The Big West announced today a new multi-year agreement to bring the Big West Basketball Championships to the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson beginning in March of 2022.
The $84 million, 6,000 seat Dollar Loan Center will be completed next February. In addition to hosting the Big West’s signature event for the next three years, Dollar Loan Center is home to the Henderson Silver Knights, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, the Vegas Indoor Football League franchise and the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame.
The 2022 Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, will christen the arena as its first publicly ticketed event. The five-day tournament will run March 8-12 featuring 10 women’s and 10 men’s teams vying for conference championships and automatic bids to the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships.
Donning hard hats today at the arena construction site, Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly held a joint press conference with Kerry Bubolz, President of the Golden Knights, and Henderson Mayor Debra March in front of a contingent of local representatives and Big West CEO’s and athletic directors.
Now a popular destination for college basketball championship events, the Big West was the first collegiate conference to hold a conference basketball tournament in the state of Nevada nearly 30 years ago. Previously, the Thomas and Mack Center hosted the event in 1994 and 1995, before the tournament moved to the Lawlor Events Center in Reno from 1996 to 2000. The Big West returned to Las Vegas a year ago, staging the 2021 championships at Michelob ULTRA Arena inside Mandalay Bay.
An announcement on ticket pricing for the 2022 Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, will be made at a later date.
