Spokane Hoopfest, billed as the largest three-on-three basketball tournament in the world, has increased this year’s event by an additional 800 teams, bringing the total to 4,250 participating teams with over 16,500 players to this year’s roster, says Riley Stockton, executive director of the Spokane Hoopfest Association.

Of the additional 800 teams recently added, 500 are youth teams, says Stockton. About 100 teams are made up of first graders and second graders, and the remaining 400 are teams of third graders through eighth graders.

Stockton says this year’s tournament, which will be held this weekend, June 24 and 25, will have 350 courts and will shut down vehicle traffic on 44 city blocks in downtown Spokane and the North Bank near the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. He anticipates the event will draw about 200,000 people.

“We’re over the moon to add more youth teams and future stars to the tournament,” says Stockton.

While the number of teams has increased, the tournament hasn’t returned to its pre-pandemic levels yet, he says. In 2019, Hoopfest hosted over 6,000 teams, made up of 24,000 players. That tournament was played on 422 courts and drew 250,000 people, he says. Teams often have more than three members, so extra players can be rotated in and out of games as needed.

The economic impact of Hoopfest before the pandemic was $47 million, says Stockton. The organization hasn’t conducted a study since returning last year from the two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, he says.