The Final Four is finally upon us.
After numerous upsets and bracket breaks, the final four teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament remain.
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The first game of the Final Four features this year’s Cinderella team of the tournament, No. 11 seed NC State Wolfpack, taking on No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers – and 7-foot phenom Zach Edey.
Following the conclusion of this game, the No. 1 UConn Huskies will face the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide for a spot in the championship game.
Why do March Madness Final Four games start at weirdly odd times?
The Final Four will be played on Saturday, April 6, 2024, live from State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.
Fans will have noticed that both games start at fairly conventional times.
The Purdue vs NC State games begin at 6:09 p.m. ET (11:09 p.m. GMT) while the UConn vs. Alabama game begins at 8:49 p.m. ET (00:49 GMT).
Many will wonder why the games start at such specific times, and not 6:00 p.m. ET and 9:00 p.m. ET, respectively.
The reason is the pre-match ceremonies, such as the singing of the American national anthem.
These ceremonies start at more conventional times, either on the hour or the hour and a half, which has a slight ripple effect on the start of the match.
Sports is about maximizing viewership and advertising revenue, and starting a game slightly before or after time allows networks to run a known amount of additional advertising early in the game, when viewership is highest.
Most fans will automatically tune in on time, so having the first Final Four game start at 6:09 p.m. allows for more commercials to be shown.
However, the early rounds of March Madness games are typically staggered to maximize fans’ viewing experience.
By doing this, games will end at different times, allowing people to switch between games and watch each (hopefully) exciting ending to a match.
As for the Final Four, expect each match to last around 2 hours and 25 minutes.
The call time for Game 2 of the Final Four may be later than expected if Game 1 goes to overtime.
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