MILWAUKEE — Downtown Milwaukee will be extra busy as an estimated 19,000 people arrive for the first round of March Madness.
"We just love basketball so we bought tickets this year not knowing Iowa State would be here, but was very excited when we learned that they did," Rich Renner told TMJ4 News.
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"If you grew up in Iowa it's all college sports all the time," Kelly Farris-Renner added.
The couple joined fans at open practice at Fiserv Forum on Thursday.
Visit Milwaukee estimates the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will spark a $3.4 million economic impact.
Watch: 19,000 people expected to fill Milwaukee for March Madness weekend
"Eight years ago, we opened to the NCAA Tournament in town so that's kind of especially nice for us to see them back in again," said Jimmy Hall, general manager at DOC's Commerce Smokehouse.
The restaurant is stocked up on extra food and help in the kitchen. It will open early at 10 a.m. through this weekend.
"It just does wonders for us. This can be a sleepy part of downtown at times, but we're expecting huge crowds," Hall stated.
It is not just basketball taking over Milwaukee. Hall is also bracing for the Badger Region Volleyball Championships which is drawing 420 teams and approximately 16,000 athletes and spectators to the city, according to Visit Milwaukee.
As the Renners also cheer for Wisconsin and Marquette to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament they believe Milwaukee is a clear winner.
"We've been here like I said 37 years, and we love it. We're excited that people are going to be here," Renner said.
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