Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse will serve as the host venue for the 2020 CBS Sports Classic, event organizers announced today. The event will be held Saturday, Dec. 19, and broadcast on CBS Television Network.
The doubleheader will begin at 2 p.m. ET with North Carolina taking on Ohio State, which will be followed by Kentucky and UCLA.
Fan attendance at the 2020 CBS Sports Classic continues to be evaluated. The health and safety of fans and everyone involved in this event is a top priority, and any fan attendance policies will, at a minimum, follow the guidelines outlined in the Responsible RestartOhio plan. Future announcements related to fan attendance will be made at the appropriate time. For more information and to register to receive event and ticket alerts, visit https://www.rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com/events/detail/cbs-sports-classic/.
Cleveland will be the fifth city to host the CBS Sports Classic in its seven-year history, following Chicago (2014, 2018), Brooklyn (2015), Las Vegas (2016, 2019) and New Orleans (2017). The home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse recently achieved Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR accreditation after implementing the most stringent protocols for cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevent in its facility. It has also earned the WELL Health-Safety Rating through the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) for the venue’s proactive and progressive initiatives to help protect the health and safety of all those who visit. Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is the first sports and entertainment venue in Ohio and the third nationally to achieve this rating.
The CBS Sports Classic annually brings together four of the nation’s historically most successful college basketball programs. The quartet owns a combined 26 national championships, with UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6) ranking first, second and third, respectively. Additionally, all four programs rank in the top six in all time Final Four berths, compiling 65 total appearances between them (North Carolina, 20; Kentucky, 17; UCLA, 17; Ohio State, 11). They are among college basketball’s all-time winningest programs, combining for more than 8,200 victories. The four enter the year among CBS Sports’ Top 25 and 1, and Kentucky and North Carolina welcome the top two recruiting classes to campus this season, according to 247Sports.
North Carolina is 4-2 in the CBS Sports Classic, Kentucky and Ohio State share matching 3-3 records and UCLA is 2-4 in the event. This set of matchups was last featured in the 2017 CBS Sports Classic, with the Tar Heels defeating the Buckeyes, 86-72, and the Bruins knocking off the Wildcats, 83-75.
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About Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
The newly transformed Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is Northeast Ohio’s premier sports and entertainment facility and major attraction for top tier concert tours and family shows, as well as home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Monsters and the annual MAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament. Each year, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse hosts more than 200 diverse ticketed events and 1,400 private events that draw over 2 million patrons to downtown Cleveland. Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is established as a successful host site for high profile events of international and national scope, including the 2016 Republican National Convention, the 2007, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals and the upcoming 2022 NBA All-Star Game and 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Final Four. In Pollstar Magazine’s 2019 Mid-Year Report of Top 200 Arena Venues Worldwide for Entertainment Ticket Sales, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse ranked No. 11 in the United States and No. 27 worldwide in ticket sales for top touring attractions. Visit RocketMortgageFieldHouse.com.
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Health and Safety Information
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse continues to work closely with the City of Cleveland, State of Ohio and medical experts to follow the latest developments and directives on COVID-19 and has put in place the highest standards of health and safety precautions and protocols to ensure the safest environment possible for everyone who visits the FieldHouse. This includes the mandatory wearing of masks when required, altering spaces and limiting capacities for all special events to enable proper social distancing; directional signage to manage safe pedestrian flow throughout Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and more. In addition, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse has received two certifications, the Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR Facility accreditation and the WELL Health-Safety Rating, each recognizing the stringent health and safety protocols that have been implemented in the venue to minimize the risk of COVID-19.