There is a national spotlight on Fort Worth this week as Dickies Arena hosts the first and second rounds of the NCAA March Madness tournament.
On Wednesday, fans were invited to an open practice held at the arena ahead of the games. The finest teams in the NCAA will compete to be college's best in three sessions of two games each on Thursday and Saturday.
Tim McGraw, head coach of the men’s basketball team at Dallas College-North Lake, brought his two grandsons to watch the teams practice on Wednesday. They were there to watch Kansas and Baylor, McGraw said.
“This is educational for me as a junior college head coach, it’s great for me to go watch,” he said. “I go watch the higher levels as much as possible, to give me an idea of what they’re doing.”
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Christine Johnson of Fort Worth brought her two young sons and their friend. All of the kids play basketball, she said.
“I love sports, too. My husband wishes he was here. We love it. To be able to bring our kids is awesome,” Johnson said. “My husband and my two boys both made brackets. I did not make a bracket. I just love to watch good sports. My oldest seems to be partial to Marquette for some reason.”
Dickies Arena first opened in November 2019. Arena president and general manager Matt Homan said they have had their eyes on March Madness for years.
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“We’ve been waiting for this since the day we broke ground when we announced this event, so it’s been a long time coming,” he said. “This is what we were made for, it is bringing all different types of events to Fort Worth. What other better one right now than March Madness?”
They’re expecting to be at full capacity on Thursday and Saturday, with about 13,000 fans each night.
“It takes years of planning, right? But we were prepared for it. We were always looking ahead for it. We’re always looking forward to it, to showcase this facility,” Homan said. “We wanted to open our doors to all of these people coming in from outside and show what Dickies Arena is.”
According to Homan, the tournament is expected to generate more than $6 million for the local economy.
