Tucson bars preparing for March Madness

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It’s that time of the year again at Putney’s Pit Stop where University of Arizona alumni and fans come together for March Madness.

Marcos Madera is a U of A fan and was at the sports bar on Monday. He said he watches all of U of A’s March Madness games ever year.

“It’s exciting. People are cheering. Everyone’s excited….we get out of the PAC12 and play different teams! It’s great!” Madera said.

Hayley McCain has been a bartender at the sports bar for about two years and said it’s usually a time when they see more customers.

“It definitely fills up in here so we’ll get people outside. We’ll have people inside. We’ll have the games on every TV,” McCain said.

She said because they get more customers, they usually make a slam dunk with about double the amount of sales. She said that’s why they have to stock up on extra beers.

“Having extra kegs for domestic beers and bottled beers especially since usually the sports crowd does tend to drink more of that,” she said.

The bar is also opening up an hour early to accommodate for more people.

“A lot of people come from everywhere and can enjoy it as a community,” McCain said.

Home Plate is another bar in Tucson that is expecting to see more customers.

While they’re usually known for their batting cages, owner Steve Anselmo said they’re already buying more ingredients and beers to accommodate for more customers.

“I bought today. I have to buy tomorrow and as long as they keep winning you have to buy more and more and more,” Anselmo said.

He said March is usually a busy month for them and said depending on how well the Wildcats play, his sales could go up at least 30 to 40 percent.

“March madness could be a better month than some of the months of football if they continue to win,” he said.

However, he said no matter who wins, the tournament brings together the Tucson community.

“Everybody that lives in the town is here for the U of A. It gives them…it’s like being arm in arm…it’s comradery,” he said.