URBANA — When the University of Illinois realized it needed a 66 percent increase in seating to accommodate an NCAA baseball regional, it turned to an Iowa City-based firm to supply the extra seats.
Big Ten Rentals has agreed to provide four sections of temporary bleachers — enough to seat an extra 1,088 people — in case the UI wins its bid to host an NCAA regional tournament starting Friday. The university will find out tonight whether it's successful.
Illinois Field ordinarily accommodates 1,500 people in its main stands, but that's short of the 2,500-seat capacity the NCAA normally seeks.