With two major events in the Twin Cities this weekend, the Big Ten Women's Basketball and State Boys High School Hockey tournaments, and more coming later in March, both cities are expecting thousands of fans and tons of business.
Hoping to see a vacancy sign at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis or St. Paul? Good luck. Especially near Target Center thanks to the Caitlin Clark effect.
"I imagine that this week, especially with Iowa and Caitlin being the leading scorer in the NCAA," said Derrick Kunes, Sales Manager at Fogo de Chao in downtown Minneapolis. "That's going to drive many, many people to the Twin Cities just to catch a glimpse of this team that's making history."
Bars and restaurants are expecting to be very crowded all week.
"I think we're expecting to see 15 to 20% growth in just foot traffic alone," says Kunes, who adds they're stocking up on staff.
"We have probably an extra 25 people that we just hired over the last three weeks," explained Valeed Sirhan, President of Kieran's Irish Pub. He says they're adding as much product as possible.
"You just got to make sure you got plenty of product that's, you know, you don't want to run out of anything," said Pat Boemer, owner of Patrick McGoverns Pub.
Oh, and don't forget about the big screen TV's. There will be plenty to watch.
That starts with our Gophers. The women's team, in a terrible funk lately after one of the worst losses in program history Sunday at Penn State, opens the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday night against Rutgers as they hope to right the ship.
The Boy's State Hockey Tournament gets underway Wednesday morning at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center with the Class A Quarterfinals. The AA Quarterfinals are Thursday.
This is followed by the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at Target Center March 13-17. This will be the first time Minnesota has ever hosted the men's tournament.
The Minnesota State Girl's Basketball Tournament is also taking place next week but due to the Big Ten, will be played at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus and then Concordia University in St. Paul.