Providence chosen to host NCAA basketball games in 2016

PROVIDENCE – The city has been chosen as a host for first- and second-round games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in March 2016, and the event is expected to generate $3.5 million in economic impacts.
“It’s exciting. It’s always nice to have March Madness … The downtown establishments put up tents. It’s like a downtown festival setting. It’s a lot of fun,” John V. Gibbons, executive director of the R.I. Sports Commission, a division of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Tuesday.
Gibbons said he expects that 3,200 hotel rooms will be reserved, but that only represents the teams, players, media and officials, and not the fans traveling from out of state. The NCAA will have contracts with eight hotels for the teams, he said, adding they will be in Providence and Warwick. There also will be a hotel for game officials, and a hotel for media, he said.
Twenty percent of fans are expected to come from out of state, he said.
The Dunkin’ Donuts Center will host the preliminary rounds on March 17 and 19. Gibbons said the teams should arrive on a Tuesday, and some may stay until Sunday.
The last time the city was chosen to host the basketball tournament was four years ago. Villanova University, Georgetown University and University of Tennessee were some of the teams that played the last time, he said.
“The economic impact number we are using is pretty similar to what we used in 2010,” he wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, Gibbons said a local organizing committee to oversee management of the event will be formed. He said the games sell out, and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center has approximately 12,000 seats.
He expects tickets to go on sale in late spring.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras welcomed the news.
“As a college basketball fan and as mayor, I’m extremely excited to see Providence once again host the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. This is an honor that will bring thousands of new visitors into our city and will mean millions of dollars for the local economy,” Taveras said.

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