It’s been some time since Bridgeport hosted March Madness basketball and businesses in the city say there’s been quite the buzz.
“There’s definitely an excitement downtown. I took a walk on Saturday. I went to the two o’clock game,” said Leisha Young, owner of Leisha’s Bakeria. “I opened in the morning because people will stay down in the area and they’re looking for places to eat, poke around, walk around downtown.”
As some of the best NCAA women’s basketball teams show off their skills in Bridgeport, businesses are thrilled to showcase all they have to offer. Locals are loving it too.
“Born and raised in Bridgeport, yeah, it’s exciting to see anything that’s positive come to our town. We’re usually known for a little less positive things from time to time, but the NCAA in town is fantastic. The crowd, the energy that it brings is great, not to mention the revenue,” said Christian Teague, of Bridgeport.
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Boca Oyster Bar was planning to host a huge group before Monday night's UConn matchup against North Carolina State.
“We’ve had events all weekend long. There’s four teams in town, so we’ve had a lot of reservations. Yeah, it’s really cool. It’s putting us on the map, and the city of Bridgeport on the map. Great things are coming, so pretty exciting stuff,” said Boca Oyster Bar owner John Taxiltaridis, who also happens to be a UConn alumnus and huge Huskies fan too.
Some locals we spoke to said that more could have been done to publicize the hype in the city and there’s frustration that the one hotel in Bridgeport closed last month.
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“It’s a little unfortunate with the timing of the Holiday Inn closing down just about a month ago, so a lot of, there’s a lot of alternatives in the region which is fine, but obviously without having a hotel here, people are leaving town probably earlier than we would like them too, but at least they’ve had a taste of Bridgeport this weekend and all the things we have to offer,” said Dan Onofrio, President & CEO Bridgeport Regional Business Council.
Onofrio says while lots of restaurants are closed Mondays, some decided to open up for this game to take advantage of the crowds.
“The last time they’ve hosted a tournament was in 2017, so just having it back here in Bridgeport, especially coming off the pandemic, getting people walking around downtown, I know Saturday night was a hopping night,” he said.
Especially after the stress of staying open during a pandemic, this tourney is putting a little extra pep in the steps of Bridgeport businesses we spoke to.
“I’m surviving, I’m still here, so I’m looking forward to everything getting back, so this is a big help,” said Young.
“I think we’re all here to celebrate the Huskies and give people a taste of all the good things happening in Bridgeport,” said Onofrio.
