What about Temple’s gym?
It is a little large at around 10,000 seats.
Carnesecca in Queens is another option.
I can’t see the 7 other ADs agreeing on the Palestra as a permanent home. Even if the neutral site is in the same metro area as a school, at least it won’t be a team’s literal homecourt.
Brown has hosted a well-run Ivy Madness weekend, and the games have delivered excitement. However, the tournament has yet to establish itself as a marquee event that draws fans from all eight Ivy League schools.
Take this year’s women’s final: a matchup between two top-50 teams, both likely NCAA Tournament-bound. Despite the high stakes and quality of play, the game drew just 1,326 fans—filling less than half of the 2,800-seat arena. This wasn’t an isolated case but part of a broader trend.
Historical Attendance in Ivy Madness Championship Games
Women’s Final Attendance:
• 2017 (Penn) – 3,833
• 2018 (Penn) – Not provided
• 2019 (Yale) – Not provided
• 2022 (Harvard) – 925
• 2023 (Princeton) – 1,922
• 2024 (Columbia) – 2,703
• 2025 (Brown) – 1,326
Men’s Final Attendance:
• 2017 (Penn) – Not provided
• 2018 (Penn) – Not provided
• 2019 (Yale) – 2,572
• 2022 (Harvard) – 1,350
• 2023 (Princeton) – 3,607
• 2024 (Columbia) – 2,278
• 2025 (Brown) – TBD
While Penn and Princeton have been able to draw larger crowds, attendance at other host sites—particularly Harvard, Yale, and Brown—has been underwhelming. This raises a fundamental question: should Ivy Madness continue to rotate among all eight schools, or should it be anchored in a location or locations that is can consistently draws more fans?
Would the Philadelphia geography always attract nearly 4,000 attendees - is there a northern location that can attract such a number? Or do we just need to acknowledge that the Ivy League’s true core of dedicated fans hovers around 2,000? And if that’s the case, rotating the tournament—even to schools with smaller gyms—may still the right approach?
Optimizing Scheduling and Visibility for Ivy Women’s Basketball
This year’s women’s tournament featured three potential at large NCAA Tournament teams, a testament to the growing strength of the league. Yet the attendance numbers didn’t reflect the quality of play. Was this an avoidable issue, or is it simply the reality of Ivy League basketball’s fan base?
Some structural changes could help. A Friday 4:30 p.m. semifinal start time is never going to draw well, no matter the location—pushing Friday’s games later and shifting the championship to a later Saturday slot could make attendance more feasible for fans traveling to the event.
Another potential improvement would be to host the Ivy women’s tournament a week before the men’s, as the Power 4 conferences do. Since the women’s season already starts a week earlier, this would align better with their schedule. However, would a two-week gap between the Ivy Tournament and the NCAA Tournament be too long? If so, perhaps a broader change—moving up the NCAA Women’s Tournament itself—should be on the table.
The Road Ahead for Ivy Madness
The next two scheduled hosts will present additional logistical and attendance challenges. If Ivy Madness is meant to be a signature event that elevates the league’s visibility, the Ivy League must think critically about venue selection—both in terms of location and timing—to ensure more than 2,000 fans are consistently in attendance.
Right now, the tournament’s structure seems designed around the hope that Ivy Madness will become a destination event. But if attendance trends persist, the league may need to align expectations with reality—or take meaningful steps to grow the event into something bigger.
Attendance was 5,564 in 2018 for the men’s final at the Palestra.
Thanks for the thoughtful input. My preferences in order would be a) a long term commitment to holding the event in NYC, taking a risk that they can make a go of it at Barclays, b) hold it at the home court of the number one seed and c) the eight school rotation. Giving it permanently to Penn (or any other school) should be a nonstarter. With appropriate marketing, I think we could attract a good crowd to Barclays and pulling it off would have positive repercussions in terms of raising the event’s profile and the attractiveness of the League to recruits.
Honestly NYC seems ideal. Makes it an easy destination for out of towners(flights) and everyone else can drive there. Not to mention it’s NYC.
With the smaller arenas, the league can’t hold double header semifinals, which is pretty lame. At the Palestra and Jadwin, one ticket got you into both semis. The men’s semis at Jadwin in 2023 had 4,500 fans.The other gyms had to be emptied between semis, which belies the whole notion that the tournament is bringing the teams and their fans together for the event. This also complicates ticket sales–the seedings on the men’s side weren’t known until the bitter end. Will Ivy fans buy tickets to both semis to make sure they get to see their team play?
Plenty of different size arenas in NYC. Don’t need to overthink it. Money is not the problem.
Having attended every Ivy Madness tournament except Harvard (due to family obligations), I’ve observed several logistical challenges that the Ivy League should address—particularly regarding team accommodations and venue selection.
Prioritizing Team Accommodations
From a team perspective, the league must ensure that host cities have sufficient, conveniently located hotels to house all participating teams. If a city is too expensive for the league to secure reasonable accommodations—forcing teams into distant hotels—then that location should be removed from consideration.
Case in point: This year in Providence, the concurrent DIII Wrestling Championships and a kids’ cheerleading competition meant that Ivy teams had to stay outside the city. While teams don’t necessarily need to be within walking distance of the venue (as they were at Yale), they also shouldn’t be relegated to inconvenient or suboptimal locations.
The Yonkers Problem – If the league is going to select New York City as a host site, then teams should actually be staying in NYC—not in Yonkers or another distant suburb. If the financial burden of keeping teams in Manhattan is too great for the Ivy League, that’s a clear sign that the location isn’t viable.
Aligning Locations with the Fan Base
Beyond just team logistics, the Ivy League must also consider where its fan base is actually located. The tournament falls during Spring Break for many Ivy schools, raising the question: would a destination venue—like Cancun or Fort Lauderdale—draw more student engagement 
Given that current attendance is largely made up of alumni and general fans, rotating the tournament among major metropolitan areas with large alumni populations makes the most sense. A structured regional rotation system could provide stability while keeping the event accessible:
• South (Philadelphia region) – Rotating between Penn and Princeton
• Central (New York region) – Rotating among Columbia, Cornell, and Yale
• North (Boston region) – Rotating among Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown
Each of these locations offers easy access by car, train, or flight, ample hotel options near the arenas, and plenty of pre- and post-game activities. The key is finding the right mid-sized venue that aligns with realistic attendance expectations.
Ivy Madness is still evolving, and the league has an opportunity to refine the event to maximize attendance, fan experience, and competitive fairness. The solution likely isn’t a single permanent site but rather a strategic rotation that balances logistical feasibility, fan accessibility, and long-term growth.
Actually, that is the precisely the problem. The League does not want to pony up $$ to rent a venue.
Carneseca would be a good spot.