SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville spurs $16M economic impact

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The 2024 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament is in Greenville for the seventh time since 2005 and has a growing impact on the Upstate.

Last year, nearly 58,000 Greenville fans showed up in record numbers to Bon Secours Wellness Arena, and the upcoming tournament is already on track to have an even bigger showing this year, according to VisitGreenvilleSC, a non-profit organization focused on Greenville’s hospitality and tourism industry.

This is the last year that the SEC (Southeastern Conference in college athletics) is a 14-team conference.  Meaning, players, coaches, staff, college administrators, board of directors, and school fans all gather in the city for the event held Wednesday, March 6, through Sunday, March 10, for the city’s second of its three-year agreement. Next year, the conference will grow to 16 teams.

VisitGreenvilleSC President Heath Dillard said the total economic impact due to the event is more than $16 million during the five-day period.

“We are excited that the final year of our agreement includes the expanded conference, and we want to make the case that this is the tournament’s forever home,” said Dillard. “We are working through 2026 and beyond conversations now.”

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Opening the opportunity to further host the tournament in Greenville not only involves putting on a high-quality even inside of the arena but outside of it as well, Dillard added.

“All visitors want to feel like the community is welcoming and supportive of basketball,” he said. “We have proven that this community is supportive of the sport, both men’s and women’s, and the fact that this arena now holds the tournament record in terms of attendance supports that and that we can also attract fans from outside of the city from all over the Southeast region. Especially for first-time visitors, if we can offer an incredible experience, they’re likely to come back.”

Although Greenville is closer to Clemson University — an Atlantic Coast Conference school — the city holds a lot of University of South Carolina fans, which secured the SEC Women’s Basketball Championship Title last year against the University of Tennessee.

“The SEC holds a lot of passionate fans who will travel to see their teams play,” said Dillard. “We’ve seen fans from every SEC school show their willingness to travel to such events to support their teams. We’re also an easy market to travel to in terms of drive and flights.”

In terms of the future of larger sports events in Greenville, Dillard said it takes a lot of community partnerships and support to be able to continue to attract such events, but the goal is to bring as many possible here.

“While we talk about the economic impact and number of visitors that come into the market and drive that impact, we’ll have just as many local residents sitting in these seats and enjoying this event,” said Dillard. “We really want to leverage the impact visitors have on the community, but more importantly, we want to do that to increase our residents’ quality of life.”