by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Still looking for that gift for the basketball fan on your list?
Though it may be priced over the limit for a Secret Santa gift, about 2,000 tickets are available for first- and second-round games at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Jacksonville March 19-21. As of Friday, two tickets in the 300 level at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena could be purchased for about $450 through www.ncaa.com.
“We sold out faster when we hosted in 2006,” said Michael Bouda, project manager for sports and entertainment for the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission. “But the economy is different now than it was then and people are holding on to their discretionary funds a little tighter these days.”
Bouda expects interest to pick back up now that football season is drawing to a close and his office plans to develop a promotional campaign to help attract fans to the remaining tickets.
One similarity between the 2006 and 2010 tournaments is the latest tournament has the opportunity to offer the same level of talent as the 2006 tournament, which produced the national champion University of Florida Gators and another Final Four team, Louisiana State University.
“The selection committees like to keep their top seeds close to home and we are the closest to top ACC teams like Duke, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, and also to Florida, who is in the top 20 schools right now,” said Joel Lamp, associate director of athletics for Jacksonville University, the tournament’s official host school in Jacksonville. “We are in position to get some really good talent.”
The Arena has the capacity to seat 14,000 for the tournament. Tickets for the first- and second-round games at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisc., at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., at the Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash., and the West Regional at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, are sold out.
Tickets for the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium April 3 and 5 are also sold out. The New Orleans Arena, HP Pavilion at San Jose, Calif., Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., and HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y., have tickets available.
There is a lot more to hosting the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament than selling tickets, though. All the games will be nationally televised on CBS, which will bring recognition to the city and JU.
“It’s big for us because it’s an opportunity to host one of the best sporting events in the country,” said Lamp. “The city of Jacksonville has a rich basketball history and being able to attract an event like this provides something special for those fans. It’s a big economic boost to the city, as well, with eight teams coming to town.”
There is also the possibility that the athletics staff at JU could be pulling double duty, operating as host committee for the tournament and supporting a team in the tournament.
“Having hosted the tournament four years ago, we feel more comfortable with our preparations for the 2010 tournament,” said Lamp. “We had a lot of great volunteers help us out during the last tournament, and, if we do secure a bid to the tournament, our staff has the experience to support both the team and the tournament.”
356-2466