First Four already a sellout

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Organizers announced Friday the NCAA First Four basketball games in Dayton are already sold out, even before the college basketball season tips-off.

Dayton's First Four was seen by more world leaders than anything outside of the Olympics last year with the visits of President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron, but in the attendance figures, they still just count as two.

"The flat out answer is we didn't put enough people in seats for whatever reason," says Chairman of the First Four Local Organizing Committee, J.P. Nauseef. "We knew we were not happy with that."

Don't expect any of the seats at UD Arena to be empty come this March.

The First Four Local Organizing Committee says it has enough commitments to guarantee a sellout this year.

The announcement is like a big three pointer late in the game.

The NCAA will likely decide in early November who will host the First Four in 2014 and 2015. At least one other city, Grand Rapids, Michigan, is in the running.

The sellout could push Dayton over the top.

"I know today I think checks off the last box for us," says UD Arena Executive Director Tim O'Connell.

If you wonder why such a big deal is being made over a few basketball games, you only have to look at the scoreboard.

The Dayton Development Coalition estimates the economic impact of the First Four and the NCAA tournament second and third round games also being hosted in Dayton this year at $10 million.

"We can create an annual platform to project all the great things we already know about Dayton," Nauseef says of the First Four.

Dayton also has a separate proposal to host the First Four for the next 10 years, not just the next two.

Officials say a few thousand tickets are still available for the second and third round games in Dayton.