Plenty of San Antonians are in Phoenix this week, and it's not to cheer on South Carolina in the Final Four, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Jenny Carnes of the San Antonio Final Four Organizing Committee, says the local group is checking out everything, from how University of Phoenix Stadium handles the flow of the crowds, to how to manage vendors outside the stadium.
"As that last buzzer goes off on Monday, we'll be on the clock, and it will be an exciting year for us," she says.
More than 72,000 fans are expected to pack the Alamodome for the Final Four, which will be the first time the climax to March Madness, which is the second biggest sporting event in America, behind only the Super Bowl, has been played here in a decade. San Antonio also hosted the Final Four in 1998.
Even though the 2008 Final Four (where Kansas beat Memphis for the championship, in case you've forgotten), was a smoothly run event, Carnes says a lot has happened in the last decade, and San Antonio wants to be able to replicate that experience next April.
"From fan movement to ingress and egress to queue lines for bathrooms and concessions," Carnes says local officials will be keeping an eye on all of it.
"We'll be looking for everything from the confetti drop at the end of the championship game to the pre-game pageantry, so we all have a different perspective," she said.
In fact, City Council this week will take the first steps toward hosting the 2018 Final Four, approving what is called a 'clean zone' around the Alamodome where any requests by vendors to sell merchandise must be individually approved by City officials.
The Clean Zone will eliminate the selling of unlicensed merchandise in the area of the Alamodome, bounded by Martin Street, St. Mary's Street and McCullough on the north, North Frio on the west, Cesar Chavez on the south, and Hackberry on the east.
The Final Four will be played as part of the month long celebrations of San Antonio's Tricentennial in 2018.