Tampa Bay (2025) and Phoenix (2026) chosen to host the NCAA Women's Final Four

POSTED: October 14, 2020 -- 1:23 p.m. CT

The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee loves Tampa Bay, Florida.

At high noon today, the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee announced Tampa Bay (Amalie Arena) in 2025 and Phoenix (Talking Stick Resort Arena) in 2026 to serve as host sites for the NCAA Women's Final Four. Tampa Bay will be hosting the Women's Final Four for a record fourth time, while Phoenix will be hosting its first.

"Tampa Bay and Phoenix will be great future hosts for what has become America's marquee women's sporting event," said Nina King, senior deputy athletics director and chief of staff at Duke, chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee in the 2020-21 academic year. "The committee appreciates all of the cities that were involved in the bid process and know that when we crown a national champion in those cities that our student-athletes, coaches and fans will have enjoyed an amazing championship experience."

Tampa Bay has welcomed more fans in Women's Final Four history than any other city, with a combined 123,039 fans attending the 2008, 2015 and 2019 Women's Final Fours. In 2019, sellout crowds in Amalie Arena totaled 40,189 fans as the Baylor Lady Bears claimed the national championship. The University of South Florida and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission will serve as co-hosts, with games played April 4 and 6, 2025.

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The state of Arizona will play host to the Women's Final Four for the first time when Phoenix hosts in 2026. The event was last held in the Mountain and Pacific time zones in 2012 in Denver and 1999 in San Jose, California. Games at Talking Stick Resort Arena will be played over Easter weekend, with national semifinal games April 3 and the national championship decided April 5, 2026. Arizona State will serve as the host school.

Leading up to 2025, the Women's Final Four will be played in San Antonio (Alamodome, April 2 and 4, 2021), Minneapolis (Target Center, April 1 and 3, 2022), Dallas (American Airlines Center, March 31 and April 2, 2023) and Cleveland (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, April 5 and 7, 2024). In addition to the Women's Final Four, Dallas will host the Division II and III women's basketball national championships in 2023.

The committee also identified the eight host cities that will serve as hosts for the regional rounds of the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship from 2023-26, when the championship will be held at two regional sites per year with eight teams competing at each site. Sites selected are a mix of experienced and new hosts as Greenville, SC (Bon Secours Wellness Arena) and Seattle, WA (Climate Pledge Arena) will host regional play in 2023, Albany, NY (Times Union Center) and Portland, OR (Moda Center) in 2024, Birmingham, AL (Legacy Arena) and Spokane, WA (Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena) in 2025 and Fort Worth, TX (Dickies Arena) and Sacramento, CA (Golden 1 Center) in 2026.

"This bid cycle was significant for Division I women's basketball as we were able to identify two outstanding future host cities for the Women's Final Four in 2025 and 2026 and named the eight regional host sites that will be part of our new two-site regional format that is in play beginning in 2023," said Lynn Holzman, vice president of women's basketball at the NCAA. "I am pleased that over the next six years we will play in several new markets, while providing enhanced hosting opportunities."

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