The planned new Atlanta Falcons stadium remains in the running to host college basketball’s Final Four later this decade.
The NCAA on Monday named eight bidders, including Atlanta, as “finalists” to host the men’s event in 2017 through 2020. From those eight, four winning bids will be chosen in November.
Atlanta has a long history of pursuing marquee sporting events, but this is the first bid for an event in the retractable-roof downtown stadium that is slated to break ground in April and open in 2017.
The Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, which is the site of this season’s Final Four, and the Minnesota Vikings’ planned new stadium, which is slated to open in 2016, also were among the finalists named by the NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee. Other cities still in the running: Indianapolis, New Orleans, San Antonio, St. Louis and Glendale, Ariz.
With the Final Four already booked through 2016, the NCAA last fall began the bid process for 2017-20. The Atlanta bid group, including representatives of the Atlanta Sports Council, the Falcons, Georgia Tech, the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, met with NCAA officials in December.
See more on this story in Tuesday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on MyAJC.com later today.
About the Author
