Plan B for hopeful Final Four volunteers: Get on the waitlist.
Minnesotans stayed true to their volunteer spirit Monday, filling all 2,000 slots for the 2019 Final Four in April at U.S. Bank Stadium within hours of the opening at noon of the online application portal.
Available slots were filled well before the close of business Monday, according to spokeswoman Maggie Habashy.
But those who missed out can still apply to get on the waiting list, she said, by going to FinalFourMinneapolis.com.
Volunteers will be used as hospitality ambassadors throughout the Twin Cities, much as they were for Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium last winter.
The men's basketball Final Four games will take place on April 6 and 8, with some of the pregame activities starting on April 5. Organizers expect some 90,000 people to visit the area for the event, the NCAA's hugely popular national championship weekend.
Generally, volunteer organizers plan for an attrition rate of about 30 percent. But that wasn't the case during the Super Bowl, when volunteers overwhelmingly showed up for their scheduled deployments to events, hotels, skyways and streets.
As with the Super Bowl, there will be no volunteers at U.S. Bank Stadium, the site of the games.
Rochelle Olson
