PORTLAND — March Madness will return to Oregon after a 26-year drought.

Portland's Rose Garden and the University of Oregon were chosen to host first- and second-round games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 2009, the NCAA announced Thursday.

Last year, Oregon lawmakers voted to do away with the state lottery's pro football betting game, Sports Action, to lure such tournament games. Because of its anti-gambling stance, the NCAA had passed over Oregon as a potential site.

"It is exciting to know that a piece of March Madness is finally coming back to our state. This is something that we have had as a goal for the past 10 years," Oregon athletic director Bill Moos said.

"In addition to the financial impact, this premier event will provide tremendous exposure for the university, the city of Portland and the entire state of Oregon," he said.

Advertisement

The state last played host to an NCAA men's tournament game in 1983. The organization gives preference to sites that have gone the longest without such games.

The Oregon Sports Authority, which lobbies to bring high-profile sports events to the state, had launched the successful effort to eliminate the lottery game and was also behind the bid for tournament games.

"This is an incredibly gratifying moment for all of us who worked so hard to bring the NCAA men's basketball tournament to Oregon," said Sports Authority CEO Drew Mahalic. "It is no doubt one of our organization's most significant and meaningful accomplishments, but even more than that, it is a landmark victory for the entire state of Oregon."

Sports Action has raised about $30 million for university athletic departments since it was launched in 1989. It is the nation's only state-sponsored sports betting game.

While Oregon has played host to national championships in other sports, such as golf and track and field, the NCAA has avoided the state when it came to men's hoops because of the belief that the sport is vulnerable to gambling influences.

The Oregon Sports Authority argued that Oregon could reap more than $125 million in the next 15 years by hosting NCAA tournaments — not only from the event itself, but also from the exposure the state would receive on a national level. That would outweigh the economic benefits from Sports Action.

Oregon lawmakers agreed, and last August they voted to get rid of the game in mid-2007. Sports Action will exist for one final NFL season.

The NCAA announced its first- and second-round and regional sites for 2009 and 2010 on Thursday from the organization's headquarters in Indianapolis.

A total of 56 cities bid to be among 22 sites selected — two cities were predetermined. The Rose Garden's games will be held March 19-21, 2009.

The last tournament games held in Oregon were first- and second-round games in Corvallis in 1983.

Portland has hosted NCAA Tournament games in 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1975, and was the host of the 1965 Final Four when UCLA defeated Michigan 90-81 for the national championship.