CLEVELAND — If you've been in downtown Cleveland this week, you know what's coming.
The streets are lined with signs, the venues are set, and the NCAA Women's Final Four teams have arrived.
Fans can get in on the action starting Thursday, with several events at the Huntington Convention Center through Sunday. "Tourney Town" is free and will be the epicenter for all Final Four activities, including entertainment, food, exhibits, and games.
"To me, I think a lot of this is how Cleveland feels about itself," David Gilbert, President of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. "We should be incredibly proud of what we did to quite frankly beat other cities for the rights to host this.
"Hopefully when we're done, the NCAA and others feel like we were one of the if not the best host of this event that's ever happened."
Then, of course, there's Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, now decked out with the Final Four signage and branding. Crews have installed the new court flooring, and CEO of Rock Entertainment Group Nick Barlage says hundreds of thousands of hours have gone into preparing for this week.
"It's going to be packed," Barlage told 3News. "I mean, this thing sold out in October in 17 minutes. It's going to be amazing to watch these women perform and even better to have Cleveland as a backdrop."
Gilbert is anticipating $30 million or more in direct spending from outside visitors, and that doesn't include the media impact. They expect a report on the economic effect will be available 60 to 90 days after the event.
"We are the show in town right now," NCAA Vice President of Women's Basketball Lynn Holzman, a North Royalton native, said. "You know something special is here. That's because it's what Cleveland has to offer, but it's also what's been happening in women's basketball."
Holzman was one of many of the event's organizers at the Boys Hope Girls Hope gathering in Garfield Heights Wednesday, leaving a lasting impact on the group with a newly renovated basketball court for the children. Gilbert hopes the week's anticipated success will also help change visitors' perceptions.
"The perception of Cleveland for people who have never been here gets dramatically higher once they visited Cleveland," he explained. "That's a huge opportunity for this community to have those people walk away telling a very different story of Cleveland, that they think of it differently and they — through their networks — get other people to think of [it] differently. That's some of the great long-term impact that this kind of event has."
If you're looking to go to one of the games this weekend, it's going to cost you. On Wednesday evening, the cheapest seats on Ticketmaster for both games on Friday was $931, and the most expensive was $19,000. As for the championship on Sunday, the cheapest ticket rang in at around $500, and the most expensive was a whopping $24,000.
According to StubHub, ticket sales are expected to break records. If you're not interested in dropping hundreds or thousands on a ticket, you can watch the two teams competing for the championship practice on Saturday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. It's free, but you have to pre-register.