NCAA’s ‘March Madness’ to return to Providence in 2025

THE DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER will host the first two rounds of the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the NCAA announced Wednesday. / COURTESY DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER
THE DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER will host the first two rounds of the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the NCAA announced Wednesday. / COURTESY DUNKIN' DONUTS CENTER

PROVIDENCE – The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced Wednesday that its Division I Men’s Basketball Committee has selected Providence as one of the host sites for the first and second rounds of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The games will be played at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center March 20-23, 2025. Providence College will serve as the host institution for the games, according to PC’s athletic department website.

It will be the ninth time since 1975 that the Dunkin’ Donuts Center will host NCAA basketball tournament games. The 14,000-seat arena is scheduled to host the tournament’s first two rounds on March 18 and 20, 2021, but it is currently unclear if the COVID-19 pandemic will alter the tournament schedule – last year’s NCAA tournaments were canceled due to the health crisis.

“I am sure all the great basketball fans in Rhode Island will be looking forward to seeing more NCAA Tournament action in Providence,” PC Athletic Director Bob Driscoll said Wednesday in a statement, also thanking both the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau for assisting in bringing the tournament back to Rhode Island.

- Advertisement -

John Gibbons, executive director of the Rhode Island Sports Commission – a division of PWCVB – said Wednesday in a statement that the tournament games, in addition to having high television viewership, also bring in roughly $3 million to the Rhode Island economy.

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.

No posts to display