For more information, contact:
The St. Louis Sports Commission
314-992-0687
dbray@stlouissports.org

ST. LOUIS TO WELCOME 16,000 VISITORS, REAP $10 MILLION ECONOMIC IMPACT FROM THIS WEEK'S NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

EVENT BEGINS ST. LOUIS' RUN AS CHAMPIONSHIP CITY

ST. LOUIS – March 15, 2004 – Come Thursday, they'll be all over the place. People wearing Iowa corn-heads. Fans in bulky maroon and gold Minnesota Gopher jackets. Lots of guys with cauliflower ears.

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to Savvis Center March 18-20, and so too will thousands of die-hard college wrestling fans. Along with student-athletes, coaches, media and officials, they'll fill hotels, restaurants and attractions, creating a festive scene downtown and leaving behind millions of dollars for the local economy.

Organizers anticipate the Championships will generate $10 million in economic impact. The event will bring some 16,000 visitors to town and be responsible for more than 10,000 hotel room nights. Those numbers are based on a study that Webster University Professor Patrick Rishe conducted when St. Louis hosted the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2000. That year, St. Louis set the event's all-time total attendance record of 96,994. The 2004 Championships are closing in on that mark.

“It's an honor to host any NCAA championship, but only a handful match the impact created by wrestling,” said Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, which co-hosts the tournament with the University of Missouri. The independent non-profit Sports Commission spearheaded the area's efforts to bring the event to St. Louis. With the Championships back at Savvis Center in 2005, St. Louis is the only city in the tournament's 75-year history to be awarded the event in back-to-back years.

WELCOME TO CHAMPIONSHIP CITY

The 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships kick off a remarkable run of major sporting events that St. Louis will host this year and beyond. In fact, just in the next three weeks alone, the region welcomes the Wrestling Championships, NCAA Men's Basketball St. Louis Regional, and U.S. Olympic Women's Marathon Trials. The U.S. Olympic Diving Trials and Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay take place in June. The U.S. Senior Open Championship comes to Bellerive Country Club in late July.

Next year, St. Louis hosts the Wrestling Championships and its first NCAA Men's Final Four since 1978. The area has also secured the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 2007 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, and 2009 NCAA Women's Final Four. With the 2000 Wrestling Championships and 2001 Women's Final Four already under its belt, St. Louis is hosting an impressive seven NCAA championships this decade. The economic impact of the events the Sports Commission and its partners will host from now through 2009 could be as great as $200 million.

READY FOR THE RUSH

Back to the week ahead, a full slate of activities will take place in conjunction with the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Hundreds of local youth wrestlers will participate in an NCAA YES Clinic Tuesday night at Savvis Center. College coaches and student-atheletes will serve as instructors for the free clinic, which begins at 6 p.m. The Wrestling Championships' Opening Celebration is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday on the south parking lot at Union Station. The free event will feature wrestling legend Dan Gable, actor Billy Baldwin, St. Louis Rams player Kyle Turley and others. Fans can also meet and obtain autographs from the participating coaches and student-athletes. The NCAA Beyond The Game Tour Presented by CBS Sports , a free interactive fan-fest, takes place at Union Station throughout the tournament.

The competition gets under way at 11 a.m. Thursday. ESPN2 will nationally televise the finals at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The network will syndicate coverage of the semifinals Friday night. A complete event schedule appears below. The Sports Commission encourages merchants located near Savvis Center and throughout downtown to be prepared for large crowds before, after and in between sessions:

Pre-Tournament Events:

•  NCAA YES Clinic at Savvis Center: 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 16.
•  Opening Celebration at Union Station: 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 17.
•  NCAA Beyond The Game Presented by CBS Sports at Union Station: 5 – 9 p.m. Wednesday; 8:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Thursday & Friday; 8:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday.

Competition Schedule at Savvis Center:

Thursday, March 18

Session I 11 a.m.
Session II 6:30 p.m.

Friday, March 19

Session III 10 a.m.
Session IV 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 20

Session V 10 a.m.
Session VI 5 p.m.

WHO NEEDS TICKETS?!

St. Louisans still have an opportunity to be part of the action as tickets to the NCAA Wrestling Championships remain available. Fans can order individual session tickets through Ticketmaster by calling 314-241-1888 or 618-222-2900, logging on to www.ticketmaster.com , or visiting any Ticketmaster outlet including the Savvis Center box office. Session prices start at only $15. All-session tickets, which provide admittance to all six sessions, may be purchased by calling 877-722-1604 or visiting the Savvis Center box office. All-session tickets are $110.

MEDIA CONTACTS