2022 NCAA Tournament moving away from Cincinnati, Heritage Bank Center, to Indianapolis

Fletcher Page | Cincinnati Enquirer

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Cincinnati will no longer host NCAA men's basketball championship tournament games in 2022, the NCAA confirmed to The Enquirer.

The games will be moved to Indianapolis instead of being played at Heritage Bank Center, a decision that indicates long-talked about renovations to the 17,556 capacity riverfront venue aren't in the works.

"NCAA March Madness games scheduled for Cincinnati in 2022 are being moved to Indianapolis to allow more time for the newly-renamed Heritage Bank Center to complete current and future planned renovations," the NCAA said in a statement.

"These first- and second-round Division I men’s basketball championship games will now be played at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse, and Cincinnati will have the opportunity to bid on hosting future March Madness rounds."

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The city of Cincinnati won a bid in 2017 to host the NCAA tournament for the first time in 30 years. But there was a stipulation.

It would only happen if the owners of Heritage Bank Center – Michigan-based Nederlander Entertainment – and local officials could figure out how to pay for upgrades in excess of $200 million.

A Heritage Bank Center spokesperson sent The Enquirer a statement Wednesday.

"We are extremely disappointed; however, we must respect the NCAA’s decision to bypass Cincinnati for the March 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

"We have had several conversations with NCAA officials on the requirements necessary to host the Tournament. We communicated in person including a tour of the facility where the conversation centered on our ability for the venue to do a partial renovation adding locker rooms, media, and hospitality areas if a full renovation could not be completed by the midpoint of 2021. This renovation plan was set to begin in the spring and summer of 2020. Unfortunately, the NCAA recently expressed they were postponing our hosting of the Tournament until a total renovation of the facility could be completed.

The city of Cincinnati and the region deserve to have an event of this magnitude and this will only intensify our efforts in working to come to an agreement to fully renovate this facility. We will continue to work with the local NCAA institutions, Convention and Visitors Bureau, and community leaders in doing what is necessary to secure other future NCAA Events as part of the 2023-2026 bid process."

A change of venue to UC's Fifth Third Arena or Xavier's Cintas Center wasn't possible for multiple reasons, a source said, but primarily due to arena capacity. The financial modeling was built based on much larger venues (Fifth Third seats 12,012, Cintas Center 10,250).

Other 2020 first/second round sites include: Brooklyn, Denver, Detroit, Dallas, Minneapolis, Memphis, Lexington, Kentucky; Raleigh, San Jose, Providence, Rhode Island; Boise, Idaho; and Wichita, Kansas.