March Madness will mean big bucks for the Dallas area this weekend.
The American Airlines Center will play host to the South Regional of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
Two Sweet 16 games will be played on Friday night – Second-seeded Marquette University will play against the Eleventh-seed North Carolina State University Wolfpack at 6:09 p.m., and then the top-seeded University of Houston Cougars will tip off against the fourth-seeded Duke University Blue Devils at 8:39 p.m.
The winners of those two games will play one another in the Elite 8 round on Sunday, with the winner of that game moving on to the Final Four.
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“Men’s basketball and the NCAA have always been part of our DNA, very important to our sports résumé,” said Monica Paul, the Executive Director of the Dallas Sports Commission. “We hosted the NCAA men’s first and second round in 2018, as well as the NCAA women’s Final Four last year, which was very historic. And we are going to be hosting the NCAA men’s Final Four in 2030 again, so a really great opportunity again for Dallas.”
Paul said that this weekend’s three games are expected to generate at least $14 million for local businesses by way of hotel occupancy, restaurants, and other expenses by the visiting teams and their respective fanbases.
