Pac-12 women's basketball tournament has been held in Seattle for the past six seasonsGETTY IMAGES
The Pac-12 has a two-year deal for its women's basketball tournament to be "played in Las Vegas" in '19 and '20, according to Gilbert Manzano of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The MGM Grand Garden Arena will host next year's tournament, with the Mandalay Bay Events Center serving as host in '20. After holding the tournament in Seattle for the past six seasons, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said that it "needed a new home" with KeyArena "slated for a major two-year renovation" as the city bids for an NHL team. The women's tournament will be "played a week before the men hit the court." The conference on Thursday also announced a "one-year extension for the men's tournament to stay at T-Mobile Arena" through the '20 season (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 3/9). In Seattle, Percy Allen notes '19 will be the "first time" the Pac-12 men's and women's basketball tournaments are in the same city since '12, when they were held in L.A. The Pac-12 women's tournament was "held at McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore., during its inaugural year" in '02, followed by a six-year run at HP Pavilion in San Jose before moving to L.A. for a "four-year stint." Sagging attendance in L.A. "prompted the conference to move the event to Seattle." The "ascendance of the Pacific Northwest schools' women's basketball programs helped the tournament enjoy its highest fan turnout" (SEATTLE TIMES, 3/9).
EVERYTHING'S BETTER IN VEGAS: In S.F., Rusty Simmons reports while the women's tournament is moving partly due to KeyArena renovations, it is also "partly because of the success of the men's tournament since it moved" to Vegas in '13. Ticket sales have "skyrocketed for the men" since leaving L.A., including the tournament's "first sellout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena" in '16. A "record 87,000 tickets sold for the four-day event at T-Mobile Arena last year" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/9). In L.A., Nathan Fenno notes 15,182 fans attended Thursday's afternoon session at T-Mobile Arena, which featured Arizona-Colorado and UCLA-Stanford (L.A. TIMES, 3/9).
