NORFOLK, Va. — For a business built around sports, it may come as a surprise that a mid-March weekend is the one that comes out on top for Baxter's Sports Bar.
“This is probably our best weekend of the year," Baxter's general manager Daryl Bresach said. "The whole year. This is like bigger than the Super Bowl."
For Norfolk's downtown businesses, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball tournament (preluding the larger NCAA Tournament) is more than just an athletic competition, but an economic driver.
It's been years since the city's downtown reaped the benefits of the tournament, held at the Scope Arena since 2013. Last year, only a limited number of tickets were allocated to guests of players and coaches, and in 2020, the tournament's completion was canceled altogether due to the onset of the COVID pandemic.
But this weekend, for the first time since 2019, restrictions, crowds and competitive play were more reflective of the way things were pre-pandemic.
Bresach says the return to normal brought in an influx of both regular pedestrian traffic and private events, which made for one of the best MEAC Tournament weekends he can remember.
“Been doing this for about ten years, this year has been the best one so far," Bresach said. "Even the pre-COVID ones.”
It doesn’t hurt when the hometown team takes home the trophy, either.
For the second year in a row, Norfolk State University's Men’s Basketball Team punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament by defeating Coppin State in the MEAC Tournament final.
The Spartans received a 16-seed for the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 1-seeded Baylor in the Round of 64 teams.
The Spartans defeated Appalachian State in the play-in round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, before losing to then-No. 1 seed Gonzaga.