After the Purdue-Little Rock game this afternoon went to double overtime, all fans had to quickly clear out of Denver’s Pepsi Center, so that new fans could enter for the evening session. The only problem: the next game, between Utah and Fresno State, started well before the arena could re-fill.
As a result, the outside of the Pepsi Center looked like this:
With 8:00 left in first half, hundreds (thousands?) still stranded outside @Pepsi_Center. Paid ticketholders, @ncaa. pic.twitter.com/nNm5qmF5jr
— @MileHighBrendan was here (and still is sometimes) (@MileHightheGrey) March 18, 2016
While the inside of the arena looked like this:
Here’s @Pepsi_Center at tipoff, w/ >10,000 fans still outside b/c of horrific venue management. Unacceptable, @ncaa. pic.twitter.com/Y32o3DaxXp
— @MileHighBrendan was here (and still is sometimes) (@MileHightheGrey) March 18, 2016
The problem here boils down to the NCAA not scheduling enough time between sessions. Understandably, everyone involved wants to optimize tip times for the TV audience, but the casualty of that calculus is the in-person crowd, including those who have tickets to both sessions but have to leave and re-enter between them. This dynamic is particularly pronounced on the west coast because the earlier session starts later than in other time zones (because pancakes and basketball don’t mix), but the NCAA doesn’t want the late game beginning after the whole East Coast has gone to sleep.
The situation Thursday wasn’t helped by the Purdue-Little Rock going long, but the Utah-Fresno State tip-off was pushed back accordingly and the Pepsi Center still didn’t even come close to cycling everyone through.
And if you believe Twitter testimonial, it seems the second-session clog is not a one-time issue.
https://twitter.com/_brian_langford/status/710622729905377280
@MileHighBrendan Also happened last year in Columbus. TV rules.
— Ray Curren (@currenrr) March 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/HoosierParlance/status/710622757143220225
https://twitter.com/VCUPav/status/710626007376654337
There’s always going to be tension between TV-driven tip times and local fan convenience, but in this case the NCAA seems to have let the pendulum swing too far in the direction of the cameras, at the expense of those fans out in the Denver cold.
