The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
49°F
Current Conditions
Light rain
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Media Madness: University of Idaho, Arena see significant attendance for NCAA March Madness Regional

Members of the media filled two tables on either side of the court over the weekend to cover the NCAA March Madness Regional at the Spokane Arena, as pictured here during a break in play of the Elite Eight matchup between the UCLA Bruins and the LSU Tigers on Sunday. (Nick Gibson / The Spokesman-Review)
By Nick Gibson nickg@spokesman.com(509) 459-5039

Fans, alumni and women’s basketball teams weren’t the only ones in town for the March Madness games over the weekend.

The 2025 Spokane Regional is the fourth time the Lilac City and the University of Idaho have hosted rounds of the NCAA tournament in the past five years, with both the men’s and women’s side having some crossover last year.

But 2025’s figures for media members accredited for the event greatly outpace prior years, highlighting the growing popularity of women’s sports.

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” said university spokesman Jerek Wolcott. “The media requests for this tournament far outpace anything that we’ve done the last three tournaments we’ve hosted.”

Wolcott said the university issued more than 260 media accreditations, up more than 50% from the 170 issued last year. In 2022, the women’s regional drew around 75 members of the media from across the country.

“We blew through our hotels that we had reserved,” Wolcott said. “We had to go find 37 more hotel rooms on Monday, after the team lists came in.”

The eyes on Spokane hail from near and far, Wolcott said, including local broadcast stations and larger outfits like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times’ sports publication the Athletic and ESPN. The sports broadcasting network send some of their leading reporters and commentators to Spokane, including those that will call the national title game: Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Holly Rowe.

In addition to the rising popularity of women’s sports, the larger media crowd size may also be due to Spokane’s fortune when each team’s tournament path to the national championship was chalked out. Half of the Associated Press’ field of the top 10 teams in the sport competed in Spokane, as did some of the sport’s biggest stars, including the No. 3 ranked University of Connecticut Huskies and their leading scorer Paige Bueckers.

“We haven’t seen anything like this before, so it’s pretty neat,” Wolcott said.

Wolcott said the university hopes to build on the increased interest in Spokane games in the years to come. Spokane will be a host site again in 2027, when the men’s first and second rounds come to town.