The Dispatch wrote City pulls out all the stops to woo NCAA Women’s Final Four
Thursday, October 16, 2008
BY MARGARET HARDING
Cheerleaders are part of NCAA basketball tournaments — and, at least yesterday, they were part of efforts to bring the Women’s Final Four to Columbus. Everywhere they went during a tour of the city, members of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee were greeted by people displaying civic pride. And it just might have worked.
Columbus was named one of the finalists in August after Ohio State University, the Greater Columbus Sports Commission and Nationwide Arena jointly submitted a bid in June backed by more than $2.5 million to meet the tournament’s specifications. That figure is well over the required amount of $1.5 million.
The Final Four would generate an estimated $10 million to $12 million in visitor spending in central Ohio, and bring more than 40,000 fans to Nationwide Arena for two nights, according to the three groups.
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