The IHSA basketball state finals host contracts are expiring. Here's what could be next

Contracts for the Illinois High School Association boys and girls basketball state finals expire after this year's tournaments, but both the current hosts and the IHSA have mutual desires to keep the relationships in tact.

As of now, the IHSA and officials in Champaign (boys) and Normal (girls) are expected to work out five-year extensions to continue hosting the state finals through 2029, according to the IHSA's Matt Troha.

The IHSA entered into three-year contracts with the two sites in June 2020, at the same time switching to a new, single weekend, three-day state final schedule. Those original deals would have expired last season, but the IHSA added a year to each contract when the pandemic canceled the 2021 state finals.

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“The IHSA typically seeks five-year state final hosting agreements, but agreed to a three-year term as a means to essentially have a trial period to hold the single weekend, three-day state final schedule format in boys and girls basketball that debuted in 2021-22,” Troha said.

The format of four enrollment class state finals spread across a three-day weekend, Thursdays through Saturdays, was first played two years ago. Previously, the boys and girls final fours were held over four consecutive weekends, on Fridays and Saturdays, in Peoria and Normal, respectively.

Troha says the overall anecdotal feedback has been positive on the single weekends. He anticipates the IHSA will continue with that format moving forward. The IHSA still wants to give the IHSA basketball advisory committee and its board of directors a chance to formally review and discuss, according to Troha.

“If we move forward with the current format,” Troha said. “I anticipate both current state final venues will be provided the opportunity to propose five-year extensions early this spring.

“If either venue was unable or uninterested in continuing to host, be it due to scheduling conflicts or a change in the IHSA state final format, at that juncture we would develop a plan for accepting hosting bids.”

Illinois State University's CEFCU Arena in Normal will host the 2024 girls state finals on Feb. 29-March 2. The University of Illinois' State Farm Center in Champaign will host the boys finals on March 7-9.

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Will Champaign and Normal renew their contracts?

Representatives from both host cities seem eager to renew their contracts, but need to get through the current deals to commit definitively.

ISU has hosted the girls state finals since 1992, going from two weekends of having the smaller and larger classes separated to a one, three-day event. The sole weekend now continues to be a big hit for the Bloomington-Normal area.

“Oh, certainly,” B-N Sports Commission director Zach Dietmeier said when asked if Normal is interested in having the girls state finals extend their stay through 2029. “The girls state finals is a big staple for Bloomington-Normal sports, especially with the great relationship with the IHSA.

“We will certainly be looking at it.”

Dietmeier says there have been no talks yet between the IHSA and the Sports Commission. The Visit BN vice president of operations speculates those meetings will be held once the state finals weekend is behind them.

“I think everybody is going to try and make it through the event,” Dietmeier said. “… I think we’ll have some more information on that, though, in the next couple of months.”

Champaign is excited to continue being the home of the IHSA’s crown jewel. If it’s up to Jayne DeLuce, president & CEO of Experience Champaign-Urbana, the state finals would never leave Champaign, which also was home from 1919 to 1995 before leaving for Peoria. The group likes not only the economic impact and excitement the tournament brings each March.

“To me, the best part is when you see the players take the court for the first time, look around and be like ‘Wow, I’m playing in the State Farm Center — home of the Fighting Illini basketball'," said DeLuce, who was instrumental in securing the first three-year contract.

“It is definitely a source of community pride," DeLuce said. "I think there’s such a tradition of high school basketball in this area and of course, basketball in general. We’re happy to have it. We want to keep it forever.”

DeLuce says her team, much like Bloomington, is trying to get through the basketball state finals. Not to mention the boys wrestling state finals at State Farm Center in mid-February, before looking towards reupping the basketball contract.

This time, however, a full five-year contract should be in play, a practice the IHSA offers to other state finals host sites.

“We’ll look to continue renewing it for five years,” she said. “We’ve definitely communicated with (the IHSA) that everything’s gone very well from our end, and we want to look at continuing that agreement.”

Is Peoria interested in hosting state?

Peoria, though, is interested in once again becoming the host city for the state finals if the IHSA opens the bidding process, according to JD Dalfonso, president and CEO of Enjoy Peoria.

The River City held the boys state finals from 1996 to 2019 — the pandemic canceled the final year of the contract in 2020 — at Peoria Civic Center’s Carver Arena, outbidding Champaign nearly 30 years ago.

The Peoria state tournament featured the family-friendly March Madness Experience, which was manned by an army of volunteers, held in nearby exhibit halls. This feature was not continued in Champaign.

“We would always consider the opportunity,” Dalfonso said. “For us, we would just have to determine if (the) IHSA is willing to put it out for bid. I’m not sure in any of its history where (the state finals have) gone out for bid after the first three years.

“If the IHSA board (of directors) chooses to do so, then it’s something in our obligation to take a look into, so I guess once we find out if they’re going to do that, it would determine our next steps.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA basketball state finals hosts in Champaign, Normal: What we know