An effort to boost sports tourism in Jacksonville bore fruit on March 5 when the Atlantic Sun Conference announced it will move its men’s and women’s basketball championships to the city beginning in 2026.
ASUN, which moved its headquarters from Atlanta to Jacksonville in 2024, plans to hold the tournament’s quarterfinals through title games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena as part of a multiyear deal being negotiated with the city, commissioner Jeff Bacon said.
“We looked at a lot of factors in trying to decide where to go, and our athletic directors and presidents did a tremendous job,” Bacon said. “Ultimately Jacksonville, across the board, checked all the boxes that you’re looking to check for this type of event.”
Bacon said a “tremendous factor” in selecting Jacksonville was a commitment of annual public funding for the tournament. The Jacksonville City Council is considering legislation instigated by member Ron Salem to provide an initial contribution of $100,000.
ASUN currently holds its championships at school sites. The move to Jacksonville would mark the first time since 2013 that both the men’s and women’s tournaments would be held in one place.
The conference announced that the 2026 event would include all 12 member schools, with 24 teams playing 22 games over a seven-day span in Jacksonville. Bacon said the early rounds of the tournament would likely be played at a “mixture of local sites” such as the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University, both ASUN members.
The release said the event would generate more than $10 million in annual economic impact for Northeast Florida. It’s being held in partnership with the city and Visit Jacksonville.
In the release, Mayor Donna Deegan said landing the tournament was a sign of “Jacksonville’s fast growth and why we’re a fantastic place to visit.”
Michael Corrigan, CEO of Visit Jacksonville, said local leaders were looking forward to “showing everyone why we are Florida’s Championship City.”
Bacon said the tournament would be held during the first week of March. The conference is negotiating a new media contract, with Bacon saying ASUN had received a commitment that both the men’s and women’s title games would be broadcast nationally.
“The decision to go to a neutral site and to be in Jacksonville helps add value to that conversation with those media partners,” he said. “They look at that event a little bit differently now than they did a few months ago.”
Other benefits of centralizing the tournament include reducing travel for players, who now move from campus to campus under a format in which the highest-seeded team in each game plays host.
Holding the tournament in Jacksonville also will help ASUN raise its brand awareness and monetize the games, Bacon said.
Information on the bracket format, ticketing and a deal with a Downtown hotel are forthcoming, the conference said, and will be posted at www.asunsports.org and through the conference’s social media channels.
The city of Jacksonville has recently committed public funding to spur sports tourism development, including appropriating $1.5 million to create the Jacksonville Sports Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that launched in 2024. The organization’s mission is to attract a range of events, including youth competitions, extreme sports, and college and pro events.
Legislation for the city’s ASUN tournament contribution, Ordinance 2025-0140, is moving through the City Council process. It was introduced by Salem and Council President Randy White, and has been cosponsored by member Will Lahnen.
Salem, a leading proponent of the sports tourism effort, said his goals included re-establishing Jacksonville as an NCAA Tournament March Madness site. The basketball tournament was last held in the city in 2019.
In an interview about the ordinance, said his goals included to “show how we can run an ASUN tournament and maybe get other conference tournaments here.”