B1G hoops tourney moves east

IOWA CITY - Beltway basketball anyone?

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is taking his league's 2017 basketball tournament from its Midwestern roots and will showcase it in the nation's capital. The tournament - which previously was staged in Chicago or Indianapolis - will be held at Verizon Center.

'We don't just want to visit here, we want to live here,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told Sports Illustrated about competing in the Northeast. 'This was our first opportunity to do that. We think it's a wonderful opportunity for not just Maryland, but for expatriate Big Ten fans living on the East Coast to see great basketball in March.”

The Big Ten has made a push into the potentially lucrative Northeast coinciding with its expansion. Rutgers and Maryland agreed to join the Big Ten in 2012 and will become members this July. The Big Ten has a bowl agreement with New York City's Pinstripe Bowl, which allows for signage at Yankee Stadium. In June the league will open a second office in Manhattan.

Monday, the Big Ten announced an eight-year deal with the Big East that includes eight games annually between the leagues the first week of the men's basketball season.

The tournament previously was held nine times in Indianapolis and eight times in Chicago. Next year it returns to the United Center in Chicago, while Indianapolis hosts the tournament in 2016. In 2013, the Big Ten Tournament had a record attendance of 124,543 in Chicago. This year's tournament in Indianapolis had 111,592 for the tournament, the most-ever in Indianapolis.

The league's football championship game is scheduled for Indianapolis through 2015.

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