Division I Men?s Basketball Temporary Seating
The Division I Men?s Basketball Tournament will be hosting the Final Four in a new seating configuration beginning in 2009 that will allow the NCAA to increase the capacity of the event to approximately 70,000 fans. The configuration will involve placing the court in the same direction as for football, and allow each of the four participating institutions to have student body representation immediately adjoining the court ? an adjustment which will enhance the environment of competition and inclusion of our membership to this event.
The new seating configuration
will conservatively generate $4 million per year in additional revenues and
allow for courtside student sections, creating a more exciting and student-centered
event. The first Final Four site to
utilize the new configuration will be
The NCAA has explored the feasibility of purchasing temporary seating that would be flexible enough to be transported and installed at all Final Four sites. The system would be used at various regional dome sites as well for dress rehearsals for the following year?s Final Four.
An alternative considered was to have each facility rent and install temporary seating. Since the seating will only be used one week per year, has a useful life of at least 10 years and is comprised of components which have lasted well beyond such a timeframe, it is the recommendation of staff that the NCAA purchase and own the seating. We believe purchasing and reusing the temporary seating makes prudent business sense and allows the NCAA to retain control of the systems from year-to-year.
The NCAA proposes to purchase two temporary seating systems to be installed and utilized at its regional and Final Four sites. The one-time purchase cost is approximately $4 million. Annual costs for installation and insurance would be approximately $400,000. The payback period for purchasing versus renting is approximately two years. This item requests authorization to allocate $4 million of additional fiscal year 2007-08 revenues generated through the Men?s Final Four Tournament to the purchase of temporary seating.