’s early WNBA success demonstrated support for the women’s game.
“Phoenix now is the ideal place for it,” Mosher said although the next local bid for the Final Four was not a sure thing because it coincided with the Covid pandemic.
Former ASU golfer Brooke Todare was co-chair of the Phoenix bid committee, which presented to the NCAA committee in September 2020.
“It was all virtual,” Todare said. “That whole team did such an incredible job displaying what is so fantastic about phoenix in a time where no one could go outside. It’s easy to show but harder to tell.”
Other finalists for the 2025 and 2026 Final Fours were Columbus, Tampa Bay and Portland. Tampa Bay was the choice to host for a fourth time in 2025 with Phoenix landing 2026 in an October 2020 decision that finally is playing out this week.
Economic impact from the 2025 Women’s Final Four was estimated at $30 million, up from $19 million when Tampa Bay hosted in 2008.
Todare also was vice president of the Phoenix Men’s Final Four local organizing committee in 2017 and now vice president of operations for DSV, a global transport and logistics company expanding in Mesa with a regional headquarters.
“I was definitely passionate in my (Final Four) advocacy,” Todare said. “We have a city that believes what we can do for the men, we can do for the women. It’s such a powerful way to bring people together. I’m humbled and proud to have a small part advocating for our city to do this.
“I get goosebumps still. It’s surreal that it’s actually happening. We believed this was the right time in the right city for this championship. I’m so grateful the NCAA agreed to come west.”
