HOUSTON The 2011 NCAA Men s Final Four was a record-breaker in Houston.
In fact, the total attendance for all three games was the highest ever, at 145,747 fans. The previous record of 145,378 was set in Detroit in 2009.
The semifinal games also set an all-time attendance record, and the national championship game had the third-highest attendance of all time.
Even folks who weren t lucky enough to score tickets to the games got in on the action. The Final Four fan events, including Bracket Town, The Big Dance Concert Series, Final Four Friday, the Final Four Dribble and the Tip-Off Tailgate drew huge crowds.
More than 49,000 people came out to Bracket Town over five days at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
A whopping 140,000 fans attended The Big Dance Concert Series at Discovery Green over three days, filling up the park to catch big-name acts like Sublime With Rome, Kings of Leon, and Kenny Chesney.
On Final Four Friday, over 15,000 fans came out to see the teams open practices and the Reese s College All-Star Game.
Kids got in on the action, too, with the Final Four Dribble. About 4,000 youngsters, parents and guardians dribbled from City Hall to the GRB on Sunday, April 3.
And finally, more than 53,000 fans headed out to the Tip-Off Tailgate outside Reliant Stadium for pre-game festivities, including live music, food and beverages.
But you don t even need to crunch numbers to know the events were a hit just ask the fans.
Listen to the noise! 145,000 people over the weekend for this event. It s just incredible. Hats off to the city of Houston, as well. Great job! We re loving it, UConn fan Irving Muniz told KHOU 11 News.
