The First Four will stay in Dayton through at least 2015, the University of Dayton announced Monday after hearing the news from the NCAA.

UD Arena was already guaranteed to host the NCAA tournament’s four opening games in 2013.

Jackie Powell, of the Dayton Convention and Visitors Bureau, estimates the event will have an even greater economic impact in the coming years than it did in 2011 and 2012, the first years the First Four games were played in Dayton. In previous years (2001-10), Dayton hosted one opening game, the so-called play-in game, on the Tuesday before the first round games began.

“Certainly this is tremendous business for our area hotels, not to mention the dining and retail establishments,” Powell said. “We conservatively estimated this event brought $4 to $4.5 million to the area this past year. This event is sold out now, so ticket sales alone have caused the numbers to climb. While we don’t have a firm idea of how far north that went, we certainly know it’s greater than $4.5 million.”

A proposal by UD to host the First Four for 10 additional years after 2015 remains on the table.

“We anticipate hearing something after the first of the year,” said UD Arena director Tim O’Connell. “The 10-year proposal is in their hands. They came back to us with some requests for additional information, and they asked for that no earlier than the middle of December, just because they’ve got so much other stuff going on and they don’t want it to sit on their desk.”