The bidding cycle has opened for cities aiming to host the next available round of NCAA Championships, and there’s a strong possibility college wrestling’s crown jewel event could be headed to new territories.  

NCAA managing director of championships and alliances Anthony Holman said he’s “inviting non-traditional sites” to enter the mix to stage the championships in 2027 through 2030 and he also expects the tournament will be held in a stadium sometime in the next decade. 

“We’ve become far more intentional (with) outreach about regions or venues, locales, so I’ll be reaching out — and have been — to some municipalities and venues we think would be a good fit for us,” Holman said in an interview with Flowrestling earlier this month at the NWCA Convention. “We’ve been fortunate that the success of the championship has really elevated the profile of the wrestling championships, so we’ve got a lot of cities and venues and suitors. 

“I think now that we’ve informed through platforms like this — I hope people are paying attention — others will know that ‘Hey, I never really thought about that wrestling championship here in Miami or Minneapolis or Chicago, maybe that might be something we could do.’ And we’re absolutely open to that.” 

The Division I NCAA Championships will be held next March at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, followed by a pair of return stops to arenas where the tournament has previously been staged — Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena in 2025 and Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  in 2026.  

In the two previous bid cycles, the NCAA took a swing at non-traditional cities and venues, electing to take the tournament to New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2016 and Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium, the 73,000-seat home of the Minnesota Vikings. 

The 2016 tournament opened the door for a new audience with a 22-percent first-time attendee rate. 

Minneapolis was on track to smash tournament attendance records with more than 42,000 tickets sold prior to the tournament’s cancellation at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We feel like we have unfinished business with what didn’t come to fruition in 2020 when the championship was canceled at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis,” Holman said. “I think there’s still interest in going to a venue like that to really demonstrate the power of the collegiate championship.” 

One idea that surfaced at the NWCA Convention: LoanDepot Park, the 37,000-seat home of the Miami Marlins.  

“I’m inviting non-traditional sites,” Holman said. “Coach Brian Smith from Missouri is a Florida guy and went to a Marlins game recently and said, ‘Hey, what about this stadium? It’s 37,000, really great setup, it’s a destination in March, would more people be interested in doing it?’ We’re open to all those things. We want to continue to introduce the sport to more fans and expand the fan base. Being intentional about those opportunities will help us to get to that.”