The NCAA every year “contracts for freshly made courts to be installed at its tournament sites,” but only the “nine from the first weekend of games, from the First Four in Dayton to the opening rounds," will be used again, according to Mike Vorkunov of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. The courts are "disassembled and kept in storage in Salt Lake City and Amasa, Mich.” The floors created for the regionals and the Final Four “are in mint condition, annually produced anew.” Each court is built by Connor Sports Flooring, the NCAA's official court provider. The company allows “cash-strapped athletic departments to buy single-used floors for a relatively cheap price, floating around $90,000 for a $10,000-$15,000 savings.” As a courtesy, the NCAA asks Connor Sports Flooring “to offer the Final Four court to the champion that year.” In the “six years it has been in business with the NCAA every single title-winning men’s team has bought the court.” The regional courts, however, “are sold on the open market” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 3/15).
COURT OF MASS APPEAL: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Michael Smith noted UPS as part of its activation around the NCAA tournament will "take the actual playing court that will be used for the Final Four in New Orleans on a multi-city, multi-campus tour.” UPS Dir of Global Advertising Betsy Wilson said, “We’ll be physically delivering the court that will be used for the Final Four.” The court’s first appearance will be “in Columbus on March 16, followed by stops in Louisville, Ky., and Atlanta, as well as the campuses of Auburn, Southern Mississippi and LSU on its way to New Orleans” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/12 issue).
