Companies close to the Fiserv Forum brace for March Madness

MILWAUKEE — Businesses around the Fiserv Forum gear up for this weekend when March Madness comes to town.

The Fiserv Forum will host eight teams in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, including the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers are scheduled to face Colgate on Friday night.

Staff from neighboring businesses were taking advantage of Monday’s tranquility to prepare for the weekend.

“We’re bringing more staff to the door, we’re stocking a lot, we’re ordering a lot,” said Taco Mike manager Keyontis Barksdale.

Barksdale says he learned a lot from the crowd at the NBA Finals this summer and is keeping that in mind for the weekend ahead.

“We had some great times with the Bucks in the playoffs. Any Bucks game, an Admirals game, anything like that, it’s always busier,” Barksdale said. “It’s such a huge tournament coming up and since it’s here it’s going to be big.”

Fiserv Forum officials say it’s going to be packed. They open the Deer District and the beer garden. Food and drink will be available for purchase at and near the plaza. Punch Bowl Social is reopening. Officials say they are following city health guidelines and there will be no Covid-19 capacity limits or mask requirements.

“It’s going to look like, I think, the closest thing we’ve had to a Bucks playoff experience that we’ve had since the Finals,” Michael Belot said. “So anyone who has a ticket is obviously going to have a great experience inside the Fiserv Forum, but I think what’s cool is that you can also have that experience outside and a little taste of how you felt in the playoffs. an.”

He said they’re dealing with parking like they did in the final, using what’s already available. He said it might be full and people could find parking spaces in other places in town.

Around the corner at Brick 3 Pizza, the staff are also working ahead.

“A lot of boxes right now, folding our boxes, a lot of prep work,” manager Keith Kruser said.

At Who’s on Third, the staff say they are installing additional bars inside and energizing their staff. They want to make sure fans have as good a time at a nearby business as they would inside Fiserv.

“That’s our job, to serve people, to make them happy and to get the crowd moving,” manager Gabriel Burkhalter said. “I’m pumped. It’s nice to have something like this after all of Covid.”

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