Why is the Final Four played in a football stadium?

The Final Four is at U.S. Bank Stadium this year, continuing a tradition of college basketball putting its championship event in a football stadium.

The previous two times the Final Four was in Minneapolis, 1992 and 2001, it took place in the Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins. This year it’s back in the Twin Cities, at the Vikings’ new home, U.S. Bank Stadium.

Every other sport plays its marquee events. and more specifically their championship event, in a venue built for the sport. But the Alamodome (2018), University of Phoenix Stadium (2017), NRG Stadium (2016), Lucas Oil Stadium (2015) and AT&T Stadium (2014) have all hosted the Final Four recently, and they are all of course football stadiums.

So why would the NCAA put the Final Four in a football stadium?

The obvious answer is seating capacity. U.S. Bank Stadium holds over 66,600 people. By comparison, the NBA venue in town, Target Center, holds 19,356 for Timberwolves’ games. But regardless of the city, the NFL venue will hold multiple times the people that a basketball arena can. Simply enough, more seats that can be sold equals more money.

The NCAA, as is the case with any pro sports league, is interested in making as much money as possible. Add in the college athletes that are driving forces for revenue not being able to get a cut, and that’s a big revenue pie the NCAA gets to keep and distribute at its discretion. And men’s basketball is a revenue sport, somewhere in the neighborhood of football, at a lot of Division 1 schools.

The idea of teams not being able to shoot well in big stadiums, due to a different backdrop then they’re used to, has been diminished. That’s good because the Final Four sites have been announced through 2026, and the football stadium aspect is not going away.

2020: Mercedes-Benz Stadium-Atlanta, GA
2021: Lucas Oil Stadium-Indianapolis, IN
2022: Mercedes-Benz Superdome-New Orleans, LA
2023: NRG Stadium-Houston, TX
2024: State Farm Stadium-Glendale, AZ
2025: Alamodome-San Antonio, TX
2026: Lucas Oil Stadium

Being in a football stadium does not diminish the Final Four. It’s just a little weird it doesn’t take place in a basketball-first facility, and it surely won’t ever again with the money that’s involved.