The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference boys' and girls' basketball championship games will return to the Mohegan Sun Arena for at least one more year next March.
The Mohegan Sun will host the finals for a fifth straight year under the same format. There will be two games on Friday, March 15 and six more on Saturday, March 16 in Uncasville.
"It makes sense for both parties," said Paul Hoey, the associate executive director of the CIAC. "Mohegan runs a great program, a professional event. We very much want to stay there."
On average, Hoey said the finals draws between 17,000 and 18,000 people each year. Last March's Saturday night session drew over 9,500 alone.
"It draws traffic to our venue and everyone benefits. It's the only high school event we do," said Tom Cantone, the vice president of sports and marketing for the Mohegan Sun. "It's a good fit for us."
Mitch Etess, now the CEO of the Mohegan Sun’s Travel Gaming Authority, put the original three-year agreement together to bring the CIAC finals to Uncasville. He told the Register back in March that the Mohegan wanted to explore the option of moving the finals to Saturday and Sunday.
The CIAC had never pre-scheduled an event for a Sunday. The start of any change to policy begins with the CIAC Board of Controls, comprised mostly of high school principals and athletic directors. If a decision is reached, then the entire CIAC membership has to approve a change in the bylaws to pre-schedule tournament games on a Sunday.
"We have another year to get support from our membership," Hoey said. "I still think we would run into tremendous opposition."
Said Cantone: "It's been discussed. We will leave all of our options open and see how it goes in the future."