NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference announced Tuesday that it has partnered with the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority to bring the 2024 and 2025 A-10 Women’s Basketball Championships to the new, 3,500-seat Henrico Sports & Events Center in Henrico, Va. The A-10 is one of seven conferences, among 32 leagues, where the women’s basketball championship operates at a neutral site as a standalone event.
“The Henrico Sports & Events Center is a perfect fit for the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship. It’s a new, state-of-the-art arena with all of the amenities to provide our student-athletes, coaches, administrators and fans with a first-class championship experience,” stated A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. “It allows us to continue to host one of our premier events at a neutral venue, which is important to our membership. Additionally, the Richmond region community and media has provided extensive support for A-10 championships, making this is a win-win for the league and Henrico County.”
The arena, which is scheduled to be completed in September of 2023, features 39,000 square feet of event space, including four team locker rooms, two locker room areas for officials and ancillary meeting and support space. A high-tech LED scoreboard and full modern broadcast connections provide for enhanced television and streaming coverage of the championship. Henrico County is part of the Richmond, Va., metropolitan area.
“We are absolutely ecstatic to partner with the Atlantic 10 to bring all the excitement and fun of March Madness to Henrico County and our region,” Dennis Bickmeier, Executive Director of Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority said. “The Women’s Basketball Championship is precisely the kind of prestigious, high-impact event that the Henrico Sports & Events Center is designed to attract. It will deliver a strong economic impact, particularly for local hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and it will give local hoops fans an opportunity to watch outstanding, high-stakes college basketball in a beautiful, intimate setting. We cannot wait to show the Atlantic 10 and its universities, coaches, players and fans what we mean when we say we offer ‘Showtime. All the time.’”
The 2024 event will be the seventh time in the last decade the championship has been hosted in the Richmond region. From 2014 through 2018, the tournament was played at the Richmond Coliseum, and in 2021, VCU hosted the league tournament on campus at the Siegel Center. The previous two A-10 Women’s Basketball Championships were hosted in Wilmington, Del., at Chase Fieldhouse, home of the NBA G-League Wilmington Blue Coats. The A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship will also be the first collegiate championship in the new arena.
“We are excited to welcome the A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship back to the Richmond region,” said Jerrine Lee, Vice President of Sales at Richmond Region Tourism. “Along with our partners at the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority, we look forward to rolling out the red carpet to teams, staff and fans as they experience the brand-new Henrico Sports & Events Center.”
Richmond Region Tourism is part of the local organizing committee, as the area is known for its welcoming hospitality.
Over the last six years, the A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship, which grants its winner an automatic qualification into the NCAA Tournament, has produced six different champions. The 15-team event also set attendance records for select rounds in 2023. The championship enjoys national television and streaming coverage for all five rounds, with ESPN+ broadcasting the first and second rounds as well as the quarterfinals. CBS Sports Network airs the semifinals and ESPN carries the championship final on ESPN2 or ESPNU.
“Ensuring an exceptional championship experience for our student-athletes and fans is a priority to all 15 members of the A-10. As a new, ultra-modern, neutral-site arena, the Henrico Sports & Events Center provides for that and much more,” said Dayton Vice President and Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan, who serves as the chair of the A-10 Athletic Directors. “It’s perfectly sized for our championship, with ample ancillary space and a significant number of local lodging and dining options for teams and fans. On behalf of the A-10 institutions, we’re thrilled to partner with the Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority and Richmond Region Tourism to return one of our best events to the Virginia capital.”
Since 2011-12, the Atlantic 10 has sent 62 teams to the postseason, including multiple squads to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last ten seasons. Across that 12-year time frame, the A-10 has seen 20 appearances in the NCAA Tournament by current member institutions, nine of which have come via at-large bids. The A-10 has had at least four teams qualify for postseason play every year of the past decade with 13 of the 15 current members having made the postseason during that span. Over the past two years, 12 teams have earned postseason berths and this past year, the Saint Louis NCAA Tournament First Round game was the most watched opening round game, with 639,000 viewers.