Leadership / 03.23.22

Final Four Frolic: Big Entertainment in the Big Easy

Access Staff

VenuesNow (03/17/22) Pearl, Wendy

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Final Four basketball tournament in New Orleans next month is intended to be a celebration of the city's resurgence following the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida. "For the businesses that survived, this is a great opportunity for them to have a big week and get back on track and start earning and bringing in business dollars generated by the venues," said Doug Thornton with ASM Global, which oversees the Caesars Superdome, Champions Square and the Smoothie King Center. Caesars Superdome will hold 70,000 fans for the games, while Thornton said the NCAA expects 10,000 non-ticketed fans will journey to Louisiana "to be part of the event, especially this year." The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation's Jeff Rossi also played up New Orleans' inherent popularity, noting that "the French Quarter, food, music and clubs are here, so it becomes a popular destination with basketball fans [and] with the broadcast networks, plus vendors that are part of the NCAA and retailers like Adidas and Nike." The local organizing committee and NCAA are going the extra mile to ensure visitors are entertained during the Final Four by combining sporting events and live concerts, including the returning open practice for participating teams, followed by an all-star game.

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Tags: Sports , News , Leadership