State high school volleyball, girls basketball tournaments to remain in Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WGBW) – Three of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state championship events will remain in Green Bay.

In an announcement Wednesday morning, the WIAA, along with representatives from Discover Green Bay and PMI Entertainment Group, will be keeping the girls and boys volleyball, as well as the girls basketball state championships at the Resch Center, through 2030.

The agreement locks in the three state championship events for the next five years, according to WIAA Executive Director Stephanie Hauser.

“We are excited about the five years,” Hauser said. “We feel that it is a commitment by all parties involved that we love it here; we want to stay.”

“These events have a massive impact,” Nick Meisner, VP of Digital Marketing and Communication for Discover Green Bay, said during the announcement. “We’re absolutely honored to host these events and be the community that when kids say they’re going to state, that they’re coming to.”

The girls volleyball state championship has been held at the Resch Center since it opened in 2002, except for the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020, in which the championships were hosted at four different high schools around Wisconsin.

Boys volleyball has been at the Resch Center since 2019, except during the pandemic year when it was held at Burlington High School.

“Since the expansion of the volleyball tournament to 32 teams and 25,000 attendees, we’ve grown that economic impact in greater Green Bay up to a million dollars for that event,” Meisner said.

Girls basketball has been regularly held at the Resch Center since 2013, except during the pandemic when it was split between venues in La Crosse and Oshkosh.

“For girls basketball, we’ve been averaging about 35,000 fans that have been coming to Green Bay with an economic impact of about $2.2 million,” Meisner said. “This extension is a really big deal for our community.”

Brendan Bruss, the president of PMI Entertainment Group, said that he hopes that the five-year extension leads to continuing to host the state tournaments for a long time.

“There’s a certain amount of logistics,” Bruss said. “In our minds, we’re not looking at just five years for these state events. We’re hoping that we’re booking these for many, many years past that.”

“The logistics are the key piece,” Hauser said. “We’re excited about the five years. We feel that it is a commitment by all parties involved that we love it here, we want to stay.”

Bruss said that they’re committed to providing a quality experience for student-athletes and anyone who travels to Green Bay for a state championship.

“You want the players, you want the coaches, you want the schools, the communities, when they say ‘We’re going to state,’ you want it to feel like it’s an experience they’ll never forget,” Bruss said. “And the Resch Center really does that.”

The Resch Center itself was opened in 2002 and is the home for UW-Green Bay basketball, among other sports properties.

“We feel the welcome when we come to Green Bay,” Hauser said. “We’re not looking to go anywhere else; we truly love it here.”

The announcement was made ahead of the state boys and girls volleyball championships, which are being held in Green Bay Wednesday, Nov. 5 through Saturday, Nov. 8.

More information is available in a release on the WIAA website.