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Missouri Valley Conference Extends Agreement to Host State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Tournament at Enterprise Center
ST. LOUIS -- The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament will remain in St. Louis through at least 2028, MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson has announced. The existing agreement with the building concludes in March 2025. The new contract is for three tournaments (2026 through 2028 ), with an option to extend through the 2030 event (which would mark the 40th-straight year in St. Louis).
“We are so fortunate to be in a position to continue our relationship with the Enterprise Center and the City of St. Louis,” says Commissioner Jackson. “Arch Madness has proven to be a fabulous experience for our student-athletes. I want to thank Chris Zimmerman and Todd Mitchell (Vice President & General Manager of Enterprise Center) for their efforts on this matter and everyone’s on-going support of “The Valley.”
Notably, the MVC will conduct its 34th-straight men’s basketball tournament -- known as Arch Madness -- in St. Louis in 2024 (March 7-10), having staged the event in Kiel Auditorium (1991), the Saint Louis Arena (1992-94) and Enterprise Center (1995-present). The event this March will mark the 30th anniversary for the event at Enterprise Center.
“As Enterprise Center prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary later this year, we are thrilled to have been the home of Arch Madness since our opening year and now through at least 2028,” said Chris Zimmerman, president and CEO of business operations of the St. Louis Blues. “Thanks to the dedication of our friends at the Missouri Valley Conference, this event has become one of the premier tournaments in college basketball, highlighting our venue and our city to fans across the country.”
“A multi-year run like this doesn’t occur without having a product that is in demand and a following that consistently supports it,” notes MVC Senior Associate Commissioner and Tournament Director Jack Watkins. “Our coaches and student-athletes provide compelling stories and great basketball every year, and we are grateful that we can deliver an experience worthy of their commitment thanks to the unyielding loyalty from our fans in league cities and the greater St. Louis metropolitan area.”
Only the Big East Conference has had a longer, continuously running men’s basketball event at the same neutral site than has the Missouri Valley Conference, which has built a strong tradition with the men’s basketball championship in St. Louis. The Big East Conference has played its tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City every year since 1983 (42nd consecutive year in 2024).
Other conferences that will celebrate current streaks of 15 or more years in the same neutral-site city in March 2024 include only the Mid-American Conference (25-straight years in Cleveland); the Mountain West (18-straight years in Las Vegas); and the West Coast Conference (16-straight years in Las Vegas).
Since the tourney moved to St. Louis in 1991, a total of 1,500,873 fans have passed through the turnstiles at Kiel Auditorium, the Saint Louis Arena and Enterprise Center to witness MVC tourney action.
Notably, The Valley has been aggressive in hosting NCAA events in St. Louis. From 1998-2010, the MVC served as host for a staggering nine NCAA tournament events in that 13-year period, which has made St. Louis one of the most frequent stops on the NCAA Tournament trail. The Valley hosted Women’s Final Fours in 2001 and 2009 -- both at Enterprise Center -- and the Men’s Final Four in 2005. Most recently, The Valley hosted a first- and second-round men’s basketball event in Enterprise Center in 2016, and the Conference will next stage an NCAA Tournament event at Enterprise Center in 2026 (first- and second-round men’s basketball). The Valley and the city of St. Louis had also been awarded an NCAA men’s basketball event in 2020, which was canceled due to the global pandemic.
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