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NCAA urges Phoenix businesses to cater to influx of fans

The NCAA men’s basketball March Madness tournament’s Final Four games will be played over this weekend in Glendale, Arizona, drawing large crowds to the Phoenix area. The NCAA estimates that approximately 400,000 fans will be in the Phoenix area to enjoy the Final Four.

In order to accommodate this inflow of collegiate basketball fans, the NCAA has advised businesses in Phoenix to be prepared.

Last year, the Final Four was held in Houston, where businesses made costly mistakes that affected both their wallets and basketball fans alike. Houston businesses closed at their usual hours, not realizing that many fans would be out late for the games and losing out on a valuable business opportunity.


Accordingly, the NCAA took steps toward making sure that this was not the case for this year’s Final Four by urging Phoenix businesses to stay open late during the three day stretch. Many businesses have heeded this warning and prepared themselves to be open later and have more staff on hand during the days and nights of the games.

This recommendation will also affect fans, who will now have more options to enjoy the games and entertainment opportunities throughout the city. The NCAA hopes that this added business will provide a better atmosphere for fans and help the men’s basketball tournament grow even further than it has in the past decade.

Additionally, this influx of business could help Phoenix as a city, who, in the past, has had something of a dissatisfactory reputation. The city of Phoenix has taken successful strides in the past few decades to try to become a world-class city and improve this reputation. The city took great efforts to showcase its growth during Superbowl XLIX two years ago and hope to repeat this effort during this year’s Final Four.

The Final Four games will be played on Sunday, April 1st, starting at 6 PM ET and the NCAA Championship will be played on April 3rd at a time to be determined.