MAAC Basketball Championship Back in Atlantic City with New Date

The 2026 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will again be held at Atlantic City's historic Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. This year, the tournament will be held a week earlier, with the tourney starting on a Thursday and ending on a Tuesday.

Tournament dates and TV details

Attendance numbers from last year

The new format is expected to help with attendance, which, according to the Albany Times-Union, this year's tournament at Boardwalk Hall drew a total attendance of 17,687 from Tuesday through Saturday.

A New Format to Boost Attendance

Having more teams in Atlantic City during the weekend could help more fans come enjoy the resort town on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In the previous format, all the teams were in town on Tuesday, early in the week, and many were eliminated by the weekend, with the championship games on Saturday.

Now 16 of the 20 men's and women's teams will still be alive when Friday comes around, with only four being eliminated.

This is the final season of a three-year contract extension signed in 2023 to play the MAAC Basketball Championships in Atlantic City. As for the future, a decision is expected to be announced sometime this winter, per MAAC Commissioner Travis Tellitocci.

When I spoke with Commissioner Tellitocci before this year’s men’s championship game in Atlantic City, he emphasized the appeal of the city as a host.

He praised Atlantic City’s status as a tourist destination, its neutral-site setup, and the quality lodging available for teams and league officials. This year, men’s teams stayed at Ocean Casino Resort while the women’s teams were housed at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.