AGREEMENT KEEPS TOURNAMENT AT ENTERPRISE CENTER FOR THREE MORE YEARS AND CONTAINS AN OPTION TO EXTEND THROUGH 2030
ST. LOUIS – January 26, 2024 – March will continue to be a busy sports month in St. Louis as the Missouri Valley Conference announced yesterday a three-year extension of its agreement to host its men’s basketball tournament at Enterprise Center. The extension keeps the event in St. Louis through at least 2028, with an option to continue the contract through the 2030 event, which would mark 40 consecutive years of Arch Madness in St. Louis.
“We are so fortunate to be in a position to continue our relationship with the Enterprise Center and the City of St. Louis,” said Missouri Valley Conference Commissioner Jeff Jackson. “Arch Madness has proven to be a fabulous experience for our student-athletes.”
The MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament has been staged in St. Louis every March since 1991, annually bringing thousands of fans from the participating schools to Downtown St. Louis and providing a staple for local college basketball fans to look forward to every year. Since the tournament moved to St. Louis in 1991, more than 1.5 million fans have passed through the turnstiles to enjoy Arch Madness. The 2024 tournament will take place March 7 – 10. Information and tickets can be found at archmadness.com.
“It’s wonderful to see the tradition of Arch Madness continue in St. Louis,” said St. Louis Sports Commission President Marc Schreiber. “The MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament is a tremendous asset to our region and important part of the St. Louis sports fabric. We are grateful to our friends at the MVC for their commitment to St. Louis and salute our colleagues at Enterprise Center for helping to keep the tournament in the Gateway City.”
The MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament is the second-longest continuously running neutral site men’s basketball event in the nation; the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York is the longest.
“As Enterprise Center prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary later this year, we are thrilled to have been the home of Arch Madness since our opening year and now through at least 2028,” said St. Louis Blues President and CEO Chris Zimmerman. “Thanks to the dedication of our friends at the Missouri Valley Conference, this event has become one of the premier tournaments in college basketball, highlighting our venue and our city to fans across the country.”
The Missouri Valley Conference has partnered with the St. Louis Sports Commission to co-host numerous NCAA events in St. Louis over the past 25 years. Together, the organizations have hosted 12 NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament events in St. Louis, making the Gateway City one of the most frequent stops on the NCAA Tournament circuit. The MVC and Sports Commission will co-host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2026 at Enterprise Center.