New York college basketball fans should brace for a serious case of March Madness.
The Post has learned that the Garden is in serious discussions with the NCAA to host the NCAA Tournament’s Eastern Regional semifinals and finals in 2012 and/or 2013.
Although a final decision hasn’t been made, the Garden is considered the strong favorite to host at least one of those seasons and perhaps both. The NCAA is loyal to venues that demonstrate the ability to smoothly run such events, meaning the Garden could also be considered in future years.
“The Eastern Regional Final at the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena’ will be a win-win for New York City and for New York basketball fans,” Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President, MSG Sports & Arena Renovation told The Post. “New Yorkers will finally have the opportunity to experience ‘March Madness’ first hand.”
An NCAA Tournament game of any round would be a tremendous feat for the Garden, which had prospects for hosting the national championship quickly dashed when the governing body for college sports decided to use only dome stadiums for Final Four sites.
But two factors converged to make the Garden a player for the other rounds:
The Garden is about to begin a stunning $500 million renovation that will allow it to pursue other high-profile events – possibly the Frozen Four and the women’s Final Four.
And the NCAA, which recently purchased the NIT, had officials at that tournament and the Big East tournament. The experienced what a great site the Garden is for hoops.
Once the Garden assured the NCAA that the renovation would be complete by the start of the 2011-12 season, the talks were taken to the highest levels.
“Our goal is to attract the biggest events in sports and entertainment,” said Fisher. “With the upcoming renovation of Madison Square Garden, we certainly hope to attract more marquee events like the NCAA Tournament.”
The renovations were key to the NCAA, which has placed a premium on improved facilities. The Midwest and South Regional finals where played in domes that featured elevated courts. Those changes were deemed a success.
The Garden had to present a convincing argument that it had the amenities and capacity to host a regional final. The renovations did the trick said Greg Shaheen, the NCAA’s senior vice president for basketball and business strategies.
“To see the drawings and how they’re approaching opening the space of one of the country’s truly storied venues is really exciting,” said Shaheen. “To be able to significantly upgrade such a landmark venue and keep the flavor of the Garden and New York city definitely puts them in the conversation.”