The Ohio Valley Conference Board of Presidents have voted to accept an agreement to continue to hold the OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana through the 2026 Championship.
The agreement also includes an option for the 2027 Championship.
The OVC Basketball Championships have been held in the venue since 2018. In September 2019, the OVC accepted a three-year agreement to continue hosting the event at the venue through 2023, and in December exercised an option for 2024.
The Ford Center, which opened in November 2011, is an 11,000-seat arena located in the core of Evansville’s downtown district. The 290,000-square foot facility serves as home of Evansville Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League and the University of Evansville men’s basketball team. The Ford Center also serves as host to numerous sporting events and concerts on an annual basis.
The 2019 OVC Championships saw record-breaking attendance at the venue, as the men’s semifinals drew an OVC neutral site record 8,294 fans, a mark that was broken the next night with an attendance of 10,525.
The OVC Basketball Tournament is the fourth-oldest Division I Championship in the country; the men’s event will be held for the 60th time this year.
This year’s OVC Basketball Championships runs March 1-4.
