After hosting its first NCAA event—the 2013 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in March—the Shenandoah City Council has submitted bids to the NCAA to host Division III football, swimming and diving, and women's lacrosse championships through 2018.
City Administrator Greg Smith said the bids submitted could allow the city to host the three events for as many as four years from 2014–18, using Conroe ISD's facilities, the Natatorium and Woodforest Bank Stadium. The City Council approved submitting bids for the events Sept. 11. Smith said the NCAA would deliver final notifications regarding the bids sometime in December.
Conservative estimates by city staff reported the events could cost the city $89,000 per lacrosse championship, $94,000 per football championship and $144,000 per swimming and diving championship. Smith said the estimates are "very, very rough" and based on the costs of providing a venue for the banquets for each event.
Costs for the events come from hotel occupancy tax, said Mayor Wes Stephens.
"I don't see a better way to spend it than on an NCAA national championship," Stephens said.