NCAA Frozen Four — 2008
Tourism Star Award Recipient — 2008
The NCAA 2008 Men’s Frozen Four Hockey Tournament is the hockey equivalent of college basketball’s Final Four and was held at Pepsi Center from April 10-12. The sold out four-day tournament with a combined total of 55,000 attendees, 15,000 of them coming from out-of-town, was the fourth largest crowd in Frozen Four history, and the opening Thursday night game was the largest attendance ever for that day. This prestigious sporting event generated an estimated $10-13 million of economic development for Denver, and coverage of the games gave Denver national exposure as an important sports center. When Denver won the games in 2003, it was the first time a city was awarded both a regional games and the tournament, again establishing Denver as a center for major sporting events.
The profile of each Tourism Star is reflective of the time of the award.