Denver, Colorado Named a Finalist to Host a Men's Final Four Between 2032 and 2036

Denver, Colorado is one of seven finalists to host a men's Final Four between 2032 and 2036, the NCAA announced on Tuesday, October 27. The other finalists are Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville and New Orleans. Five of the seven cities will be picked, one for each year in the cycle.

Denver has hosted the Final Four once before, in 1990 at McNichols Sports Arena. The event has outgrown buildings of that size. Men's Final Fours are now played in football stadiums, and Denver's bid rests on the Denver Broncos' planned new stadium at Burnham Yard, the team's preferred site for its next home.

A stadium that does not exist yet

The Broncos' ownership has said it wants to build a world class stadium with a retractable roof, anchoring a mixed use development in the heart of Denver. A roofed stadium with more than 50,000 seats would make Denver eligible for events the city cannot host in its current buildings, including a Final Four and a Super Bowl.

"We have been working on this for years and are so thrilled for a chance to host the NCAA Final Four in Denver," Mayor Mike Johnston said in a news release. "This is why a new Broncos stadium with a retractable roof and more than 50,000 seats will expand our eligibility for events like this and provide new and exciting opportunities for Denver."

Denver Sports, the city's sports commission, has worked on the bid for years while the Broncos continue negotiations over the Burnham Yard site. No construction start date for the stadium has been announced.

How the choice will be made

NCAA staff and members of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee will evaluate the finalist cities over the coming months through meetings, site visits and bid materials. In July 2027, each city will present to the committee during its summer meetings, and the hosts for 2032 through 2036 will be announced after those meetings.

"We are grateful for the record number of cities that expressed interest in hosting the Men's Final Four, which continues to be one of the world's preeminent sporting events," said Martin Newton, vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Samford, who will chair the men's basketball committee for the coming season. Newton said narrowing the list to seven cities for the five year cycle was challenging, and that the list blends experienced host cities with potential newcomers.

Las Vegas has never hosted a Final Four but will host its first in 2028. Indianapolis will tie Kansas City's record of 10 Final Fours when it hosts in 2029. Nashville is the only finalist that has never been granted host status before. Hosts through 2031 have already been decided.

The NCAA also named finalists for the women's Final Four in the same 2032 to 2036 cycle: Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Phoenix and San Antonio. Neither committee currently supports holding the men's and women's Final Fours at a single site on the same weekend, and NCAA staff have been asked to study that idea for 2037 or later.

For Denver, the decision in July 2027 comes more than three decades after the 1990 tournament at McNichols. Whether the city gets one of the five years depends on a stadium that is still a plan, and on a bid the city says it has been building for years.