But they don't have much else to be concerned about.

"Jack Nicholson hasn't called us to get a ticket, but otherwise the interest has been enormous," joked Vladimír Šafařík, chairman of the Final Four organizing committee.

From April 28 to 30, four elite men's basketball teams will face off in Prague's Sazka Arena for the title to become the best team in Europe. It is the culminating event of the Euroleague season, which started last fall. CSKA Moscow will take on Winterthur Barcelona in the first semifinal game. In the second, Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Tau Vitoria.

When picking Prague as the venue for Europe's most prestigious basketball tournament last spring, Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu said the league was concerned turnout would be low because there isn't much of a basketball following here.

"We knew it was a bit of a risk, but Prague has good potential, and we hope the Final Four will appeal to spectators," Bertomeu said at the time.

Two weeks before tipoff, the organizers have sold around 70 percent of tickets and expect to sell out the16,700-seat Sazka Arena by the time the tournament starts.

"We'll be sold out, mainly thanks to the expected participation of teams that traditionally have massive fan support," Šafařík said days before the teams had qualified.

The Greeks and Italians have so far shown the most interest, he said, adding that tickets have also been sold to fans in Jamaica, Kenya and Australia.

"It's going to be the biggest basketball event ever held in this country and also the biggest sporting event here this year," said Karel Pražák, general secretary of the Czech Basketball Federation.

Indeed, not since the senior men's European Championship in 1981 has such a prestigious basketball event come to town. The 1981 event generated a lot of local interest because a Czech team competed.

The organizers of the Final Four were worried about interest this time around because a Czech team won't be playing, but people began reserving tickets immediately after Czech Television started broadcasting Euroleague quarterfinal games this spring.

"Sports fans clearly realized that it will be a rare opportunity for them to witness top-level basketball," Šafařík said.

For city officials, the event is an opportunity to prove that Prague is capable of hosting the Summer Olympics in 2020. The city and the Czech Olympic Committee have cooperated on a bid for more than a year.

"Basketball broadcasts from Prague will be transmitted to 50 countries worldwide, and they should reach about 1.4 billion people," said Petr Hulínský, deputy mayor of Prague. "It's the best possible promotion for the city."