A video board on the exterior of the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon March 6, 2024, advertises the 2024 WIAA girls state basketball tournament. PC: Fox 11 Online
ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – For a football town, Green Bay is certainly rolling out the red carpet for girl’s high school basketball.
Since 2013 the Resch Center has been home to the state championship tournament.
The finishing touches are being put on the Resch Center court as 20 of the best high school girl’s basketball teams, including five from Northeast Wisconsin, will battle it out for a state championship in Green Bay this weekend.
The WIAA games start late Thursday afternoon and by Saturday night, the five division champions will be crowned.
“If you look at who’s here, who’s playing here this weekend I think a lot of people will be interested to come out and watch these game. There’s going to be some great great games with some incredibly talented young women,” said Kate Peterson Abiad with the WIAA.
While the hardware is captured on the hardwood, the region as a whole ends up a winner after the weekend too. The tournament not only a draw locally, but fans from across the state come to Green Bay to watch and cheer on their favorite teams.
According to Brad Toll with Discover Green Bay, “Economically, of course, there’s always an impact. Typically it’s between $2.1 million and $2.3 million.”
From bars and restaurants in the stadium district, to hotels, and even bridal boutiques businesses will be booming.
“It’s a good shot in the arm. It’s good for business. It’s going to be a beautiful weekend,” said Kevin Burkel owners of Burkel’s One Block Over.
Ryan Curley from the Hampton Inn said, “Thursday nights are usually when we start to slow down from the business travel of the week but that’s, on a weekend like this, that’s when we kind of ramp up a little bit earlier than usual.”
And Hope Copiskey from Elaine’s Wedding and Event Center added, “Because we have designer dresses, some of the big names like Jovani and Amarra, we get a lot of people in here that want those designer dresses that you can’t get anywhere else unless you go to Milwaukee or Chicago.”
Northeast Wisconsin and the WIAA creating a great atmosphere for fans and especially the athletes on the court.
“This is the place for girl’s state basketball championships,” added Peterson Abiad.
CW-14 and FOX 11 are your new home of the WIAA Championship Series.
The winter sports championships continue this weekend with girls state basketball.
You can watch all the games on CW-14 and streaming online at fox11online.com.
The first game is at 1:35 p.m. on Thursday and runs through Saturday’s division 1 title game.
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