Has the Stadium been a host of the Final Four before?

Rebecca Mobley: We did the event in 2017, so this is a second-time event for us.

Is there anything that’s massively different this year as opposed to when you did it in 2017? 

Rebecca Mobley: Our building has been upgraded - we’ve done the renovation of the loft level. It was about $50 million in upgrades that have occurred since the last Final Four, and we also went through a naming rights change. So in 2017, we were University of Phoenix Stadium, and this go-around we’re State Farm Stadium. 

What is the selection process like? How was your venue chosen to be the host?

Rebecca Mobley: Our city does a comprehensive bid for a stated timespan of when the event could occur. They put together a huge packet, sell our city, sell the stadium… . Our field rolls out, which is something that’s unique to our building. Meaning it costs a lot less to create the space for the Final Four, because there’s a lot of work that goes into this seating capacity. It will increase to over 77,000 seats in the house. 

And what is the venue normally? 

Rebecca Mobley: We sit at 56,000 normally, and then we say that we can expand up to 71,000 for “mega events.” But because of the size of the court and the seating that is built around the court, it’s substantially higher for the Final Four. Before we had Garth Brooks in 2017 or 2018, the Final Four was the largest event that was ever held at State Farm Stadium; so the 2017 Final Four is still the biggest sporting event that’s ever occurred at State Farm Stadium. 

How long does it take roughly to prepare for the entire weekend, for the semi-final and final?

Rebecca Mobley: From a stadium perspective, we have had monthly calls for about the past year, that just go through what the expectations are, reviewing the bid documents, making sure that we have all the equipment in-house that we need, making sure that we have the staff that’s required to host an event like this… . So within the stadium, we’ve been going at it for about a year. The NCAA, comes in starting at about six months in advance, on a monthly basis. So for about six months, we have connected with the Final Four via the NCAA on all of their requirements, making sure signage is accurate, making sure ingress/egress points are correct… .  A lot of it is them familiarizing themselves with our building since they go to a different place every year. That’s an interesting part too, because they have so much experience to draw from, but we’re really the experts within our space. It’s really just a transfer of knowledge on both fronts.

What’s interesting for us is we hosted the Super Bowl last year, so we’re coming off of a big event, which is a totally different big event in terms of how the space is being utilized and how the campus is being utilized. So it’s interesting to see the difference between last year and this year from a “mega event” perspective. 

You said that you have the floor that is able to come in and out. I’m assuming that allows you to have less issues with setup, is that right? 

Rebecca Mobley: We’re the Arizona Cardinals home stadium, and the football field that we have is natural grass and it lives outside 99% of the time. It’s in a massive field tray that is moved in on command for football games - Arizona Cardinals home games, for Fiesta Bowl, and for all of our international soccer matches. It moves inside the building on essentially railroad ties. When it’s outside the building, we just have a concrete floor, so we don’t need to put any kind of decking or material over the field to make it suitable for an event like this. It’s just concrete. So it’s easier to just start building off of concrete than it is to protect either a natural grass surface or an artificial surface. The NCAA brings in the court, and is building on top of the concrete.

What is the the venue’s role - and your team’s role - in managing and hosting this event as opposed to the NCAA? 

Rebecca Mobley: We're the experts in our building, so we want to make sure that our building is comfortable, that it’s accurately staffed, that it’s capable for all of the things that NCAA is going to come in and request. So, making sure that we’re organized, making sure that all of our equipment is in the right place at the right time, making sure all of our spaces are built out appropriately. We’re here to make sure that the NCAA comes in and they have everything they need at their fingertips in order to host one of the largest events on the planet. So that’s what we’re here for, is purely just to make sure that we host a flawless, safe, exciting event for everybody at the stadium, of course, and then making sure that it transfers to the television screen as well. 

Is your team on site the whole weekend? 

Rebecca Mobley: Yeah, everybody’s on site. It’s a home game for us. Everyone’s here. We’re at the stadium all the time, making sure that everything is being loaded in appropriately. There’s graphics going on the stadium, so we’re making sure we have eyes on that, making sure that the media is there and comfortable and making sure that everything goes off without a hitch. NCAA comes in and lets us know what they need, but we’re the ones really executing the vision of what the NCAA is requesting and what the event has grown to become.

Let’s talk about the fan experience. I know you mentioned there are plenty of things going on around town throughout the weekend, but on your campus, are you doing anything special?

Rebecca Mobley: Yeah, so Final Four Friday is that community event day that people can come out to, that is community-centric. There is an event happening on the Great Lawn, on our campus, which is directly adjacent to our building -  the Tip-Off Tailgate presented by Nissan. It’s where the pageantry occurs. It’s pep rallies and the bands make an entrance and it’s just supposed to be super lighthearted and fun, to get everybody super excited to go into the stadium and see their teams. That’s occurring Friday, Saturday and Monday in advance of all of the events.

Arizona’s weather this time of year is 10 out of 10. So being able to host a lot of people outside is really easy for us. It’s a great space. There’s about 20 acres of grassy space outside of our campus or just like right outside the building, so fans can go there, enjoy eating, drinking, camaraderie, all of the things. 

Anything you’re nervous about? 

Rebecca Mobley: It’s less nerves, and more that we’re just excited for everyone to be in Arizona, taking advantage of all the activities that are programmed around the city and enjoying the state. It’s so exciting for thousands of people to see what you’ve been working on for a year. And we’re just the stadium to do it; NCAA, I’m sure, is well-versed in this feeling, but we’re just stoked. We’re excited for everyone to be in Arizona, be at State Farm Stadium, to see the facility, to see what we take pride in. 

Do you guys have any basketball fans amongst your teams? Is anyone on your team really excited? 

Rebecca Mobley: Yeah, our team is stoked! And what’s interesting is that we still have a lot of people at the stadium from 2017 who got to see that event, too. It’s definitely one of those events that you hang around for. Everyone’s very excited about it. We have TV’s in our offices and they’re all watching March Madness as it unfolds. So we’re really excited to have the teams get finalized, and come to the building.

To wrap things up, what do you think makes your building particularly suited for this type of event? Why do you think you guys were chosen over some other buildings? 

Rebecca Mobley: Well, I can tell you the perks of our building. We are the only retractable roof and retractable field stadium in North America. So that’s something that’s really cool. Our field rolls out and the roof opens and closes. Our premium levels were also  just upgraded in 2018-2019, so that’s something that’s super new and exciting from an upgraded fan experience standpoint. The weather again is beautiful, and the adjacency to the Great Lawn just provides a really seamless experience for fans to be out there, enjoy the weather, interact with all of the games, all of the activities, get their souvenir sodas, and then head into the game to have a really fun experience. I think that there are a couple of things that make our building special, but hopefully our staff and our people are what our fans remember. We host big events, that’s what we do.
 

NOTE: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
 

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