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Final Four Merch Goes to Nonprofits

The branded merchandise was meant for the finale of college basketball’s centerpiece tournament, which was canceled because of the coronavirus.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, “March Madness” has taken on an all-new meaning this year.

The term usually applies to college basketball’s premier end-of-season tournament to crown a champion. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) canceled the tourney in 2020 due to health concerns related to the coronavirus.

The Final Four (semifinals) would have been the weekend of April 4 and 5, with the final falling on April 6 in Atlanta where, as Jay Busbee noted for Yahoo Sports, “T-shirts, souvenirs, basketballs, tote bags, all emblazoned with the Final Four logo, would blanket every surface between Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Mercedes-Benz Stadium,” where the game was to be played.

Despite the cancellation, however, quite a bit of merchandise had already been produced for the event. And now, some of it is finding a home in support of good causes.

The NCAA, for instance, is donating T-shirts to World Vision, a nonprofit charity that provides unused clothing and merchandise to people in need in communities across the globe.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Basketball Host Committee (ABHC) is donating 3,200 basketballs and T-shirts to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, which serves about 3,000 youth and teenagers at its more than 20 locations, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. The tees and basketballs had been intended for the Final Four Dribble presented by Buick event.

The ABHC is also teaming up with the NCAA to donate branded merchandise that was made for the 1,500 volunteers that would have been working to support tournament games and related events in Atlanta. The swag includes branded polos, hats, ponchos and flashlights – a haul that comes in a drawstring bag. The volunteer kits will now go to 19 recreation centers that are providing meals to students during coronavirus-caused school closures, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported.

In another charity-focused merch move, organizers will donate 100,000 bags branded with Coca-Cola logos to community organizations in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, AL and Phoenix. Coca-Cola is headquartered in Atlanta. Had the tournament gone forward, the bags would have gone to fans for souvenir-carrying and the like.

“So the 2020 Final Four is no more,” Busbee wrote. “But someday, years from now, you might see a kid wearing a 2020 Final Four T-shirt, or bouncing a 2020 Final Four basketball, and you’ll have quite a story for them.”