By Carly Haynes, WRAL reporter

Raleigh, N.C. — Getting a ticket to see some of the best college basketball teams in the country will cost a pretty penny.

The Lenovo Center in Raleigh – formerly named PNC Arena – is hosting the first two rounds of the men’s basketball NCAA Tournament.

There are four games in two sessions – afternoon and evening – on Friday and a single, two-game session on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased for a two-game session or for the entire weekend. As of Monday afternoon, Ticketmaster listed its least expensive ticket for $568.18 to attend every game for Friday.

Friday schedule

• 12:15 p.m. ET: No. 8 seed Mississippi State vs. No. 9 seed Baylor (TV: CBS)
• 2:50 p.m. ET Friday: No. 1 seed Duke vs. winner of No. 16 seeds American and Mount St. Mary’s (TV: CBS)
• 6:50 p.m.ET Friday: No. 1 seed Florida vs. No. 16 seed Norfolk State (TNT: TNT)
• 9:25 p.m. ET Friday: No. 8 seed Connecticut vs. No. 9 seed Oklahoma (TV: TNT)

Sunday’s schedule depends on which teams advance on Friday.

Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance Executive Director Scott Dupree estimated that the economic impact of the Lenovo Center hosting men’s NCAA Tournament games will be between $8 million and $12 million.

“Every city wants the NCAA Tournament,” Dupree said. “All the major arenas want the NCAA Tournament because it’s so big and so successful.”

Dupree said most people visiting the Lenovo Center this weekend live outside Raleigh.

“There will be a lot of people in the building who just decided they wanted to see March Madness in Raleigh, and they’re coming from around the country for that reason,” Dupree said.

After this year, Raleigh is due to host the men’s NCAA Tournament again on March 23, 2028, and March 25, 2028.

Dupree has previoulsy told WRAL News that Raleigh is not able to host a men’s basketball Final Four because it does not have an indoor facility that would fulfill the minimum seat requirement. The NCAA requires a stadium host 60,000-plus fans and be adapted to host basketball.

All three Triangle ACC women’s basketball teams will host games this weekend too.

It marks the first time since 1998 that all three women’s programs – Duke (26-7), NC State (26-6) and North Carolina (27-7) – will host first- and second-round round games.

Duke women play Friday night against Leigh

The ACC champion Blue Devils will face 15-seed Lehigh on Friday (8 p.m./ESPNU). Lehigh finished 27-6 and won the Patriot League.

The game tips off at 8 p.m. Friday, a few hours after the top-seeded Duke men should be wrapping up their game at Lenovo Center in Raleigh.

Duke is hosting first and second-round games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Should Duke win in the first round on Friday, they will play the winner of Vanderbilt-Oregon on Sunday.

Tickets are on sale for the Duke-Leigh game for as low as $22 as of Monday afternoon.

North Carolina women play Saturday afternoon against Oregon State

The Tar Heels will face 14-seed Oregon State on Saturday (4:30 p.m./ESPNU). The Beavers finished the regular season 19-15.

The game tips off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

UNC is hosting first and second-round games at Carmichael Auditorium. Should UNC win in the first round on Saturday, they will play the winner of West Virginia-and the winner of Columbia and Washington on Monday.

Tickets go on sale at 11 a.m. ET Thursday for the UNC-Oregon State game.

NC State women play Saturday afternoon against Vermont

The Wolfpack will face 15-seed Vermont on Saturday (2 p.m./ESPN). Vermont finished 21-12 and second in the America East Conference during the regular season.

The game tips off at 2 p.m.

NC State is hosting first and second-round games at Reynolds Coliseum. Should State win in the first round on Saturday, they will play the winner of Michigan State-Harvard on Monday.

NC State is trying to reach the Final Four for the second-straight season.

Tickets are sold out for Saturday’s games at Reynolds Coliseum. However, they are selling on the secondary ticket market on sites like SeatGeak for as low as $117 each as of Monday afternoon.

Raleigh restaurant owner says his business gets 25% increase during opening weekend of NCAA Tournament

Sammy’s Tap and Grill owner David Harris said his business sees a 25% revenue increase during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re geared up and ready,” Harris said. “[Fans are] going to want to go out, and they’re going to want to experience the local flavor, especially the NC State-themed restaurants.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com