Phoenix is set to expand the local portfolio of major sporting events in 2026 when the NCAA women’s Final Four comes to downtown.
Top officials gathered at the Footprint Center on Monday to unveil the event logo with yellow, red and turquoise coloring.
The emblem features a mountainous horizon against a luminous sky. Tournament brackets on each side lead the eye inward to a basketball that doubles as a sun.
Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball, said her job came with orders to seek new venues for holding the women’s semifinal and championship games.
“When I started in this position back in 2018, it was actually one of the directives by our leadership bodies to try to find places (in the) West,” she said.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale has twice hosted the Men’s Final Four, including this year.
Yet the women’s championship game in Cleveland drew more television viewers than the men for the first time ever.
The popularity of women’s college basketball has soared in recent years, driven by the starpower of players like Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, who are now professional.
“Our goal, and what we look to achieve every single year, is that the women’s Final Four is the mega, premier, elite women’s sporting event in the world,” she said.
Holzman praised metro Phoenix for a proven track record of hosting major sporting events.
Two men’s Final Fours and four Super Bowls have been played here.
