Fewer than 400 tickets remain for "second- and third-round games of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on March 20 and 22 in First Niagara Center," according to Jay Tokasz of the BUFFALO NEWS. Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission Dir of Sports Development Pete Harvey said the games were "right on pace" to sell out. While thousands of tickets -- "including many for single sessions -- were available" yesterday through NCAA Ticket Exchange and StubHub, "many of them were listed at significantly higher prices." Spokane Arena, which "seats 11,736 people, and Viejas Arena in San Diego, which holds 12,500 people, already have sold out." Those venues are "much smaller than First Niagara Center, which has a capacity of 19,200 people for basketball games" (BUFFALO NEWS, 3/11). In Milwaukee, Rich Kirchen reported about 1,200 tickets "remain available" for first- and second-round games at BMO Harris Bradley Center, but arena execs "anticipate a sellout by the first tip-off on March 20." Bradley Center Sports & Entertainment VP/Sales, Marketing & Business Development Paul Jansen said that ticket sales are "running a bit slower" than when the venue last hosted NCAA Tournament games in '10. But he said that if any tickets remain by March 19, they will "go on sale to the general public." Fans of teams "headed to Milwaukee are likely to snap up any leftover tickets -- especially if one of the teams" is Wisconsin. Jansen said, "If Wisconsin comes, the energy level will increase significantly. It would be great to see the Badgers" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/10).
BED AND BEVERAGE: USA TODAY's Nina Mandell noted Anheuser-Busch InBev yesterday announced that it will set up a Bud Light Hotel -- "a mainstay of Super Bowl parties in New York this year" -- in Dallas in conjunction with the NCAA men's basketball Final Four. The company is "taking over a Dallas hotel and sending winners of a mini-hoops contest to participate in the festivities." This will mark the first iteration of the Bud Light Hotel around a college basketball event (USATODAY.com, 3/10). The effort will tip off April 5 with the Bud Light Watch Party and will last through Tuesday, April 8 (A-B).
