LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The level of commitment involved in hosting two NCAA tournament regionals is likely going to be matched by the impact of both events on Lexington and central Kentucky.
“We're looking, conservatively, at a $10,000,000 economic impact, just to Lexington,” said Martina Barksdale with the VisitLex Visitors Center.
Barksdale said the NCAA awarded this men’s regional to Lexington back in 2020, one year after the city submitted a bid. The women’s tournament was awarded to the University of Kentucky after Kenny Brooks team earned the right to host with its play during the regular season. Both events will be going on at Rupp Arena and Memorial Coliseum on alternating days from Thursday through Sunday.
Barksdale said, “hotels, restaurants, bars, parking and experiences,” are all factored into what figures to be an awfully big equation for the city once it’s all said and done.
“This will be an amazing week for Lexington,” she said, adding that they’ve learned from hosting past events, including the Boys’ and Girls’ Sweet 16 basketball championships, which have been at Rupp Arena in previous years. (The girls played their tournament last week; the boys will begin play next week).
A stone’s throw from Rupp is LexLive, a multi-purpose entertainment center, which was built for events like these.
“Oh, absolutely. The location speaks for itself,” said Cameron Jones, who leads the sales and marketing effort for LexLive.
“I would say it's very possible,” he replied when asked if this week would be the biggest since LexLive’s inception. “We've had some great runs, a lot of exciting events not just here at the venue, but in the downtown market,” he added.
Lexington hosted a Final Four in 1985, and obviously Keeneland is a big draw twice a year, but an NCAA tournament regional with fan bases and media members from eight different teams is a different animal, and they will all be converging on the downtown area.
“Everybody in the city is working together to make sure we’re prepared,” Barksdale said. “Whether it be the city, local police, down to the hospitality partners at hotels and restaurants so they can be adequately staffed."
The men’s games tip-off at Rupp Arena on Thursday at 12:15 pm. Play begins at Memorial Coliseum on Friday at noon.
