NCAA, Final Four duct taped over Ford logos on all seat cupholders at State Farm Stadium

When it comes to the Final Four, the NCAA can be notoriously stingy about protecting sponsorships and branding. The required use of approved, sponsored cups in the competition portion of the arena is a classic example of the measures taken.

But a new bar might’ve been set for the Final Four at State Farm Stadium this weekend in Phoenix. And it involves around 70,000 stadium chair cupholders.

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Ford is a sponsor of the arena, and thus the blue Ford oval logo is emblazoned on the cupholders around the stadium. But Ford isn’t a Final Four or NCAA sponsor, so the logos got covered up with duct tape individually. It didn’t take long for fans to point it out online.

Must’ve been a tedious job to duct tape over every cupholder @Ford logo in @StateFarmStdm #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/xQMnaRSpGt

— Stuart Gwynn (@stueyGman) April 6, 2024

And some (very) rough back of the napkin math: Assuming each strip of tape is about 4 inches long, that’s 280,000 inches of tape, or more than 23,000 feet of tape — better known as more than four miles. An average roll of duct tape contains 180 feet of tape, meaning staff likely used more than 125 rolls of the stuff to cover up all the Ford logos on the cupholders.

And with a roll of duct tape costing around $5, that’s more than $600 on tape for the NCAA and Final Four to keep the logo out of sight.

Purdue is off to the championship game on Monday

The Boilermakers put together a dominant defensive performance Saturday to defeat NC State by a score of 63-50 in the Final Four and advance to the national championship.

Center Zach Edey led Purdue with 20 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the win. The Boilermakers defense held the Wolfpack to just 36.8% shooting on the evening and never trailed the entire contest.

After leading 35-29 at the half, Purdue quickly expand its lead to double digits to start off the second half. NC State hung within striking distance for around the first 10 minutes, but the Boilermakers took over down the stretch to go on a 14-1 run from the 7:28 to 2:52 mark and go up as many as 20 points.

Other than Edey, Lance Jones added 14 points while Fletcher Loyer chipped in 11 for Purdue. The Boilermakers now move on to face the winner between Alabama and UConn in the national championship game on Monday.