Businesses in Hartford geared up for a busy weekend, as a three-day volleyball tournament kicked off at the CT Convention Center in Hartford, Saturday.
“This is really exciting. It’s a big deal,” said Morgan McCarthy, a volleyball player with the Huskies.
The event is a big deal for the 1,900 players who are competing from all over the Northeast, California and Bermuda at the Mizuno New England Winterfest Volleyball Tournament; but an even bigger deal for downtown businesses who are hoping for a big spike.
“This is a busy weekend—all kinds of stuff going on…anything that brings business to Hartford we’re always very excited about,” said Mary Spain, Manager of the City Steam Brewery and Café.
Spain expects City Steam to boom come Saturday evening.
“We’ve already had [full] reservations from 2:00 until 10:00 tonight, and the same tomorrow. We have reservations through the evening.”
Other businesses are expected to get a boost, too. The three-day event is predicted to pump about $4 million into the local economy.
“[Visitors] come to restaurants and those entities pay taxes, so the state benefits as well,” said Laura Soll, with the Connecticut Convention and Sports Bureau.
More than three dozen teams from Connecticut are participating in the games. Admission to the event is free.