San Antonio NCAA Final Four Fiesta medal available Tuesday

NCAA monitoring Texas Legislature for 'bathroom bill' vote

SAN ANTONIO – March Madness is over, but Fiesta frenzy is in full swing!

And with the Alamo City hosting next year’s NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament, the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee is getting in the spirit by releasing an official Final Four Fiesta medal.

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The medal will be available Tuesday at two locations: Fiesta South Bank Medal Stroll at Hard Rock Café downtown, 111 W Crockett St. #210, from 5-8 p.m. and the Fiesta Medal Party at Luther’s Café, 1503 N Main Ave.,from 7 – 9 p.m.

The medal will be available for a $10 donation, with proceeds going to San Antonio Sports’ i play! after school program. The program offers free, skill-based instruction in five sports to 45 elementary schools in the San Antonio and Harlandale independent school districts.

Additional locations to purchase and/or win a medal will be announced on the Final Four – San Antonio Facebook page, and @FinalFour on Twitter and Instagram during Fiesta.

This will be the fourth time the city has hosted one of college sports' premier events. San Antonio hosted for the first time in 1998 then again in 2004 and 2008.

Specter of 'Bathroom Bill' hangs over tournament

The Texas Legislature is weighing Senate Bill 6, which deals with gender and bathrooms. The bill would mandate that people use the bathroom that correlates to the gender listed on their birth certificates.

A similar bill passed in North Carolina, prompting the NCAA to pull the Final Four tournament out of that state.

"It's incredibly important for us to remain committed to our core values and that is conducting NCAA championships and hosting NCAA events in communities that are free of discrimination," Jeff Janneke, director of championships for the NCAA, said at the time. "We are watching the state but we are watching all the states where NCAA Championships are being conducted.”

Critics say the fact that such a bill was filed in Texas has caused three groups targeting San Antonio for their conventions to pull the Alamo City as an option, according to Visit San Antonio, a public-private nonprofit that promotes tourism for San Antonio.

The organization estimates that cost the city about $3.1 million in lost in economic impact.

Additionally, eight groups that are locked in to hold conventions in San Antonio have said they will cancel if the bill becomes law, according to Visit San Antonio, taking about another $19.9 million in economic impact with them.

“(It’s) tough to speculate on what may be because of the nuances and the way the bill may be written or might actually be passed along the way, but (it’s) something that our office is indeed focused on," Jarneke said.

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