NCAA Final Four Start Times Released; Championship Game Set For 1 p.m. Memorial Day
Matt Kinnear - 2/22/2012
The NCAA Division I Championship is returning to a 1 p.m. start time for 2012 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., a move some were calling for after last year's final received less-than-stellar attendance.
The NCAA released the times Wednesday, and they are as follows:
Saturday, May 26
Division I Semifinals
Game 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Game 2 – 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 27
Division II Championship – Noon
Division III Championship – 3 p.m.
Monday, May 28
Division I Championship – 1 p.m.
Attendance at the Memorial Day championship game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore was 35,661, the lowest in the era of NFL stadiums. The start time was 3:30 p.m., as it was in Baltimore the prior year.
Though there are many factors at play, some pointed to the start time being later in the afternoon as a reason for the attendance dip, and echoed that they would prefer the Monday game to be played earlier. The decision on when the games start is between ESPN and the NCAA, Jeff Jarnecke, associate director of championships for the NCAA, said last June after the 2011 Championship Weekend.
“We recognize that the NCAA and ESPN will set the game time,” said Phil Buttafuoco, the tournament director in Foxborough, in June. “Our preference is we play at noon or 1 p.m. We feel that Monday, the earlier the time slot the better.”
“You might see a different strategy for us collectively going into Boston,” Jarnecke said in that same interview in June. “That 3:30 start time might not make sense geographically.”
The 2008 and 2009 championship games in Foxborough were both held at 1 p.m. They drew 48,970 and 41,935, respectively.