CHARLOTTE – The City of Charlotte has submitted its bid to host the 2021-2023 CIAA basketball tournaments.

  • Charlotte submitted a bid to host the CIAA basketball tournaments
  • The years the bid covers are 2021-2023
  • Baltimore, Richmond and Norfolk are also submitting bids

City councilman James Mitchell said the event is a major part of Charlotte's brand.

“I do think because of the CIAA we were able to land DNC in 2012, and it helped us with RNC because it shows Charlotte can host large events,” he said.     

CIAA’s board is accepting bids through this Sunday and will evaluate each city for its venues, hotels and transportation.

For the first time in a while, the Queen City has competition.

“Six years ago when the contract was up, we were competing against ourselves, but now, I think we have some real competition from Baltimore, Maryland; Richmond, Virgina; and Norfolk,” said Mitchell. 

Mitchell said the city's bid includes competitive hotel rates, playing games at both the Bojangles’ Coliseum and Spectrum Center and increasing the city's $1.2 million scholarship contribution.

“We're asking our corporations to set up and help us provide more scholarships to those who attend HBCUs,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell said they're also learning from past tournaments. Recently, the city improved its permitting process for non-CIAA parties and events after police say more than 100 shots were fired into cars, homes and buildings along North Caldwell Street last year.

“Putting the responsibility on the property owner, something we didn't do in the past, so last year, it was very successful, no incidents,” he said.

CIAA will announce the next host city in December.

The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) released this statement after submitting the city’s bid on Friday afternoon.

“Charlotte has officially submitted a proposal for the 2021 – 2023 CIAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. We appreciate the support of Mayor Lyles and other elected officials, the Hornets, area hotels and others who helped assemble this submission. We are extremely proud of the strong partnership we’ve established with the CIAA these last 13 years and hope to have the opportunity to continue hosting this event in future years,” said CRVA CEO Tom Murray.

Spectrum News reached out to tourism officials in Baltimore, Richmond and Norfolk for this story and they either declined to comment or haven't responded to our request.