Keep NCAA games in basketball venues – where they belong

Cowboys Stadium, aka ‘Jerry’s World’ hosts the South Region of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Indianapolis is always hosting big time events, as it does spectacularly, so when I was invited to the Sweet 16 games at Lucas Oil Stadium, part of the Midwest Regional, of course I accepted.

Part of the intrigue was the games: Louisville vs. Oregon and Duke vs. Michigan State. Because it’s the NCAA Tournament, who knows what could happen. Plus, with no Pacers game scheduled for Friday, it was a rare night off for me. (Yes, I did spend it watching … more basketball.)

I was most interested in the setup — how they’d make it work in Lucas Oil Stadium. If you’ve read what I’ve previously written or heard what I had to say about it, you know I don’t like the nearly five-year-old gigantic stadium. It’s way too big, dominates the skyline, and has so many design flaws that I don’t like. (For ex. why a retractable roof, terrible walkways to upper-levels, lines at the escalator, and sightlines.) That’s a whole post in itself.

The NCAA needs to ditch this idea of putting games in football stadiums. We all know it’s for the money. No other reason.

More seats translates into more revenue.

Two sites, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., did it right by playing the games in the Staples Center and Verizon Center, respectively. Those are two great venues – basketball arenas – that serve the fan well. At the same time, two other sites, Indianapolis and Dallas, both hosted the games in their football stadium despite having above par arenas – for basketball. 

That’s because they’d prefer to pack an additional 15,000 fans in the building. Both announced attendance around 35,000. Say the average ticket price was $80, that’s another $1.2 million in revenue, per site. (Plus, parking, concessions, and some merchandise.)

My seat for the 2013 Midwest Regional at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

After going to the games and having a level-2 seat (it goes all the way up to 7), the only pro I could find about going to the game was the excitement level between team fans, if your team was playing and winning.

But speaking of that, the energy level was low. One of the best parts of the college game is the atmosphere. I’ve been to a handful of NBA arenas and that’s a key difference.

And have you seen the terrible seats? Look at either of the two pictures. If you’re not in the few sections around the court, the seats are poor because, again, it’s designed for football. The temporary videoboard is also brutal compared to today’s standard.

Another item is the elevated floor, which is just awful in itself. I don’t like Minnesota’s, I don’t like Butler’s and I certainly don’t like it here. Why in this age would you even have it? It’s frustrating more than anything.

Do coaches stand or sit on that weeny chair? The players have to walk up steps to get onto the floor. It’s also a worry for players when they’re making hustle plays.

I know first hand, because when I attended Butler basketball camp years ago, I dove after a ball to save it. After doing so, I hopped off the floor, and landed off-balance, head first onto the bleachers. As a result, I cut my head open and had to go to the ER. Nothing serious, but the scar is with me forever.

I’ll bring up this next example up lightly because it was one of the grossest injuries I’ve seen. In Sunday’s Louisville-Duke game, with a Final Four spot on the line, Kevin Ware contested a three-point shot just in front of the Louisville bench. On his way down, his right leg collapsed and his bone stuck  out. Just nasty. Maybe, he landed awkwardly because he had to adjust mid-air to compensate for the raised court.

I’m not the only one with that thought.

Commenter notes that Ware landed strangely to stay on the court, a direct consequence of these stupid elevated courts.

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 31, 2013

Basketball arenas are simply better for the situation and create a much better environment. Today, every business is looking for additional revenue, which is why these games were moved to a venue like Lucas Oil Stadium, away from arguably the best basketball arena in the nation – Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

I attended the Final Four in 2010 when it seated 70,000. Didn’t like it. I attended the regional this year, when it was set up on one end of the stadium. Didn’t like that, either. Why take these games out of environments built to showcase basketball?

I’ll tell you why – $. And I don’t like it.