MAAC Co-Hosts Another Successful NCAA Championship
MAAC Sports
Edison, N.J. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference along with Canisius College and Niagara University recently co-hosted second and third rounds of the 2014 NCAA DI Men’s Basketball Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. at the First Niagara Center. Hosting these events marks the sixth time that the MAAC has hosted an NCAA championship at the First Niagara Center with five of them being NCAA Division I basketball events.
Over the two days of basketball action, two of the three sessions included sold-out attendance figures and all three of the sessions averaged a 99% attendance capacity. The second session on Thursday, March 20 was only 554 seats shy of selling out with the attendance totaling to 18,706 fans in the 19,260 seat arena. The Buffalo site had the highest overall sales in both attendance and percentage of capacity among all eight of the second and third round sites.
“Buffalo remains a top site for college basketball fans because of its facility, location, hosting experience, hotels and efforts by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) to enhance the fan experience,” notes Richard Ensor, MAAC Commissioner. “Congratulations to the staffs of the First Niagara Center, Canisius College, Niagara University and the MAAC for their efforts to achieve this attendance mark and to the LOC for its continuing support.”
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference will once again host a DI NCAA event when the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Regional heads to Albany, N.Y. at the Times Union Center. Siena will co-host the event and the Regional will be the first time that NCAA Women’s Basketball will be held in Albany.