Sac State Hornets guard Benthe Versteeg (1) is introduced before a game against Nevada at Hornet Pavilion in Sacramento on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. In March Sacramento will be host the NCAA Women’s March Madness Basketball Tournament
HANNAH RUHOFF
hruhoff@sacbee.com
Sacramento buzzes with sports energy. From the Kings’ 40-year legacy to hosting the A’s on their way to Las Vegas, our city’s passion is undeniable. We rally behind every team that calls Sacramento home.
But the current chapter of Sacramento’s sports landscape has the city looking to build better infrastructure to host more and bigger sporting events. A new downtown soccer stadium for the Sacramento Republic F.C. will bring more excitement to the area in the near future.
Meanwhile, for the first time since 2010, Sacramento will soon host important games within the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. This is an enormous “get” for Sacramento that was secured by local officials led by Visit Sacramento CEO Mike Testa.
Along with Ft. Worth, Sacramento will host games in the critical rounds of the tournament known as “The Sweet 16” and the “Elite Eight.” From a field of 68 teams that start a tournament also called “March Madness” on March 18, Golden 1 Center be where half of the final 16 teams left standing will play “Sweet 16” games on March 27 and 28.
The winners will advance to play at G1C in “Elite Eight” games on March 29 and 30. The two teams that survive in Sacramento will meet the two teams that advance from Ft. Worth in Phoenix, which hosts the “Final Four” and then the championship game on April 5.
Testa sees hosting important games in a national tournament as a milestone for Sacramento, though there are still challenges — like not having enough hotels to host the biggest events.
“We can host the women’s Final Four, but we don’t have the hotel rooms to host the men’s Final Four, so there are just certain events that we don’t have the capacity to do,” Testa said. “You look at the NBA All-Star game, you need 7,000 hotel rooms in your downtown to host the NBA All-Star game. We’ve got less than 4,000. The NBA wants you to walk out of your hotel and be in the middle of a party. We just don’t have that infrastructure.”
While that’s true for the NBA, women’s basketball is where Sacramento can shine — showcasing our city’s ability to host major events now and in the future.
“But being able to host the Sweet 16 [and] the Elite Eight bodes really well for the next time we go for the women’s Final Four,” Testa said. “What we’ve learned with the NCAA is they want you to prove yourself… when you show them you can host certain components, then it allows you to go after different and perhaps larger components.”
Sacramento also won the rights to host the first and second rounds of Men’s March Madness in 2027.
While the city still has room to grow, we are ready for women’s basketball — and come March, we’ll be swept up in the excitement and fun of the madness. These games could and should serve as a reminder that two decades ago, Sacramento was the home of a WNBA championship run.
Women’s basketball can be a part of Sacramento again
The only locally earned championship banner that hangs above home court in the Golden 1 Center isn’t from the Sacramento Kings, though we wish it were. It was won by the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. (The Monarchs were part of the WNBA from 1997 until disbanding in 2009).
I’m hopeful women’s basketball finds a permanent home in Sacramento. Bringing back the Monarchs would energize the future of Sacramento sports. Sacramento’s future would be brighter if women’s basketball were part of it.