Sports San Diego expands with Rady Children’s Invitational

Even before 63,626 fans showed up five years ago at SDCCU Stadium for a midseason football game between Navy and Notre Dame, officials for Sports San Diego knew they were onto something.

“When we secured the Navy-Notre Dame football game here, we realized we could do a lot more for San Diego,” Sports San Diego CEO Mark Neville said.

The organization is best known for staging the annual DirecTV Holiday Bowl.

But why stop there? And why limit themselves to football?

Such questions led to this week’s inaugural Rady Children’s Invitational college basketball tournament, which is being hosted at UC San Diego’s LionTree Arena.

The two-day event begins Thursday, bringing together teams from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 in an environment that could have the look and feel of an NCAA Regional.

Thanksgiving Day games feature Oklahoma (4-0) vs. Iowa (3-1) at noon and Seton Hall (4-0) vs. No. 23 USC (3-1) at 2:30 p.m.

The winning and losing teams will be matched against each other in Friday’s final and third-place games, which start at 12:30 p.m. and 3.

Holiday tournaments have grown increasingly popular over the years. But why allow events like the Maui Invitational, Las Vegas Invitational, Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu and Wooden Legacy in Fullerton to hog all the headlines?

Why not fill restaurants and hotel rooms here?

“Sports San Diego’s purpose is to drive tourism through sports,” Neville said. “We looked at the Thanksgiving holiday as a need period for San Diego tourism. It’s the time of year for these early-season tournaments, so we were filling a void.”

The 2024 field already has been announced, featuring Arkansas, BYU, Purdue and … Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish figured prominently once again for Sports San Diego officials.

It is a packaging coup, of sorts, given that the Notre Dame football team will be in Southern California that weekend to play USC at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“We want to build this thing to be one of the best in the country, that’s sought after by the best programs in the country,” Neville said. “It’s going to be special.”