The Chase Center, future home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, has been selected as the host for the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship West Regional. It will be the first time since the inaugural tournament in 1939 that March Madness games are played in San Francisco.
The NCAA announced today that the Pac-12 Conference will serve as host of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship West Regional on March 24 & 26, 2022 at Chase Center, the new sports and entertainment venue being built in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood set to open for the start of the 2019-20 NBA Season. This marks the first time the NCAA Tournament will be played within the City of San Francisco since the West Regional was staged at the California Coliseum on Treasure Island in March 1939.
“Chase Center and the surrounding area are going to be a destination for the entire Bay Area and having the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship West Regional at Chase Center in 2022 is great for not only the City of San Francisco, but the entire Bay Area to come see some of the best in college basketball,” said Warriors President and chief operating officer Rick Welts. “This is one of the most exciting events on the calendar for sports. We have nine people on our current roster and coaching staff fortunate to have advanced to the Sweet 16 during their college career and we’re excited for this to be the first event officially on our Chase Center schedule.”
Back-to-back NBA MVP and Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry, All-Star forward Draymond Green, forwards Matt Barnes, Andre Iguodala, James Michael McAdoo and Kevon Looney, along with Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr and Assistant Coaches Jarron Collins and Bruce Fraser all participated in the Sweet 16 during their collegiate careers.
“There is nothing quite like the NCAA Tournament,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “Advancing to the Regional Finals – and eventually the Final Four – was certainly one of the highlights of my college career. It’s exciting to know that Chase Center and the City of San Francisco will play host to this event in 2022. I can assure you there will be memories made that will last a lifetime, both for the players and the fans.”
Daly City’s Cow Palace (1955, 1958-60), Oakland’s Oracle Arena (1990, 1995, 2006) and San Jose’s SAP Center (1997, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2017) are among the other Bay Area venues to host the tourney, most recently the 2017 West Regional at the SAP Center in a partnership by the Pac-12 and San Jose Sports Authority.
However, not since the Oregon Ducks defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 55-37, on March 21, 1939 during the Golden Gate International Exposition – a World’s Fair celebrating the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay and Golden Gate Bridges – has the event been staged inside “The City” lines.
“We’re excited to work with the Warriors and Chase Center to once again stage one of the NCAA’s premier events,” said Pac-12 conference commissioner Larry Scott. “The Pac-12 and Warriors are both champions in competition and stand for excellence. We look forward to joining forces to bring postseason college basketball at the highest level to San Francisco.”
The 18,000-seat Chase Center, which broke ground this past January, will anchor a district of 11 acres of restaurants, cafes, offices, public plazas and other amenities the neighborhood currently lacks, along with a new five-and-a half-acre public waterfront park. Chase Center will host NBA games and NCAA tournaments, along with concerts, cultural events, family shows, and convention activities, and more. Chase Center will be located on a major Muni Metro rail line with easy links to BART and other transit options. When complete, it will be the only privately financed facility of its kind built on private property in the modern era of professional sports.
