The City of Salem found out this afternoon that it will be hosting two most NCAA National Championships in the future including another Stagg Bowl.

Salem and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference will join forces to host the 2027 Stagg Bowl for D-III football and in 2028 Roanoke College’s Cregger Center will help the two entities host the Women’s D-III Basketball Championship. This will mark the 27th time Salem Stadium has hosted the football championship game.

Salem - NCAAThe NCAA received more than 1,200 bids from member schools, conferences, cities and sports commissions across 47 states and Washington, D.C., all competing to host predetermined rounds for 87 of the NCAA’s 90 championships. The respective NCAA sports committees selected the sites, with final approval from the divisional competition oversight and championships committees.

“The enthusiasm and interest from around the country to host NCAA championships continues to be a testament to the quality of our events,” said Lynda Tealer, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “For this cycle we incorporated more data into the process to help our sport and oversight committees through the evaluation and selection of sites as we had so many quality venues and locations looking to host during these two seasons. We will continue to evaluate and gather feedback on going from the traditional four-year cycle to awarding championship bids for two years to determine the right cadence for the bid process in the future.”

Forty states plus the District of Columbia were selected to host at least one NCAA championship event, with Florida garnering the most with 22. Pennsylvania and Texas are tied for second with 20, while California and North Carolina totaled 17.

The NCAA sports committees made the selections of host sites based on criteria that included the ability to create an outstanding experience for student-athletes, along with adherence to NCAA sport-specific bid specifications.

Specifications can include providing optimal facilities; ease of travel to the location; ample lodging; and adherence to NCAA principles, which include providing an atmosphere that is safe and respects the dignity of all attendees.

Salem has hosted 103 NCAA National Championships since 1993.


This news release was originally created by the City of Salem.