Numbers are hard to factor when it comes to major events.
To host an NCAA Final Four is no small thing, and as of last week, several new cities can bank on the prestige and positive financial impact that comes with hosting such an event. The NCAA announced host cities for 2017-2021 earlier this month, and based on what past host cities have earned, each of these new sites is likely to be equally thrilled by the massive amounts of money that college basketball fans bring with them in support of their favorite teams.
The tournament will take place in Indianapolis for 2015 and Houston will host in 2016, while new host cities include Glendale, Arizona in 2017, San Antonio, Texas in 2018, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2019, Atlanta, Georgia in 2020 and then Indianapolis again in 2021. Indianapolis, home to the NCAA headquarters, has a long-term contractual relationship that secures Indianapolis as a host city on a regular basis.
Host cities were told to expect an economic boost of between $70 and $200 million, and while those numbers will likely vary greatly, there is no question that an event as big as the NCAA Final Four is sure to return a profit for the cities that win their bids.
Of course, there is no guarantee that these cities will rake in $200 million apiece through this experience. The most recent MLB All-Star game in Minneapolis only brought in between $25 million and $55 million when projections had them closer to $75. College hoops is a different game, however, and is not an event likely to be affected by weather as was the most recent MLB All-Star game.
A large factor that is usually forgotten when discussing the financial impact of the Final Four is what teams have actually made it to the finale of the “big dance.” A team like the Kentucky Wildcats, who has a fan base that travels extremely well will bring a lot more fans, and thus spending money, than a team like the Gonzaga Bulldogs who has a much smaller fan base. Additionally, travel plays a large role in determining the financial success because if the college or university is in driving distance to the host city fans have the decision to drive, rather than spend money on hotels for accommodations.
While figures from last year’s NCAA Final Tour tournament games have not officially been released, the early estimates for that game, held at
Those numbers have trended only upward, which makes the lower end of the 2017-2021 estimates look pretty conservative. It seems most likely that each of the six cities scheduled to host NCAA Final Four games in the coming years will hit ten-figure numbers.
Dallas, New Orleans and St. Louis, who were in the running for hosting bids, ultimately were not chosen for this batch of games, despite the fact that Dallas and New Orleans both saw measured success so recently.
Much of that has to do with the other locales bringing more to the table, like up-and-coming state-of-the-art facilities in cities like Minneapolis and Atlanta. The Minnesota Vikings, for example, are set to move into a new $1 billion facility by 2016, and the Atlanta Braves have plans to build a $1.2 billion retractable-roof facility in time for the 2017 MLB season. Big money spent means big money earned, and those cities look as though they are primed to see at least some return on their investment.
It is clear that each host city will see the financial benefit of hosting a NCAA Final Four, but to what extent remains unclear. Numbers are always hard to predict and determine regarding economic impact. A corporate event planner, let’s say, who decides to hold a 10 million dollar plus company sales meeting months after the Final Four because they loved the city so much, will bring in an additional amount of revenue to the city, which should then be associated with the Final Four’s economic impact. This is because it was the driving force behind the meeting’s location. Additionally, there is a lot that is not accounted for going into the event such as the teams playing, wealth of fan base, and proximity of fan base to host city.
Despite these existing unknowns, the newly announced host cities certainly hope they will see the same positive economic impact as the last few years. Based on recent returns, the chances are great that hosting the NCAA Final Four will be quite lucrative.
Robert Tuchman is President of Goviva, which aims to provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Previously he founded TSE Sports and Entertainment. He is the author of Young Guns: The Fearless Entrepreneur.
