NCAA Press Release Archive

The CE Group Awarded Multi-Year Contract to Manage Enhanced NCAA Woman's Final Four Fan Experience

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Contact(s)

Rick Nixon
Associate Director of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship
317/917-6539

Therese McDevitt
The CE Group, Inc.
210/232-5759

INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA announced today that The CE Group, Inc., will manage numerous Women’s Final Four fan events, including the rebranded Tourney Town™ (formerly known as Hoop City). The CE Group is a San Antonio-based company with experience in positioning, planning, promoting and producing large-scale events and strategic marketing programs.

“Tourney Town was the focal point for fan and community activities during the 2010 Women’s Final Four and it was a big success, due in large part to The CE Group,” said Sue Donohoe, NCAA vice president of Division I women’s basketball. “San Antonio saw the re-launch of the fan experience and now we look forward to carrying that same energy to Indianapolis in 2011 and beyond.”

The CE Group will also produce the annual Salute Premiere, featuring the student-athletes of the four participating institutions and manage the Champions4Women Forum, an event that focuses on women’s empowerment in a format that celebrates championing women from all walks of life, careers and contributions to communities.

“The Women’s Final Four is the most prestigious event in women’s sports and the opportunity to further our work with the staff and committee to enhance the fan experience through Tourney Town and other events is a tremendous honor,” said Janet Holliday, president and CEO, The CE Group, Inc. “This is strategic event marketing at its finest and we are proud to be on the team going forward.”

About the NCAA and Division I Women’s Basketball

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions – AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola – and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners – Enterprise, The Hartford, Hershey’s, LG, Lowe’s, Planters, State Farm and UPS.

NCAA women’s basketball is characterized by strong fundamentals, high quality of play, sportsmanship, role model student-athletes and family oriented entertainment. The latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate figures show 83 percent of NCAA Division I women’s basketball players graduate. In terms of the NCAA Academic Progress Rate, which measures term-by-term academic success, the overall score is 966, well above the NCAA benchmark of 925.

For the latest news in regard to the Women’s Final Four, visit www.ncaa.com/finalfour.

NCAA, Women’s Final Four, Tourney Town and Hoop City are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

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