Glendale gears up to host NCAA Final Four again. What's at stake and what to know

The Valley is nearly a month away from hosting its second NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in seven years, and Glendale officials are eager to show off the newest amenities around State Farm Stadium, where the games will be played.

Tipping off with a slate of activities in both Phoenix and Glendale on April 5, the four-day event will mark the culmination of the March Madness tournament and once again place Glendale at the epicenter of the world of sports after it played host to last year’s Super Bowl and the 2017 Final Four before that.

“All eyes will be on Arizona and Glendale, and what’s interesting about this event is we are able to host four teams and four fan bases,” said Jay Parry, the president and CEO of the 2024 Phoenix Men’s Final Four Host Committee.

The magnitude of that isn’t lost on Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps, who acknowledged that living up to the visiting fans’ and teams’ expectations is a crucial factor in winning bids to host such events.

If all goes smoothly and event-goers relay that to the NCAA, “that’ll speak volumes to getting another (event) in the near future,” Phelps said. “You mess that up, it’ll be the exact opposite, and it’ll be a long time before you get another opportunity."

To capitalize on this occasion, the city wants college basketball fans returning for the event to be “shocked by how much new development” has taken place at the Westgate entertainment hub, Phelps said.

“Part of our job is to make sure the people who are coming to this event have an incredibly good time, and I think we’re going to be able to offer them so much more,” Phelps said, comparing this year’s Final Four weekend to the city’s previous turn as host.

Some of the latest attractions added to the area since 2017 include Top Golf and Tiger Woods’ mini-golf venue PopStroke. There’s also Chicken N Pickle, where guests can eat, play games and join in on the nation’s obsession with pickleball.

“We just have a whole list of new activities that are really geared toward visitors who don’t want to stay cooped up in the hotel room all day long, in between games,” Phelps said.

Keeping it local

Drawing visitors into those businesses is one thing, but keeping them in the area so they don’t just leave once the game clock expires is another, Lori German, the city’s deputy director of economic development, noted.

“If you don't have the rooms for people to stay, then they're going to stay elsewhere, come here and then leave,” she said.

The handful of new lodging options within the district should assuage that concern.

New hotels like Tru by Hilton and Marriott’s Aloft Glendale at Westgate and TownePlace Suites have helped the city double its available rooms in Westgate and are expected to enhance visitors’ experience during the four-day event, German noted.

“That's really what we're looking to do is if we have people that are going to come here that are going to have that experience, they can stay here, and they don't have to go to places because they're looking for different experiences,” German said. “They're here.”

Phoenix leaders recently heard from Parry, the head of the organizing committee, who reportedly said they should expect to see Valley hotels book 22,658 room nights at an average daily rate of $359.

While Parry and the city were unable to state how that expectation will translate to Glendale-specific hotels and visitors, German said, “we do expect everything to be at capacity … just because of the proximity of all the activities and everything else that's going on.”

The economic footprint

The last time the NCAA brought the Final Four to the Valley, the event generated $324.5 million in economic impact, according to estimates from a study the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee commissioned and ASU’s Seidman Research Institute conducted at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business.

The study found that the estimated 59,761 visitors to Arizona stayed an average of 4.16 nights and spent $487.19, on average, a day. That resulted in approximately $11.7 million collected in state and local taxes from sales and lodging.

Nearly $7 million of that went to the state, while $4 million went toward cities. Another $900,000 went to Maricopa County, according to the study.

“We think our ability to capture a bigger footprint of that economic spending will certainly take place,” Phelps said.

‘Go time’ for Final Four preparations

With time winding down on the clock before the games get underway, “it’s definitely go time,” for the event’s organizers, Parry said.

Throughout Final Four weekend, the committee will have multiple events to dish out to visitors and local fans, she noted. Festivities will get underway on April 5, in both Phoenix and Glendale.

The Phoenix Convention Center will hold the Men’s Final Four Fan Fest all four days of the event, allowing guests to play interactive games, get autographs and catch sightings of celebrities and athletes.

Ramping it up: Arizona's Final Four will have Super Bowl-level fan entertainment options

The NCAA March Madness Music Festival will take place at Hance Park in downtown Phoenix for the first three nights. The musical lineup and set times for the three-day concert series have not yet been announced.

And over in Glendale, fans can check out the Reese’s Men’s Final Four Friday starting at 10 a.m. April 5 at State Farm Stadium, where there will be interactive activities and entertainment, as well as an opportunity to sit in on the participating teams’ practice sessions.

“What is wonderful about this event is that it’s free to get in, free parking, and it’s a way for all of our locals and our visitors to — really it’s a unique opportunity — to see the teams up close,” Parry said. “It’s like being in a game-day environment.”

Final Four is in Arizona this year: Here's why the Phoenix area was chosen

Shawn Raymundo covers the West Valley cities of Glendale, Peoria and Surprise. Reach him at sraymundo@gannett.com or follow him on X @ShawnzyTsunami.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What NCAA Final Four means to Glendale and Arizona