Boston could score as much as $22 million in economic spending during this week’s NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, according to a top local tourism expert.
Thousands of fans will flood into town for a pair of Sweet 16 matchups — Syracuse vs. Wisconsin and Ohio State vs. Cincinnati — on Thursday night and the winners’ subsequent Elite 8 game on Saturday at the TD Garden.
“We ended up with some really good teams. They will draw people from around this region,” said Patrick Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention Visitors Bureau. “We have a New York team and we have a team like Ohio State that travels really well. We’ll be seeing lots of fans from those schools.”
The four teams, hoops fans, NCAA crew and national media will pour an estimated $18 million to $22 million into Hub hotels, restaurants and other tourism-geared businesses, Moscaritolo estimated.
The March Madness participants start dribbling in today and will fill more than 4,000 rooms at seven area hotels, Moscaritolo said. Many will stay through Sunday morning.
“It’s the equivalent of having a major citywide convention from this kind of spending, because they are here over that extended period,” he said.
Boston’s East Regional games were scheduled long ago but come at an opportune time soon after last week’s blackout hurt businesses in the Back Bay neighborhood.
“When you have a big event like this you immediately begin to see what big business sports are — and college sports in particular simply because of the combination of the student body and the alumni, who have a little bit more disposable income than the students,” Moscaritolo said.
The TD Garden last hosted an NCAA regional in 2009 when Duke, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Xavier brought an estimated $7 million in economic spending to Boston.