Best Sports Business Cities — Ones to watch: Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh welcomed some of the nation’s top NCAA women’s bowling teams last year for the National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Pittsburgh Regional Championships.visit pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was another Rust Belt city that experienced a strong 2022 for tourism, including a 54% increase in events booked at the Lawrence Convention Center compared with 2019. The city recently hosted the National Sports Forum, and will see early rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament this spring at at PPG Paints Arena. The city will host later stages of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament in 2025-26, and the D-II men’s tournament in 2026. A $1.4 billion project to build a new terminal at Pittsburgh International Airport, scheduled for completion in early 2025, should make reaching the city easier for visitors. — B.M.