An Association-wide menu session January 12 at the NCAA Convention in Nashville offered insights on how to successfully bid for and oversee an NCAA championship.

As part of the session, "Elements of Bidding For and Hosting Successful NCAA Championships," panelists said advanced planning and building relationships with local organizations and businesses were critical to successfully hosting NCAA championships events.  

John Williams and Kerri Fagan of the NCAA national office's championships staff joined panelists Carey Harveycutter from the City of Salem, Virginia; Jon McBride, athletics director at the University of Nebraska at Kearney; and Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, in discussing their experiences as hosts.

The panel stressed that the first and overriding concern of any host was ensuring a top-notch experience for competing student-athletes. In striving for that goal, McBride said it was important to have the right people involved and emphasized that developing close relationships with the local chamber of commerce and other businesses was key. Relationships with corporations, volunteers, members of the media, hotels, transportations agencies and other entities also play a role in creating community interest and involvement, said Viverito, who focused his comments on marketing and promoting elements of hosting championships.

Panelists agreed that the return on the investment of time, effort and energy, however, is high, and goes far beyond simply dollars and cents. Hosting an NCAA championship also provides positive exposure for the school and local community, opportunities to work with local businesses and the chance to put on fan-based activities.