The new Bucks arena will host NCAA Tournament games in 2022.
The NCAA announced on Tuesday that the state-of-the-art venue, currently under construction Downtown and presently called the Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center, was selected as the site of First and Second Round action for the men's basketball tournament five years from now. The arena is slated to open in the fall of 2018.
The bid to host was a joint effort between the Bucks and the team's partners at Marquette University, who will be a tenant in the new building.
"This is fantastic news for the state of Wisconsin and another important milestone in the progress of this world-class arena in Milwaukee," Bucks President Peter Feigin said in a statement. "The BMO Harris Bradley Center was a tremendous host for NCAA basketball for many years and we’re thrilled to continue partnering with Marquette to ensure that tradition continues in the new building.
"We look forward to many more exciting announcements as we continue to bring a wide range of entertainment options to our community."
The Wisconsin Entertainment & Sports Center is the centerpiece of a Bucks Downtown development project to transform 27 acres of mostly vacant property into a vibrant retail and entertainment district in Milwaukee.
The $524 million, 714,000-square foot arena will be home to Milwaukee Bucks basketball, as well as other sports and entertainment events. The new arena was designed by Populous, Eppstein Uhen and HNTB, with Mortenson leading the construction of the project. For more information, visit wisconsinesc.com.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
