The Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship brings 15 universities from 9 different states to Wilmington’s Chase Fieldhouse later this week.
This year’s tourney runs from March 1st to March 5th.
Delaware Tourism Office director Jessica Welch says there are several factors that make this event unique.
Delaware doesn’t have any universities participating in this conference, so every team - as well as their coaches, directors, fans, and family- must travel to Wilmington and patronize the hotels, as well as other local businesses.
And for the A-10, Delaware is an interesting location.
“The A-10 has been excited to come to Delaware because in Delaware they get attendance from our governor, from other elected officials, and other people like that. And in larger states you don’t necessarily have access to those kinds of people,” she said. “So I know that the A-10 officials are excited to come here, and we hope that they’ll come back in future years.”
This is the second year of the A-10’s three year commitment to hold the tournament in Wilmington.
Last year saw about 13,000 people attending the games, with an estimated $2 million economic impact on the area.
“It’s a really great event because this is our off-season in terms of tourism. We don’t get a ton of people coming to Delaware in late-February early-March,” Welch explained. “So this is a really great time to host something like this because the hotels are usually kind of slow at this point, and the restaurants and other areas, too. So this is great for them to get a little boost in business with all these fans coming to town.”
Welch says last year local hotels saw a total of about 1,000 nights booked for the tournament.
Early rounds of the A-10 tourney will be televised on ESPN+ or the CBS Sports Network, and the March 5th title matchup is set for broadcast on ESPNU - drawing additional eyes to Wilmington and the Chase Fieldhouse.
Tickets for the event start at $15, and can be purchased online at atlantic10.com/WBBTix.
