WORCESTER, Mass — Worcester's basketball scene is jumping.
"It is impossible to get a gym — to rent a gym — in the city right now," Eric Batista said. "Because every single gym in this city is completely occupied with kids playing basketball."
The North High School boy's basketball team just won their second straight state title. The South High Community School girl's basketball team finished just short. And the College of the Holy Cross women's basketball team is fresh off a run to the 2024 NCAA women's basketball tournament.
What You Need To Know
- The Worcester City Council has supported an order to bid to be a host city for March Madness later this decade
- The city last hosted the men's tournament in 2005
- City councilors have shown interest in bringing both the men's and women's tournaments to Worcester
- Worcester's lack of hotels has been a key obstacle preventing another tournament from coming to central Massachusetts
Recent success has city leaders feeling the madness.
"Thousands of people. An opportunity to showcase the city of Worcester," City Councilor Khrystian King said during a meeting on Tuesday.
Worcester last hosted March Madness in 2005, but much has changed since then. The popularity of March Madness demands a large venue, like the DCU Center.
But it also calls for a number of large hotels, which has been the city's biggest obstacle since their last time hosting.
"The net number of new hotel rooms is not where it needs to be when you consider a number of years back, Crowne Plaza closed with almost 300 rooms," said Tim Murray, the president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Murray attended March Madness in Worcester in both 1991 and 2005. He remembers the impact the traffic had on the local economy.
Murray says he is cautiously optimistic about the city's hotel situation moving forward.
"There are a couple, and one in particular, that I think are being looked at very seriously, that could potentially add a couple hundred hotel rooms," Murray said.
Murray added that building hotels has to make sense economically outside of just hosting March Madness. And he says building hotels comes with its own list of challenges, including cost.
Worcester, specifically the DCU Center and the College of the Holy Cross, has made bids to be a host city in recent years, but to no avail.
In hopes of hosting once more, the City Council expressed their support Tuesday night in pursuing a bid for later this decade.
"Sports brings communities together," said City Councilor Luis Ojeda. "It brings families together. It brings people from all around the world together."