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Seating configuration enhances Final Four experience
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The NCAA News
The NCAA Executive Committee approved a new seating configuration that will increase capacity to about 70,000 at the Men’s Final Four beginning in 2009, creating sections that will put thousands of students courtside for the national championship.
The Executive Committee authorized the purchase of temporary seating to be transported and installed at all Final Four sites. The system will be used at various regional dome sites as dress rehearsals for the following year’s Final Four.
The plan provides each of the four teams with student-body representation immediately adjoining the court at the end lines — through the use of a heavily discounted voucher system that is being developed — which officials say will enhance the collegiate atmosphere at the Final Four. The voucher will allow students to attend the games at reduced rates and eliminate the possibility of resale (since the voucher is not a ticket).
The configuration also retains the current media sideline seating.
The host facility for the 2009 Final Four, Ford Field in Detroit, will be the first site to use the configuration. A similar model was used there in 2003 for a regular-season game between the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University that attracted an NCAA-record attendance of 78,129. NCAA and CBS Sports representatives attended the game to evaluate logistics and obtain fan reaction. Fans even in the farthest reaches were pleased with their ability to view the game either on the court or on giant flat-screen televisions placed strategically in the upper confines.
The 2010 Final Four will be at the newly constructed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, while the 2011 event is at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Both sites will employ the new configuration. Future Final Four sites have not been announced, but the new seating configuration will be used at subsequent sites.
Ford Field, Lucas Oil Stadium and Reliant Stadium host regionals in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Officials estimate the configuration could generate about $4 million per year in additional revenues while creating a more student-centered event and increasing membership inclusion.
The NCAA used a similar configuration in the 1982 championship game at the Louisiana Superdome between Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. That contest attracted 61,612 fans, a record that was eclipsed five years later when 64,959 people packed the Superdome for the 1987 final between Syracuse University and Indiana University, Bloomington.
The first Final Four to be held at a dome was in 1971 at Houston’s Astrodome, but the temporary-seating configuration was not available, which resulted in spectators not having clear sightlines to the raised floor. The Astrodome also hosted a regular-season game in 1968 between the University of Houston and the University of California, Los Angeles, that drew 52,693 fans.
The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee set the minimum seating capacity for the Final Four at 40,000 in 2003. The finals have been conducted at domed stadiums since 1997.
The Executive Committee authorized the purchase of temporary seating to be transported and installed at all Final Four sites. The system will be used at various regional dome sites as dress rehearsals for the following year’s Final Four.
The plan provides each of the four teams with student-body representation immediately adjoining the court at the end lines — through the use of a heavily discounted voucher system that is being developed — which officials say will enhance the collegiate atmosphere at the Final Four. The voucher will allow students to attend the games at reduced rates and eliminate the possibility of resale (since the voucher is not a ticket).
The configuration also retains the current media sideline seating.
The host facility for the 2009 Final Four, Ford Field in Detroit, will be the first site to use the configuration. A similar model was used there in 2003 for a regular-season game between the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University that attracted an NCAA-record attendance of 78,129. NCAA and CBS Sports representatives attended the game to evaluate logistics and obtain fan reaction. Fans even in the farthest reaches were pleased with their ability to view the game either on the court or on giant flat-screen televisions placed strategically in the upper confines.
The 2010 Final Four will be at the newly constructed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, while the 2011 event is at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Both sites will employ the new configuration. Future Final Four sites have not been announced, but the new seating configuration will be used at subsequent sites.
Ford Field, Lucas Oil Stadium and Reliant Stadium host regionals in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Officials estimate the configuration could generate about $4 million per year in additional revenues while creating a more student-centered event and increasing membership inclusion.
The NCAA used a similar configuration in the 1982 championship game at the Louisiana Superdome between Georgetown University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. That contest attracted 61,612 fans, a record that was eclipsed five years later when 64,959 people packed the Superdome for the 1987 final between Syracuse University and Indiana University, Bloomington.
The first Final Four to be held at a dome was in 1971 at Houston’s Astrodome, but the temporary-seating configuration was not available, which resulted in spectators not having clear sightlines to the raised floor. The Astrodome also hosted a regular-season game in 1968 between the University of Houston and the University of California, Los Angeles, that drew 52,693 fans.
The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee set the minimum seating capacity for the Final Four at 40,000 in 2003. The finals have been conducted at domed stadiums since 1997.
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