As mentioned below, the best cities I have been involved with the last 15 years or so were Kansas City, NYC / Madison Square Garden, and Pittsburgh. You could roll right out of the arena and find a bar/restaurant to watch NCAA hoops and hang with other collegiate sports fans. I have always stayed at the VT teams hotel, lots of fun. I actually called the Ritz in St. Louis yesterday and they have already locked down all the hotel rooms for teams and individuals as an example. Some folks VRBO it, that is a great way to go as well. I agree on emailing Tucker and trying to understand how much donation is needed to get on the tickets list. It is a GREAT time! The Fan Fest I thought wasn't as good as in the past this year. When it was in Cleveland back in 2018 or 2017 its was much bigger and brands like RUDIs had a much bigger footprint. Just plan ahead...the hotels and VRBO houses are almost all locked in right now.