Houston rodeo ends, massive transition begins at NRG Stadium for NCAA Men's Final Four
HOUSTON - Crews at NRG Stadium in Houston are working around the clock to transform the rodeo grounds into a championship venue for the NCAA Men’s Final Four.
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo ended Sunday night with a Luke Bryan concert. Minutes later, workers began the massive task of transitioning from rodeo to basketball.
"It was not more than 10 minutes after the show ended Sunday night, there were people out here digging up dirt, taking the pins out, taking the steel out, getting ready for the Final Four folks to start moving in," said Ryan Walsh, CEO of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
RELATED: March Madness: Men's Final Four schedule, events
The crews are working around the clock, nonstop, 24-hours a day to get the venue ready. Inside NRG Stadium, they’ve already removed 600 truckloads of dirt and started setting up new seating for the basketball court.
"You can still see some rodeo dirt in the air, so I can’t guarantee you won’t find a spec of rodeo dirt on your seat if you’re coming for the Final Four," said Walsh. "For the most part, this place is cleaned top to bottom."
"A venue of that size, to be able to completely flip it, and for folks that haven’t been to the rodeo and come in from out of town, they’ll never notice the difference," said Michael Heckman, President and CEO for Houston First Corporation.
The 2023 NCAA Men’s Final Four will be Houston’s fourth time as host city. In 1971, Houston hosted the event at the Astrodome when UCLA beat Villanova. In 2011, UConn beat Butler to become champions in Houston. While in 2016, Villanova won the championship game against North Carolina in buzzer beater fashion.
In 2016, the economic impact for the city of Houston was between $150 million and $200 million. A massive event that draws thousands of basketball fans to the city from four different fan bases.
"When you can have four different teams that will be here, four different alumni bases, a huge audience of the media will be here. If you’re in our business, it’s a really exciting time," said Heckman.
A Final Four court reveal is expected this Friday at NRG Stadium. The games in Houston begin April 1.
"From police to fire to security, we put on big events really, really well," said Heckman. "Over the last 20 years, since Super Bowl XXXVIII was held here in 2004, we have built that pedigree of just a really great big event town."