It’s a given that the Men’s Final Four is going to draw excitement and thousands of people, no matter the site. What’s open to question, though, is how to keep those fans entertained over the entire weekend.

The Coca-Cola Company has found at least one answer.

Since the 2003 Men’s Final Four in New Orleans, Coca-Cola has sponsored a festival-type event to fill the void between game days. That event reached a new level this year with the debut of “My Coke Fest” in Indianapolis on the Sunday between the national semifinals and the championship game.

An estimated crowd of 100,000 partook in the festivities that concluded with a  headline performance by Indiana native John Mellencamp. Other musical acts on the card included Collective Soul, Carrie Underwood and Chris Brown. There was no charge for admission.

Such a large gathering proved that the Final Four could attract more than just basketball fans.

“We’re trying to provide something attractive for people who live in the host city or who live in the surrounding region,” said Greg Shaheen, NCAA vice president of Division I men’s basketball and championships strategies. “I was a fan before I worked this event. I used to go to the Final Four and always thought it was strange to have game tickets and then Saturday night at the end of the night the basic sense was, ‘We’ll see you Monday.’

“We have to take more ownership of the entertainment options between game days.”

Other major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the Olympics have deployed that type of strategy, too. Coca-Cola learned from those venues, but organizers realized quickly that “My Coke Fest” had to be the right blend of Coca-Cola and NCAA values.

In 2003, Coca-Cola started the event to promote Dasani, the company’s bottled-water product.

“The first year it was more arts and culture,” said Valarie Kravitz, the director of sports marketing at Coca-Cola. “The brand changed from Dasani to Coke. As the brand changes, so does the strategy. Our target for Coca-Cola is a broader audience. It has gotten bigger. The first year we had around 25,000 people — now we’re up to 100,000.”

Besides listening to the musical artists, those in attendance could sample Coca-Cola products, see video clips on two large screens featuring highlights of the men’s basketball tournament and earn chances to win prizes through interactive games.

The weather even cooperated — to an extent.

Thunderstorms encroached upon the Indianapolis area for much of the day, but most of the precipitation fell north and south of downtown. Shaheen said officials were constantly monitoring the radar.

He in fact was on the 48th floor of the Chase Bank building in downtown Indianapolis along with NCAA President Myles Brand, CBS announcer Jim Nantz and Mellencamp’s production crew trying to determine if the show would go on as the skies darkened in mid-evening.

After Underwood finished her set, Mellencamp’s production crew changed the stage as quickly as possible, and the headline act went on. But during the performance, it became clear that the weather would not hold up.

“We wound up cutting the set around 9:05 without the encore,” Shaheen said. “We thought that would give everyone at least 15 minutes to clear out. It worked out well. The storm hit, and everybody was gone and safe.”

Those are the perils that come along with an early-spring-based Final Four, but an outdoor venue also is the only option to accommodate 100,000 fans.

“It’s an all-day event for families,” Kravitz said. “We try to have talent that appeals to all age groups building up as the day goes on. We don’t want to do it inside, because then it just becomes a music concert. We don’t want to charge people to come to this, either.

“We try to have a basketball element in it. Whether it is through our signage, our branding or what people are wearing — we try to have some basketball imagery to connect this event with the Final Four.”

The “My Coke Fest” logo featured a silhouette of a basketball player and a guitar.

“This has become a signature event for Coke and the NCAA on Sunday,” Kravitz said. “We don’t do this at any of the other major sporting events. It was just incredible this year.”

Next year, the Men’s Final Four will be in Atlanta, which is where Coca-Cola is headquartered. Not surprisingly, expectations are high, even though the 2006 festival raised the bar.

“With 2007 being in our backyard, this one will be bigger,” Kravitz said. “We’re already looking at Centennial Park. The ‘World of Coke’ is opening there, and the world’s largest aquarium just opened there as well. All of that will be around Centennial Park. You can walk to the Georgia Dome and from all the downtown hotels to Centennial Park.”

Officials already have talked about potential performers for the show, but plans will not be finalized for some time.

The only given so far is what organizers in every Final Four city already know — that there are plenty of fans from which to draw, and they will come for more than just basketball.