NCAA First-Round Ticket Sales Down 5-10% From Most Years
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Miami Saw Smallest
Crowds This Weekend |
NCAA Senior VP/Basketball & Business Strategies Greg Shaheen said that ticket sales for first-round games for the NCAA men's basketball tournament "were lower this year," as "about [85-90%] of tickets were sold at most venues -- compared to 95[%] in most years," according to Howard Fendrich of the AP. Shaheen: "We normally are at or near sellout in all of our sites. So it looks like we'll have some decline, but not so significantly that it's of enormous concern." Shaheen added that sales for first-round games at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami "were closer to 50[%]." Meanwhile, Fendrich noted some schools have "cut back" on tournament expenses, as the Univ. of Missouri (UM) "saved about $25,000 by taking 12 fewer people to Boise, Idaho" (AP, 3/22). In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff noted 18,247 fans attended Saturday's second-round games at Sprint Center, following two crowds of "17,300-plus" for Thursday's first-round games. Big 12 Senior Associate Commissioner Tim Allen, who ran the event, said that K.C. "will be a part of a future bidding process for NCAA Tournament first- and second-round events, and regional finals." Allen: "I don't think there's any question we'll continue to work with the three cities where we have a championship presence" (K.C. STAR, 3/22).
NOT SO HOT: In Ft. Lauderdale, Dave Hyde notes Miami posted the "three lowest-attended sessions between Friday's crowds of 10,163 and 8,990 and Sunday's 10,204." With the Univ. of Miami and Univ. of Florida "out of commission, there was only one way to help this regional, and the NCAA didn't do it," as it "didn't send Florida State in as cavalry." Hyde writes the Miami college basketball market, "like our baseball market, is awful," as Miami competes "annually for the 50th and final ranking of TV markets for the NCAA championship game" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 3/23). Also in Ft. Lauderdale, Ethan Skolnick wrote under the header, "South Florida Shouldn't Host Big Events." Skolnick: "We just don't have one critical element: Interest. And every time that a major sports event comes here, that is one of the major storylines" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 3/21).
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