NCAA Men’s March Madness to return to Sacramento in 2027
Oct 2, 2024, 10:58 AM | Updated: 11:12 am
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
March Madness is returning to Sacramento.
The NCAA announced on Wednesday that the First and Second Rounds of the 2027 NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament will take place at Golden 1 Center as Sacramento has been selected as one of the several host sites for March Madness.
Sacramento last hosted March Madness in 2023, but College Basketball action is set to return to the 916 in March 2027.
🏆 Host Sites Announced 🏆
Learn more about the 240+ host sites for preliminary and final rounds of predetermined championships across all divisions primarily for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons ➡️ https://t.co/AcQkdrH8My#NCAAHost pic.twitter.com/ANI7Roiwn7
— NCAA (@NCAA) October 2, 2024
More on the NCAA Tournament & March Madness site selections
For the fourth time in its history, the NCAA conducted a comprehensive site selection process, putting most of its championships up for bid simultaneously.
The Association chose over 240 host sites for preliminary and final rounds of predetermined championships across Divisions I, II and III, primarily for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. This cycle marked a shift from a four-year to a two-year site selection process.
The NCAA received more than 1,200 bids from member schools, conferences, cities and sports commissions across 47 states and Washington, D.C., all competing to host predetermined rounds for 87 of the NCAA’s 90 championships. The respective NCAA sports committees selected the sites, with final approval from the divisional competition oversight and championships committees.
“The enthusiasm and interest from around the country to host NCAA championships continues to be a testament to the quality of our events,” said Lynda Tealer, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “For this cycle we incorporated more data into the process to help our sport and oversight committees through the evaluation and selection of sites as we had so many quality venues and locations looking to host during these two seasons. We will continue to evaluate and gather feedback on going from the traditional four-year cycle to awarding championship bids for two years to determine the right cadence for the bid process in the future.”
Division I baseball, Division I football and Division I softball were omitted from the process due to existing contracts for the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska; Football Championship Subdivision Championship in Frisco, Texas; and the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Forty states plus the District of Columbia were selected to host at least one NCAA championship event, with Florida garnering the most with 22. Pennsylvania and Texas are tied for second with 20, while California and North Carolina totaled 17.
The Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will stretch across the country hosted by 25 cities in 18 states for the 2027 and 2028 tournaments. Two of the most frequent hosts are in this two-year rotation. Kansas City is hosting the 2027 Midwest Regional, which will increase its total of 137 tournament games, currently tied for second all-time with Dayton, Ohio. The University of Dayton will continue to host the NCAA First Four through 2028, as it has served as the site for the start of the Division I men’s basketball tournament since 2001. University of Dayton Arena’s 137 men’s basketball tournament games are the most of any facility.
New York’s Madison Square Garden will host the 2027 East Regional, marking its 13th regional to tie Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium as the most frequent regional host venue in tournament history. Frost Bank Center in San Antonio and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles round out the 2027 regional hosts. In 2028, regional hosts are the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina; Little Caesars Arena in Detroit; American Airlines Center in Dallas; and Chase Center in San Francisco.
“We are thrilled to bring the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship to so many terrific cities and hosts from all four corners of the country and points in between,” said JoAn Scott, the NCAA’s vice president of men’s basketball. “These 25 cities have previously been awarded the rights to host the tournament more than 300 times, accounting for more than 1,300 tournament games played in these locations. We appreciate all the work done locally to put together competitive bids, as well as the work everyone will do to ensure more special March Madness moments can take place in 2027 and 2028.”
Another focus of the site selection is the announcement of the 2027 and 2028 regional sites for the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Two sites were chosen for each year, continuing the format shift adopted for the 2023 tournament. Las Vegas and Philadelphia will host in 2027, while Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., will host in 2028. This will be the first time that the women’s basketball championship has been in Las Vegas since the 1991 West Regional and first time in Washington since 1997. It will be Washington’s first time serving as a regional host. Philadelphia will be hosting its first regional since 2011 and fifth overall, but it’s the first women’s basketball tournament action at the Wells Fargo Center since it hosted the 2000 Women’s Final Four. Portland will return to hosting regional play for the fourth time after drawing host duties in 2000, 2019 and 2024, in addition to being scheduled to host the 2030 Women’s Final Four.
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