Shortly after the women’s NCAA Tournament set viewership and attendance records last year as LSU took down Iowa for the championship, the Charlotte Sports Foundation began making calls to see about hosting a major women’s basketball game to kick off the 2023-24 season.
The first call? Iowa. If it could get Caitlin Clark into the building in Charlotte, it knew tickets would sell. But the group also wanted a second Final Four team, preferably a more local one, where fans could drive to the event. So the next call was made to Virginia Tech.
Done. Coach Kenny Brooks and his Hokies would happily mark the start of the season with a high-caliber matchup.
Danny Morrison, the foundation’s executive director, was excited how quickly two Final Four teams jumped at the chance to play a competitive early-season game. But next came what he expected to be the tougher call: a title sponsor. Someone who would throw a ton of money at this game.
Morrison called Ally Financial. Within 24 hours, they agreed. A game — one that historically would’ve needed a year to plan — took just days to pull together.
“You don’t normally have it happen like this,” Morrison said of how quickly and easily everything came together.
Caitlin Clark started her college career playing in front of cardboard…
