Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum, Deer District welcoming the madness as it preps for first NCAA men's basketball tournament
Fiserv Forum and Deer District are preparing for a week of madness as the NCAA men’s basketball tournament comes to Milwaukee.
It’ll be the first time Fiserv Forum is hosting the event, and it comes after the Milwaukee Bucks ran through the playoffs last summer winning the team's first championship in 50 years. The playoff run drew tens of thousands of fans to the Deer District on many nights, and on Monday arena officials said they are confident they can provide a fun and safe experience for all fans.
“Anybody that has a ticket is obviously going to have a tremendous experience inside Fiserv Forum, but what I think is cool is you’re also going to have that experience outside,” Michael Belot, senior vice president of Bucks ventures and development said. “A little taste of what you felt in the playoffs last year.”
Almost a Badgers home game
On Friday, Milwaukee will host the Wisconsin Badgers, who will play against Colgate; also Purdue versus Yale; Texas is playing Virginia Tech; and Louisiana State University is going up against Iowa State.
Having the Badgers in Milwaukee is almost going to be as close of a home game as any team gets in the tournament, which will be a huge advantage.
The last time the Badgers played in Milwaukee in the NCAA Tournament they advanced to the Final Four in 2014.
Belot said Fiserv Forum staff is excited to host “our neighbors to the west.”
“We’re thrilled to have all the schools but certainly to have the Badgers here,” Belot said. “A lot of that is because of their great play... in general they try to locate you to your nearest regional and that happened to be us.”
But beyond the Badgers, each team has multiple ties to Wisconsin such as the Cyclones head coach T.J. Otzelberger and assistant JR Blount each being Milwaukee natives who attended area high schools.
Fans who didn’t get tickets or who can’t wait for the games will get a chance to watch their team practice on Thursday with doors opening at 10 a.m. and each practice lasting roughly 40 minutes.
The schedule for the open practice is:
Yale practicing first at 11 a.m.
Virginia Tech at 11:45 a.m.
Purdue at 12:30 p.m.
Texas at 1:15 p.m.
LSU at 3:25 p.m.
Wisconsin at 4:10 p.m.
Iowa State at 4:55 p.m.
Colgate at 5:40 p.m.
There are no plans to limit capacity inside the forum or enforce a mask mandate.
“We’re very excited for these eight teams to be able to come and play in our arena and showcase what the arena can do, as well as Milwaukee,” Katelyn Bogrand, vice president of event operations for Fiserv Forum and Deer District said.
Although the Marquette Golden Eagles made the tournament, they'll be playing in Fort Worth Texas against North Carolina on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on TBS.
Beer garden, venues open for MU game
Marquette fans will have a chance to watch the game in the Deer District and the surrounding bars on Martin Luther King Drive.
“As we just start to open up and really feel like spring is upon us, the beer garden is going to be open up and the place to be to watch all the games,” Belot said.
While most of the action will take place inside the arena, the Deer District is preparing for students and fans of all the teams to flood restaurants like The Mecca, Good City Brewing, Drink Wisconsibly and Punch Bowl Social which plans to reopen on Wednesday.
“This is going to be packed and a lot of fun, and that’s why we’re even more glad that Punch Bowl Social is opening up, so we have more space to accommodate everybody,” Belot said adding that his team learned a lot during the Bucks run in through the NBA Finals less than a year ago when the Deer District was packed with thousands of fans.
“We are going to have beverage available out here in the plaza, and out in the beer garden.”
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18,000 fans expected
As for what the economic impact could look like for the city, Visit Milwaukee has estimated that the city could see approximately $6.5 million coming to the area during the weekend's events. The group also estimated that Milwaukee will see around ,000 visitors swarming to the city from in and out of state.
Lindsey McKee, Communications and Tour Groups Manager at Visit Milwaukee, said that some of the challenges that come with an event like this is can be found in the hotel sector, which has been working in conjunction with Visit Milwaukee and the NCAA.
“We do already have 5,000 room nights already blocked. And of course, as we get closer to the date that's likely going to grow overall…we are welcoming over 18,000 attendees so of course all of those individuals will need lodging especially when you think about the teams that we have here,” said McKee.
To meet the transportation needs of visitors when they get into Milwaukee, rental car services, like Hertz are preparing by having cars moved from other parts of the state to accommodate the demand.
The financial impact for a service like this can be especially significant when an event comes to town as manager, Kayla Harris estimates that the percentage of cars being rented this weekend could rise to 35% above what it would look like on a normal weekend.
Preparing for a big week
Downtown businesses near Fiserv Forum are looking to cash in as well, but before that bars and restaurants on King Drive are starting to prepare for the influx of people that the festivities will bring.
With St. Patrick's Day on Thursday, and the tournament excitement, downtown businesses expect one of the most prosperous weekends of the year, said Stacie Callies, Executive Director of Westown association.
“With the Shamrock Shuffle and March Madness the month is usually good, but we are certainly expecting it to be crazier than usual with the tournament being here, and we want to be ready,” Callies said.
She also said that typically bars in the area such as Who’s on Third, Buck Bradly’s and Milwaukee Brat House see a high volume of visitors, but as far as exposure it is important for all businesses in the area because of people who may want to come back and explore Milwaukee in the future.
Months of planning have gone into being ready for this week, said Bobby Wiltgen, o wner of Who’s on Third, Third Street Tavern and Oak Barrel Public House. This includes ordering correct inventory, filling and training staff, scheduling and taking in party requests from teams and fans.
Wiltgen commented on how timely the boost to business is after multiple years marred by COVID-19
“This is obviously a financial help, especially coming out of COVID when the activity in the area was sparse, and people are working from home,” Wiltgen said.
“So downtown has been you know, I wouldn't say a ghost town, but its just nice to be benefiting like this again.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fiserv Forum, Deer District preps for first round of NCAA tournament
