Businesses ready for NCAA March Madness in Pittsburgh this weekend

PITTSBURGH — It’s the first big weekend business owners are preparing for in nearly two years.

“We have about 1,000 hotel rooms within 100 yards from here, so we know it’s going to (be) busy from Wednesday night into Thursday,” said Mike Sukitch, who owns Mike’s Beer Bar.

Fans and players from college basketball teams will head into the city to play in the first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, as well as the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship.

The men’s games will be played Friday and Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. The women will play Saturday at Duquesne University’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

All those fans and players will be bringing with them money to spend, and the impact will be felt citywide.

“Thursday and Friday always and Saturday afternoon we always have a good crowd, so we expect that especially with the weather looking nice, we expect to be quite busy for people who are coming down to watch the games, not necessarily go out to the games,” Sukitch said.

Businesses in the Strip District hope fans will make their way into the neighborhood.

“We are excited to get some of the spillover from the tournament. We are an interesting stop if you aren’t from Pittsburgh, so we hope to see new faces,” said Brad Hammer with Wigle Whiskey.

The last time NCAA tournament games were played in Pittsburgh was back in 2018.

According to VisitPittsburgh, all hotels in the downtown are area are fully booked this weekend.

Westin General Manager Tom Martini spoke to Channel 11 on Tuesday and said that they are booked from Wednesday through Saturday night.

“It’s so exciting for the staff. To be in a hotel that’s buzzing and a lot of people going around, in meeting rooms, and beverage functions, the hospitality associated with it. Just the flow and the heartbeat of the hotel being alive, it’s so much fun for our team,” Martini said.

VisitPittsburgh is estimating that visitors will spend millions in downtown Pittsburgh.

“The economic impact from an event like this will be well over $10 million. That’s money spent in our hotels, restaurants, and retail shops. It really has an impact throughout the community,” VisitPittsburgh CEO, Jared Bachar said.

Businesses preparing for first round of NCAA March Madness in Pittsburgh

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