Downtown Buffalo has been swarmed with NCAA basketball fans as HSBC Arena hosted 4 first round games yesterday and will host two second round games on Sunday. Buffalo has hosted opening rounds of the NCAA tournament before in 2000, 2004 and 2007. But with neighboring Syracuse in town as a #1 seed, this year is expected to be the biggest ever.
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And that's great news for downtown businesses like Pearl Street, Morrissey's and Benchwarmer's. Downtown bars will also benefit from NCAA rules which prohibit alcohol sales at the Arena. Pearl Street alone expected to serve 8,000 people yesterday as basketball games ran from noon until midnight. In total, the CVB expects the tournament to generate $5 million in economic impact for Buffalo.
To help out-of-town fans enjoy their experience in Buffalo,125 volunteers from B_Team Buffalo and WNY AmeriCorps assisted the 20,000 NCAA basketball fans. Volunteers were stationed in front of HSBC Arena and up Washington and Main Streets to direct fans to nearby restaurants. The Metro Rail had additional runs along Main Street and NFTA shuttle busses carried fans to restaurants and bars on Chippewa Street and Elmwood Avenue.
These are the kinds of events that provide Buffalo an opportunity to shine in the national spotlight and, just as importantly, impress tourists who come to watch their favorite teams play. The City has learned lessons from past tournaments and that's a major reason why B_Team Buffalo and WNY AmeriCorps volunteers were out helping fans better navigate downtown to find what they need to make their experience enjoyable.
As for the basketball, the two top seeded teams - Syracuse and West Virginia - won handily. Gonzaga, an 8 seed, defeated Florida State and Missouri, a 10 seed, upset Clemson to advance to the second round. On Sunday, (8) Gonzaga will play (1) Syracuse at 12:10pm while (10) Missouri will attempt to continue their upset run when they face (2) West Virginia at 2:40pm.
Tickets were sold out quickly but there is an active secondary market for seats. If you're looking for tickets for tomorrow's games, check out Stubhub and Craigslist. While Syracuse Orange fans are out in force and driving up ticket prices, you'll still be likely to find seats for $100 each around game time. But even if you're not interested in attending the games, consider heading downtown tomorrow to take in the NCAA atmosphere. You can watch the games at any of the bars around the Arena and you'll be able to share in the unique drama that is March Madness.
It is times like this that I wish we had a thriving waterfront and a more substantial array of restaurants in the area. We were doing our best to direct people to take the Metro to Allen Street and Chippewa to catch a bite to eat. We were told to get to visitors before they started walking up Main Street, because there aren't many restaurants open, there are more vacant storefronts than occupied ones, and the restaurants that were open were probably packed.
I think this has been a real missed opportunity for Buffalo.