As the Final Four game approaches, East Lansing businesses are preparing for the madness the game is expected to bring.
Each year as March rolls around, MSU fans gather to watch the tournament and hope to see their beloved Spartans advance to the championship. This year, the Spartans have already secured their spot in the Final Four, and with this impending game comes the promise of busy bars.
“People come before (the game) and they stay afterwards, so its great for business. It’s much much busier than a normal night,” said Casey Comstock, general manager of Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub.
Other bars in the area have shown a similar increase in business as the Spartans have prevailed during the tournament season.
“For the Big Ten Tournament and for the NCAA Tournament games we’ve been totally full for every game, standing room only. So (we’re) definitely busier than normal,” Peppino’s Sports Grille manager Andy Sawatzki said.
Aaron Weiner, general manager of the popular sports bar Buffalo Wild Wings, said they don’t run any special deals for the games outside of their normal specials.
Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub and Peppino’s, on the other hand, have fully embraced the Final Four spirit and feature various deals for the tournament games.
Harper’s has offered a variety of food and drink specials including free wings with the purchase of a beverage, free pizza with the purchase of a beverage and green and white jello shots, according to Comstock.
In terms of preparing for the March Madness, all of the managers agreed that the key to handling the large crowds that game day promises to bring is proper preparation, from ordering food to scheduling staff that are able and willing to take on the challenge.
“We’ve had the luxury of basically having a great team for a long time so it’s nothing really new to us,” Comstock said. “This time of the year we just definitely staff for it, we get extra servers and cooks and just prepare for the busiest and hope for it.”
As far as atmosphere goes, each of the managers said the bars provide an experience that is unlike any other for the fans.
“The best word to describe it is ‘electric,’” Sawatzki said. “When we won that last game to go to the Final Four I could feel the floor shaking underneath me. It was pretty awesome.”
Comstock said his sentiments were the same as Sawatzki.
“It’s wild, it’s crazy, it’s great. It’s just really good energy. Everyone is really into the games, everyone is cheering and it’s just a festive, unique, really awesome time of the year.”
