LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – March Madness is underway. It’s been a day full of basketball here on KLFY News 10.
 
Each year the tournament means big bucks for local bars and restaurants here in Acadiana.

With LSU being the tourney this year, a few bars and restaurant managers said they were slammed during lunchtime, with fans rooting on the tigers to victory.
 
“We knew going into today that it was going to be very busy, we knew it on our calendar. And sure enough they showed up in droves,“ said Trevor Lemaire, Manager at Pete’s. 
 
If you’re not glued to your TV at home, you may be catching March Madness at a bar or restaurant, like Pete’s on Johnston.
 
“If you compare it to what we did yesterday (Wednesday) for lunch, we did about triple the business that we did before,“ said Lemaire.
 
Lemaire says he noticed some customers taking extra long lunch breaks to catch the LSU game.
Or were skipping class all together like Jackson Davis, a junior at LSU.
 
“The tournament’s worth missing a day of school,“ he said.
 
At  The Tap Room The Tap Room in River Ranch, they’re hopeful that because LSU is in the tournament this year, and they possibly have a chance to go far, it will attract more local customers to their bar.
 
“It’s definitely a huge bump. Even if you’re not an LSU fan, they’re a local regional team, you’re going to keep an eye on it, and be more interested in March Madness itself,“ said David Savoie, General Manager at The Tap Room.

He says with March Madness coming in, they always bring in new beers on tap.
 
“Everything is as fresh and as new as possible, that way it gives people a chance to try something they’ve never tried before,“ said Savoie.

“I like LSU’s chances to getting to the Sweet 16, beyond that they’re going to have to earn it, to do something we haven’t seen since 2006,“ said Ben Love, Radio Sports Personality at  103.7 The Game.
 
“I think as long as LSU is in this tournament, people are going to come in to watch it,“ said Lemaire.
 
According to WalletHub, the average worker will spend 6 hours watching March Madness.
56% of millennials are willing to miss a work deadline to watch a March Madness game.
 
LSU beat Yale 79 – 74  in the first round of the NCAA tournament 
The bars and restaurants are hopeful LSU stays in this tournament, to keep their sales up.