The NCAA also announced the two rounds following the First Four will go back to being known as the first and second rounds. They had been calling them the second and third rounds with the idea that the First Four was the first round and the NCAA didn’t want the games called play-in games, but that created confusion. The First Four games will be known as the First Four rounds.
The NCAA also announced first- and second-round sites for the 2016-18 tournaments, and Dayton was not awarded games for those rounds in any of the years.
The Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau estimated the First Four held last March had an economic impact of $4.6 million. That figure included money spent at hotels, restaurants and other local businesses.
The event has also brought media attention to Dayton and Montgomery County.
Dayton has hosted the First Four since its inception in 2011. It begins two days after Selection Sunday with two games on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday. The four winners advance to the field of 64.
Before the field expanded to 68 teams in 2011, Dayton hosted the first game of the tournament from 2001 to 2010. That game was known as the play-in game. The winner advanced to play a No. 1 seed in the field of 64.
Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton men’s basketball has ranked in the top 35 in attendance every season. The Flyers drew a crowd of 12,732 to their first game of the season Friday against Alabama A&M. A crowd of 12,077 watched N.C. State beat Xavier on the first day of the First Four last March.
UD Arena has hosted more NCAA tournament games than any other venue in the country. The number will climb to 109 when Dayton hosts the First Four in 2015. In 2013, when it hosted the First Four and six games in the second and third rounds, it became the first arena to host 10 tournament games in one week.
Last November, Dayton sought a 10-year contract to host the First Four beyond 2015, but the NCAA decided against awarding a long-term deal.
Last week, Dayton’s first four bid got a lift from Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton. They wrote a letter to NCAA President Dr. Mark Emmert in support of Dayton continuing to host the event.
“The Dayton region’s exceptional capability to host nationally and internationally renowned events makes it the ideal area to continue hosting the ‘First Four,’” they wrote. “Dayton is located within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the U.S. population and has three international airports within 100 miles (Dayton International, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, and Port Columbus International), making it easily accessible for visitors and fans from around the country.”
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