LAS VEGAS – A clash between two of the nation’s premier collegiate women’s basketball programs – OREGON and Baylor – has been added to the inaugural Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge presented by MGM Resorts International non-conference scheduling series set to debut at T-Mobile Arena in December 2020.

The Pac-12 Conference, in partnership with the Oak View Group (OVG), Basketball Promotions & Events (BPE) and T-Mobile Arena, announced the creation of the Challenge in October 2019.

The inaugural Challenge is now slated to take place Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020 as a quadruple-header featuring the Ducks-Lady Bears showdown along with three Pac-12 men’s programs – COLORADO, OREGON and WASHINGTON – against three Big 12 opponents – Oklahoma, TCU and a to-be-determined third program – at T-Mobile Arena, with anticipated return games at American Airlines Center in Dallas in 2021.

Tickets for the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge are now on sale and available for purchase online at axs.com/Pac-12Coast-to-Coast. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person and start as low as $32.25.

Oregon and Baylor met in the 2019 NCAA Final Four, with the eventual national champion Lady Bears edging the Ducks, 72-67. Both teams are considered frontrunners to return to the Final Four this March having secured regular-season conference titles and spending the majority of the season inside the top 5 of the Associated Press national rankings.

“This is an amazing opportunity to showcase two of women’s basketball’s top teams on a national stage, as well as the ascension of the Oregon and Pac-12 Women’s Basketball brands,” said Teresa Gould, Pac-12 Senior Associate Commissioner of Sports Management and Institutional Services in charge of women’s basketball. “We look forward to having a women’s basketball presence as part of this unique quadruple-header and creating an NCAA Tournament-caliber neutral site atmosphere for these program’s outstanding student-athletes and coaches, and hope their fan bases embrace and enjoy the experience.”

The Challenge would cycle a new rotation of Pac-12 programs into the Las Vegas facility and to neutral-site venues in marquee markets around the nation in subsequent seasons.

The ARIZONA, ARIZONA STATE and USC men’s programs are committed to open Challenge play in Las Vegas in 2021, with return games in the New York City Metro area to occur in 2022, against opponents from a to-be-announced power conference.

The event's dual-site rotation will continue into 2023 with an anticipated finish at an OVG Arena Alliance venue in 2024.

Additional matchups and event details, including game dates, times and television for the initial December 2020 contests, will be announced at a later date.

ABOUT THE PAC-12 CONFERENCE
The Conference has a tradition as the “Conference of Champions,” leading the nation in NCAA Championships in 52 of the last 58 years, with 516 NCAA team titles overall. The Conference comprises 12 leading U.S. universities - the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University. For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to Pac-12.com/conference.

ABOUT OAK VIEW GROUP
Oak View Group was founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff to be a positive disruption in sports and entertainment. The company currently has offices in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and London. OVG's business divisions include OVG Business Development, OVG Global Partnerships, OVG Collegiate, OVG Media and Conferences, OVG Facilities, Prevent Advisors, and the Arena and Stadium Alliance, which is a select group of top U.S. venues. OVG has recently been awarded the right to construct a world-class arena on the University of Texas Austin’s campus.

ABOUT BASKETBALL PROMOTIONS & EVENTS
Basketball Promotions & Events and its president Chris Spencer have been organizing and operating college basketball events since 1995. During this span BPE has coordinated more than 150 tournaments including the first multi-team event (MTE) in the City of Las Vegas in 2000.

ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses 30 unique hotel and destination gaming offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company recently acquired the operations of Empire City Casino in New York and MGM Northfield Park. In 2018, MGM Resorts opened MGM Springfield in Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in Macau, and the first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The 82,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies®. For more information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.