According to Jon Rothstein, the NCAA is looking at shifting the 2020 NCAA Final Four and Elite Eight to smaller venues due the Coronavirus outbreak and NCAA President Mark Emmert locking out fans from the tournament.
Currently, the NCAA Final Four is scheduled to be hosted at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta that has a capacity of over 80,000 for basketball. The four Regional sites for the Elite Eight are Lucas Oil Stadium (70,000 basketball capacity) Indianapolis, Staples Center (19,067 basketball capacity) in Los Angeles, Madison Square Garden (20,789 basketball capacity) in New York City, and the Toyota Center (18,023 basketball capacity) in Houston.
So I went ahead and did all the work for the NCAA myself. Did I do anything more than google search for these, No. But with my multiple degrees in Sport Management and extensive operations background, I feel as though I qualify enough to give some say.
East Regional
Rucker Park – New York City
Capacity – about 300
Pros
- Most historic outdoor basketball court
- Outdoors – less likely to contract the Coronavirus
- TV broadcast would look amazing
Cons
- Unpredictable outdoor weather
Midwest Regional
Hoosier Gym – Knightstown, Indiana
Capacity – about 170
Pros
- Famous gym from 1968 basketball movie Hoosiers
- With just family and immediate important staff of teams, stands will look packed for good game day atmosphere in person and on TV
Cons
- Might be smaller than a NCAA regulation court
West Regional
USS Midway – San Diego, CA
Capacity – 8,111
Pros
- Carrier Classic was played from 2011-2012 for 5 games
- Outdoors – less likely to contract the Coronavirus
- TV broadcast would look AMAZING
Con
- Putting a couple hundred people on a ship with a pandemic outbreak might not be the greatest idea, but would be so aesthetic
- Unpredictable outdoor weather
South Regional
LeBron James’s UNKNWN store – Miami, FL
Capacity – about 100
Pros
- Outdoors – less likely to contract the Coronavirus
- Small enough to not seem empty on TV broadcast
- LeBron James is attached to this place
Cons
- Definitely not NCAA regulation court size
- Unpredictable outdoor weather
Final Four
The Palestra – Philadelphia, PA
Capacity – 8, 722
Pros
- Philly is a historic basketball city
- Home of the Philadelphia Big 5 Basketball Conference (Temple, Penn, La Salle, Villanova, & St. Joe’s)
- Kobe Bryant played High School basketball games here
- Likely only time The Palestra will ever have the chance to host such event
Cons
- None
NCAA do the right thing after so many wrong things and use at least one of my ideas for the NCAA Tournament Regional and Final Four locations from my list!
You are welcome.
