After shelling out up to $90 for each ticket to this weekend’s NCAA Regional Tournament, basketball devotees will not hesitate to empty their wallets and pocketbooks into local stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses, local business leaders predict.

The local economy stands to gain millions of dollars from the estimated 30,000 fans – 18,000 of them out-of-towners – this weekend, giving a boost to the city and county’s ailing economy. Onondaga County was $20 million in debt in 2003.

While the bulk of the money will have short-term, immediate benefits for local businesses, there are reaching benefits to a weekend of spending. The money that businesses and owners gain this weekend will ultimately be spent in the area, said Don Dutkowsky, professor of economics in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

‘It’ll trickle down,’ Dutkowsky said. ‘The money that’s spent here will get spent in other rounds elsewhere … This’ll be a nice chunk of change that the area will get.’

Both direct sales of products, rooms and services and the county’s 8.25 percent sales tax will help, Dutkowsky said.

The city’s and county’s hotels are among the industries that will most benefit from the influx of out-of-towners, including players, fans and media. The area’s top hotels are completely booked; as of Wednesday, there were no rooms available at any of the five downtown hotels. The closest Holiday Inn with rooms available is 50 miles away in Auburn.

‘It’s a nice push and certainly additional business that we wouldn’t have had,’ said David Michaels, director of sales for Embassy Suites, the official hotel for North Carolina State, which has close to 1,000 people booked for the weekend.

The Genesee Grande, Wisconsin’s official hotel, has been taking reservations for months, said Jason Fulton, director of sales and marketing. The fully-booked and newly Wisconsin-themed Genesee reserved 100 of its 160 rooms each night for Wisconsin’s team and coaches, as well as its officials, alumni groups and administrators.

‘The city will be alive for the tournament, no doubt,’ Fulton said.

Other official hotels include the Wyndham Hotel for the University of North Carolina, the Holiday Inn in Carrier Circle for Villanova, and the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center for the media.

Having the media in local hotels is ‘guaranteed revenue,’ said Megan Walker, the director of rooms at the Sheraton.

‘(Revenues) include money spent in the bar and restaurant that usually wouldn’t have been,’ she said. Walker estimated that the restaurant and bar will make $25,000 this weekend alone.

The hotel’s dining facilities will not be the only ones to benefit from thousands of hungry and thirsty March Madness fans.

Twelve area restaurants and bars have been designated as official fan meeting places on the city’s tournament Web site, syracusencaa.com.

Jerry Dellas, owner of Faegan’s and the Varsity on Marshall Street and president of the Crouse-Marshall Business Association, is stocking up on supplies and scheduling additional staff to cover the influx.

‘We do make money, and it’s certainly good for the economy of Syracuse, but you have to spend,’ Dellas said.

Dellas has been spending money especially on stocking beer, wine and liquor to sell to fans that come from the Dome, where the sale of alcohol will be prohibited during the tournament because of NCAA rules.

This year’s tournament will showcase an improved Marshall Street since the 2002 games.

‘Four years ago or so it was run-down,’ Dellas said. ‘The sidewalks were a mess; the place was just a mess.’

The city has hired workers to clean up the street during each night of the tournament.

A new facility called The Bunker is predicted to open this weekend in the venue under Students Choice Market. However, it is unclear what exactly The Bunker and its purpose are.

Dellas said the facility applied as a catering business for weddings and events; however, rumors indicate the facility may be, in fact, a bar. Dellas said he had heard it was trying to open in time for the tournament.

‘It sounds kind of funny,’ Dellas said. ”The Bunker,’ and they’re catering weddings?’

The owner of The Bunker could not be reached for comment.

Armory Square will host its own events downtown. A festival tent in Armory Square will feature booths from many of the restaurants from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and free shuttles will transport visitors from the Dome to Armory Square. Many of its businesses, including Mulrooney’s, Kitty Hoyne’s and Ambrosia, are official fan meeting places.

The distance between the Dome and downtown should not hurt non-Hill businesses, Dutkowsky said.

‘The places that are hopping will hop,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t want to go to the Dinosaur this weekend.’

Restaurants and bars will not be the only providers for hungry fans. An anticipated 10,000 slices of Sbarro pizza, 12,000 hotdogs and 30,000 beverages will be sold during the games, said Craig Maffiero, senior concessions manager.

‘(Fans) come with a vacation mentality: They come hungry and they come thirsty,’ he said.

The ban on beer in the Dome should not decrease profits, Maffiero said. Two to three times more food than beer is sold during games.

Local non-profit organizations that run concession stands in the Dome, including the Eastwood Rotary Club, the Jordan-Elbridge Band Boosters and New Generation Cheer, will benefit form the increased sales.

The volunteers, who will account for 300 of the 700 concessions staffers this weekend, receive a portion of the sales in return for their time, Maffiero said.

‘The proceeds go to buy uniforms and instruments if it’s a band and send them off on trips to compete,’ he said.

While hotels and restaurants will be primary spots for fans’ spending, other related industries will be affected.

Transportation businesses, such as Dependable Taxi Service, stand to contribute to the economic boost.

‘(Business) should be better than what it is,’ said owner Toni Zugaib. ‘Should be better than normal weekends.’

Dependable Taxi is trying to put as many of its 17 drivers and 11 cars to work as possible, Zugaib said.

Manny’s is also stocking up on memorabilia and staff, said manager and part-owner Bill Nester.

‘People like to shop; people like to pick up souvenirs from the towns they visit,’ Nester said. He is not concerned about sales decreasing due to SU’s loss, and said the 2003 championship gear should be particularly popular.

The tournament will benefit not just Manny’s but the whole community both economically and with the exposure it brings.

‘It should put us on the map more than we already are,’ he said.

The constant camera attention and national exposure will practically be ‘free advertising,’ Dutkowsky said. The tournament can also be seen as free promotion for the city of Syracuse and its tourism.

‘If you have people come and they like the area, who knows, they might come back,’ he said.

 

Published on March 24, 2005 at 12:00 pm