New Henrico arena to host A-10 Women’s Basketball Championship

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - The Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship is returning to the Richmond area, this time at a new arena.

The conference announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority to bring the event to Virginia Center Commons in 2024 and 2025. The conference championship will be held at the Henrico Sports & Events Center, which is set to open this fall.

The five-day tournament will mark the Henrico complex’s first marquee event in its 3,500-seat arena. The arena project, which was delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, will feature 185,000 square feet of event space and room for 12 regulation NCAA basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts.

The center will also feature meeting and locker rooms, dining areas and broadcast-quality audio and video systems. The hardwood floor for the tournament was used in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Henrico Sports & Entertainment Authority partnered with Richmond Region Tourism to submit a bid for the tournament after the A-10 conference expressed interest in the new venue.

The University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University are both members of the conference. From 2014 to 2018, the conference tournament was held in the Richmond Coliseum, and VCU’s Siegel Center hosted it in 2021.

The winner of the championship is granted automatic qualification into the women’s NCAA Tournament.

The new sports center is being developed through a partnership with Henrico County and Rebkee, a local developer that is also redesigning the former Virginia Center Commons mall property with hotels, housing and retail.

The indoor facility is estimated to generate $60 million annually, and the new venue will also be estimated to contend for an additional $30 million annually with its arena.

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