The NCAA's Big Dance concert series is the "wild card" for organizers of the '14 Final Four in North Texas "in terms of traffic flow and other considerations," according to Jimmy Burch of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. The '13 Big Dance Series in Atlanta drew up to 35,000 fans per day, and North Texas Local Organizing Committee Chair Charlotte Jones Anderson said organizers expect a "similar turnout to Atlanta, if not bigger." But Burch notes the music event's location in North Texas is "yet to be determined." If the event's stages are set up in parking lots near Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, that could "create roughly 120,000 revelers in and around the stadium for Saturday night’s semifinals games." Burch asked, "Does a gathering of 120,000 fans represent a Texas-sized basketball party for the ages? Or a potential late-night traffic snarl best avoided?" North Central Texas Council of Governments Transportation Dir Michael Morris said, "I don’t anticipate any gridlock in regard to getting people to and from the games. We've handled 40,000 in and out for a baseball game and 80,000 at Cowboys Stadium on the same day." NCAA officials will "make the final call," and could "take the music festival to another venue, including locations in Dallas." They have "scheduled site visits to North Texas later this month to finalize locations for the concert series and Bracket Town, a fan-friendly games area similar to the NFL Experience at the Super Bowl." Anderson said that a final decision for all venues is "expected by the end of May." Burch wrote "all signs "point to Bracket Town winding up" at the Dallas Convention Center (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/5).
THE HOUSE THAT JERRY BUILT: In Ft. Worth, Randy Galloway wrote Cowboys Stadium "continues to give back to its home city, and to Fort Worth and to Dallas and to the entire region." The "influx of visitors keeps on coming," and there is "not a major sporting event in the country -- or in some cases, the world -- that hasn't been here, or will be here, or doesn't plan to be here." Galloway: "In a mere four years has any local institution except for Dallas/Fort Worth Airport delivered more people from national and worldwide locations to North Texas?" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/5).
