ASU Basketball: Phoenix Bidding for 2025 and 2026 Women's Final Four
Phoenix has recently hosted some of the largest collegiate athletic events known on the planet, as the College Football Playoffs and Men’s Final Four have strolled through the desert within the last three years. The NCAA awarded Phoenix another nod for the Men’s NCAA tournament, as the Final Four will return to Phoenix in 2024. The only major event missing from the bucket list? Hosting a Women’s Final Four.
2025/2026 may be the year that changes.
Last week, the city of Phoenix made its pitch to the NCAA to host either the 2025 or 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four, vying against the cities of Columbus (OH), Portland (OR) and Tampa (FL). Arizona State University, along with the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, assisted in the pitch last Thursday. Localhost co-chair of Phoenix’s committee, Brooke Todare, believes the city’s avid basketball support will help portray Phoenix as a favorable host site.
“Phoenix is a basketball town with ASU, the Suns and the Mercury. Our fan base is hungry for an event like this,” said Todare via Tucson.com. “Phoenix has a long record of loyal support for the women’s game, and the Mercury are a prime example of that. We could not possibly have produced this bid without the Mercury, Talking Stick Resort Arena strong involvement.”
ASU women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne was featured in the group’s video pitch to the NCAA among other prominent basketball figures such as Ann Meyers Drysdale, Diana Taurasi and Skylar Diggins-Smith as well.
“If there is any overarching theme to this bid, I would have to say it’s that the Women’s Final Four is our missing piece,” said Todare.
“We have hosted all of the other major events, and this is the one we really feel is missing from our resume.”
Final presentations will be made in late September, with the winning cities to be announced in October. With Phoenix’s prior event history with the NCAA and two potential years to gather hosting honors, confidence surrounding the bid remains fairly high ahead of preparations for the city’s final bid.