Boston Lands 2006 Women's Final Four

The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee has selected Boston to host the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2006, culminating a nine-month lobbying effort from Harvard, Northeastern and the Massachusetts Sports Partnership.

The Women’s Final Four festivities, which include the national semifinals and championship at the Fleet Center, a three-day fan festival and a national coaches meeting, are expected to pump an estimated $25 million into the host city’s economy.

“I am ecstatic—[Boston] is absolutely a wonderful city to have it in,” said Harvard women’s basketball Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who has been to every Women’s Final Four since the events’ inception in 1982.

Indianapolis and Cleveland were also successful in their bids, which earned them hosting rights for the 2005 and 2007 Women’s Final Fours, respectively. St. Louis—the host of the most recent Women’s Final Four—and Phoenix were also considered.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Acting Gov. Jane Swift made the announcement official on Monday morning. Swift, a former high school basketball player in North Adams, cited the positive influence that high-profile female athletes would have on the community.

“As a mother of three daughters, I’m glad they’re going to have role models in the area of athletics that has traditionally been dominated by men,” Swift said.

The 2006 Final Four will be particularly monumental, since it will mark the events’ 25th anniversary, adding to the rich history of women’s basketball in the state. Massachusetts is where women’s collegiate basketball was born with an intersquad game at Smith College in 1895.

"Boston has a long and rich tradition of playing host to premier sports events,” Menino said. “It is in keeping with that storied history that we will for the first time host a Women’s Final Four championship."

Harvard and Northeastern will serve as the host schools of the event. The support of the two universities was crucial to bringing the event to Boston.

“[Harvard] and Northeastern will help coordinate the event and provide people, operations and local expertise to help make the event run smoothly,” said Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Media Relations John Veneziano. “There’s a lot more than the games being played that makes these events possible.”

Harvard Senior Associate Director of Athletics Patricia Henry and Northeastern Senior Associate Director Jody Mooradian were the co-chairs of the commiteee that presented the successful Boston bid to NCAA officials on July 4.

The Women’s Final Four is the latest major event to be brought to the state by the Massachusetts Sports Partnership. In recent years, the state has landed the U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Trials, the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, the Major League All-Star Game, the Ryder Cup and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The magnitude of the Women’s Final Four will provide local institutions with a unique opportunity to support the women’s game.

“We’ve been working hard to make basketball exciting to everyone,” Delaney-Smith said. “This will keep thinking about women’s basketball in anticipation.”

Boston’s successful bid comes just days after NCAA women’s basketball’s landmark 11-year television deal with ESPN. As part of the deal, ESPN will cover all 63 games of the women’s basketball tournament and enhance its promotional campaign of the sport.

Women’s college basketball has consistently increased in popularity throughout its history. The NCAA reported increases in attendance for the 17th consecutive season this past year, drawing over eight million spectators across all divisions.

The most recent Women’s Final Four in St. Louis, boosted by an unexpected regional run by nearby Southwest Missouri State, set a new record with 61,653 fans in attendance for the three games. The Fleet Center, in comparison, seats 18,560 per game.

Of the two local hosts, both have recent NCAA tournament appearances to their credit. Harvard earned three NCAA berths from 1996 to 1998, and Northeastern made the tourney in 1999. Only the Crimson has recorded an NCAA victory—its famed 71-67 upset of top seed Stanford in 1998.