Springfield's bid is its third in as many years for a women's regional.
An inside view of the MassMutual Center when it is set up for basketball.
SPRINGFIELD – The MassMutual Center along with the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau have put in a bid to host an NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Regional in 2014, a move that could bring the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team here twice in a four-month span.
A successful bid would bring three Division I college basketball events to the downtown area between December and April.
“We did put in a bid in conjunction with the Convention and Visitors Bureau for the 2014 regionals, which would be great,” MassMutual general manager Matt Hollander said. “There’s a good chance the UConn women would be playing and it would be a really strong event for us and good for the community.”
Besides the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s and women’s basketball championships which returns in the first week of March for a third year in 2014, the MassMutual Center will be the site for the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge, an eight-team event featuring the Huskies, Ohio State and Marist that will be played on December 1.
This will be the third attempt to bring an NCAA Women’s Regional here in the last three years. The city put a bid in on a regional in 2012 but it was awarded to Kingston, R.I., and last year when Trenton was denied as a site because of the passing of a law allowing for sports betting, Springfield was an option but it went to Bridgeport, Conn.
As with most basketball events in the city, the Hall of Fame is involved in the bid and the MAAC would be the host conference for the regional.
“We did put a bid in and we also have the women’s basketball quadruple header next fall with Ohio State, UConn to headline the four games and also includes Marist and Monmouth of the MAAC,” MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said. “We’ll have a presence in the marketplace year round which is part of what we’re trying to do.”
There is one catch though: the NCAA is withholding the announcement of the bids for a couple of months as it re-evaluates the women’s tournament.
“What we don’t know is if we’re going to get it and when they’re going to make their decision because we got notification from the NCAA that they’re re-evaluating the women’s program and they pushed off the commitment of their sites until they finish that process,” Hollander said. “They’re telling us it could be late spring to early summer so it kind of keeps us wondering for a little while.”
Former WNBA president Val Ackerman has been hired by the NCAA to handle the review.
“I talked to her last week as part of her process and they’re looking at a wide range of issues including championship format site and things like that,” Ensor said. “So they pretty much put a hold on announcing the sites for 2014.”
The MassMutual Center has a basketball capacity of 6,903, and has hosted a wide range of NCAA basketball event including the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic and the NCAA Div. II men’s Elite Eight.
“I kind of think we’re a good size arena and it’s very likely we’ll see sellout crowds during the games,” Hollander said. “Accessibility is always an advantage for us and one thing we always try to focus on is the connection to the Basketball Hall of Fame and its connection to this city and no other city can offer that.”