\u201cAny successful event takes great partnerships,\u201d Orr said. \u201cBetween the university, Visit Sacramento and the community, that\u2019s what made this work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Orr emphasized that Sacramento State plays a central role in the city\u2019s sports ecosystem, both through its athletic programs and its role in hosting major events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the city\u2019s university,\u201d he said. \u201cWe impact the sports scene significantly, not just with our student-athletes, but by bringing events like the NCAA Tournament to Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n
That visibility, Orr said, extends far beyond a single weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat exposure, you can\u2019t buy it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen people see Sacramento State on the court, on national television, that makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Orr and Eadie said Sacramento delivered on one of the NCAA\u2019s most important benchmarks, the student-athlete experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these student-athletes,\u201d Orr said. \u201cI think we did exceptionally well.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the quality of competition to the proximity of hotels and amenities, Sacramento met expectations, helped in large part by Golden 1 Center and its surrounding downtown district.<\/p>\n
But replicating that experience at a larger scale remains the challenge.<\/p>\n
Sacramento\u2019s ambitions also are tied to future development, including plans by Sacramento Republic FC to build a new stadium in the downtown railyards. The project is expected to anchor additional development and expand the city\u2019s ability to host outdoor sporting events, complementing Golden 1 Center as a premier indoor venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re continuing to grow and do more,\u201d Eadie said. \u201cAs you host these events, other organizations see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Sacramento occupies a space just below the top tier of host cities. It has the arena, the partnerships and the momentum. What it lacks is the concentrated hotel infrastructure needed to compete with larger markets for the most prestigious events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of great cities across the country fighting for these opportunities,\u201d Orr said. \u201cThey\u2019re not easy to get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Until that gap is closed, Sacramento\u2019s path forward remains incremental. Build on existing success, expand infrastructure and continue making the case that the city belongs on the biggest stages in sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a way to get it done,\u201d Eadie said, \u201cwe\u2019ll get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAny successful event takes great partnerships,\u201d Orr said. \u201cBetween the university, Visit Sacramento and the community, that\u2019s what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[584,9591,121,123,122,127],"class_list":["post-250221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-events","tag-ncaa","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}