01-06-2010 08:55 AM

City of Frisco, Southland Conference to Host NCAA Site Survey Team

FRISCO, Texas - In its effort to serve as host of the 2010-12 NCAA Division I Football Championship Games, the City of Frisco will host an NCAA site survey team Wednesday and Thursday. In November, Frisco was named a finalist for the future national title games, which would be played at Pizza Hut Park, the city’s 22,500-seat multi-purpose stadium.

The site survey group, a combination of NCAA national office staff and select members of the Division I Football Championship Committee, will tour Pizza Hut Park, the city’s hotels and convention space, as well as other attractions. The city, in tandem with the Southland Conference, Hunt Sports Group, LLC/Pizza Hut Park, and Frisco’s Economic Development Corporation, its Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and Chamber of Commerce, submitted a bid package to the NCAA in October. The Southland, headquartered in Frisco since 2006, would serve as the host conference for the games.

“This is the next step in the process, and we are very pleased and feel fortunate to have the NCAA group visit and see the great things happening in Frisco,” Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett said. “Our collective partnership in the city has been outstanding, and we look forward to sharing our vision with the NCAA to provide game participants and spectators with the best possible national championship experience.”

Frisco, located just 20 minutes north of Dallas, is less than a half hour from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, home of American Airlines, and Dallas Love Field, home of Southwest Airlines. The city is known as one of the fastest-growing areas in the nation, and has become a sports-oriented community in the last decade. In addition to Pizza Hut Park, home to FC Dallas of Major League Soccer, Frisco is also home to the 8,800-seat Dr Pepper Ballpark, home of the Texas League’s Frisco RoughRiders. The NHL’s Dallas Stars headquarter and train in Frisco, and a new NBA Development League team will begin play in the city’s 5,000-seat Dr Pepper Arena, also home to the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League. Also, the U.S. Youth Soccer Association is based in Frisco.

Burnett added that Frisco officials will have an opportunity to make a final presentation before the football committee in late February, with a final decision due in early March. “We hope to show the committee what we believe are the advantages of having the event in a destination market of 6.5 million people, with unmatched national air service into two major airports, superb lodging, world-class shopping opportunities and countless other attractions,” he said.

Chattanooga, Tenn., the host city for the NCAA championship game since 1997, is the other finalist. The contest was formerly known as the NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game prior to the 2006 season.

Southland Media Relations
http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?temp_site=NO&ampB_OEM_ID=18400&ATCLID=204865352