New Orleans established NCAA Final Four as a mega sports event

A reporter watched feverishly as workers installed the portable seats for the Final Four at the Caesars Superdome.

The NCAA even brings in their own giant screens to tower over the court.

It was the Final Four on a grand scale. It became that way because of the vision many years ago of two men.

One of them was the Superdome public relations director Bill Curl, a visionary whose mind was always on what he could do to make events bigger.

What he hatched, along with Tom Jernstedt of the NCAA, was the hosting of the NCAA Final Four in domed stadiums.

The first was at the Superdome in 1982. Four decades later, you can’t underestimate the contribution of Curl and his NCAA sidekick.

“They were the two guys who came up with the idea of putting a basketball game in domed stadium,” said Doug Thornton, executive vice president of ASM Global. “Up until the 80’s, it had only been tried once.”

That was legendary UCLA vs. Houston in Astrodome in January of 1968. The house was packed, but all of the viewing that night was distant since the court was placed in the middle of a cavernous arena.

Fourteen years and two months later, you could feel the energy in the Superdome. On that weekend, the Final Four was taken to a whole new level.

It was now a mega event.

It almost didn’t happen.

When New Orleans was bidding for a Final Four, so was Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. In a 2015 interview, Curl said he suddenly felt squeamish about the New Orleans bid.

“We were bidding against Rupp Arena, which had just opened,” said Curl. “The Lexington people made their pitch first, and when they came out of the room, some of the people on the NCAA committee were in tears. I asked some of my friends in the NCAA what’s going on? And they said ‘just a heartfelt pitch from Adolph Rupp’. I turned to our people, and I said, ‘it’s gone’.”

As well know, New Orleans still got that Final Four, and it produced the first of legendary moments.

Michael’s Jordan game-winning shot against Georgetown was the first. Five years later, Keith Smart’s shot for Indiana beat Syracuse. Six years after that, Chris Webber called the ill-fated timeout for Michigan, when they had none as Carolina’s Dean Smith won his second NCAA title; both happened at the Superdome.

When the Final Four leaves here, it will go to Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio and back to Indianapolis.

All will host the games in indoor stadiums.

This weekend, with four schools who have won multiple NCAA titles playing for a championship, demand for tickets is high. It seems like everyone wants to be part of the Final Four.

In New Orleans, it’s extra special.

“When you get off the airplane in New Orleans, you are know you are at a big event,” said Thornton.

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