Evansville – City of Tournaments

Hosting Major Basketball Tournaments

(St. Louis, MO) – Evansville’s Ford Center will play a huge role in the upcoming basketball landscape. During March, the ‘City of Tournaments’ will host the Ohio Valley Conference’s men’s and women’s basketball tournament, the Missouri Valley Conference’s women’s basketball championships and the NCAA Division 2 Elite Eight games.

The City of Tournaments is rolling out the red carpet for thousands of basketball fans and teams.

Evansville Sports Commission Executive Director Brandon McClish is a sports fan that is putting Evansville on the sports map in a big way. After a career with Learfield Sports Properties he joined the regional sports commission and immediately went to work on landing Missouri Valley Conference activities.

Hosting OVC & MVC Events

The first Valley activity was last year’s baseball tournament and now the city will host the MVC women’s tournament. This will be the eighth straight year the OVC championships have been played in the River City. While running the tournament is hard work, McClish believes that  work is well worth it for the community and for the OVC. He says that it’s enjoyable to work with OVC Commissioner Beth DeBauche and the OVC stafff.

McClish’s time with Learfield (at the University of Evansville) gave him great connections within the Missouri Valley Conference and he pressed hard to partner with the Valley. The Ford Center will host the women’s tournament this year, but the next two seasons it will be hosted elsewhere.

He believes the tournament will bring nearly $500,000 in revenue to the Evansville community.

The Valley’s women’s programs are gaining a national reputation. McClish knows the high caliber basketball that will be played at Ford Center will be entertaining and impactful at a national level.

The next two annual tournaments will be held in other cities. McClish and his team are working hard to prove that Evansville should be a permanent location for the Valley’s women’s event.

Evansville Area Basketball

The Evansville Purple Aces recently wore ‘River City’ jerseys. McClish says the Evansville sports department is a progressive, ‘outside the box’ thinking group. You will notice the uniforms are a light blue (the color of the the Evansville flag).

 

When the University of Southern Indiana moved to Division 1 and joined the Ohio Valley Conference, my immediate reaction involved getting the University of Evansville and the Screaming Eagles to play in an annual rivalry game. The ‘Mayor’s Cup’ or the ‘River City Cup’ has to happen!

McClish is overwhelmingly committed to the rivalry game concept.

While the Ohio Valley Conference championships begin this Wednesday, March 5th, the Valley’s women’s tournament tips off Thursday, March 13.

Do Good