Missouri Valley Conference WBB tournament making an economic impact in the Quad Cities

MOLINE, Ill. (KWQC) - The Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament tipped off Thursday from Vibrant Arena at the Mark in Moline.

President and CEO of Visit Quad Cities, Dave Herrell said they’re so fortunate that they’ve had a nine-year run of hosting this tournament in the Quad Cities, and that hoops in the heartland essence, that really kind of wraps the entire tournament around the QC has definitely been a win for our regional economy.

“It’s something that’s added a lot of value, I think you’re realizing about 1.9 million in annualized economic impacts,” Herrell said. “The hospitality industry really likes this event, because in our space and the tourism world, we call this shoulder season, which is March, and as we kind of transitioned from January, February, into March, it’s always good to start seeing some activity in the marketplace.”

Herrell said that this tournament is a great opportunity for us to really celebrate women’s collegiate athletics, and it’s also the only neutral site tournament of its kind in the nation, and that it gives us a lot of pride to be able to say the Quad Cities hosts something like this.

He also mentioned the unique thing about this year is, this is the last year of a three-year contract, and they’re in serious conversations about the future.

The tournament began on Thursday and will go through Sunday with the championship game scheduled to tip off at 1 p.m.