Whistle Taproom and Venue has a busy weekend ahead.
"The beers will be up to here," owner Hanna Kassis said.
The taproom is located just steps away from Progressive Field and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, so it is on the front line for crowds during any game, concert, or event.
“Yeah, we get pretty packed,” Kassis said. “We are, you know, given our location, we're one of four bars maybe we're all the event seekers who go.”
Kassis said that, typically, when there isn’t much going on, business at the taproom is quite slow.
However, the NCAA Women’s Final Four will be turning the heart of the city into a basketball court this weekend.
Monica Gustin, the executive director of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, said this weekend will be huge in terms of the money it will bring in.
“This is national news. No matter what station you tune into,” Gustin said.
In 2018, when Destination Cleveland won the event, it was expected to bring in about $22 million.
“This event was way different in 2018 than what we see now, for the product where women's basketball is where women's sports in,” Gustin said. “It's on a whole other level. And Cleveland is going to be one of the many beneficiaries of happiness."
That $22 million has now increased to $25 million due to the growing popularity of women’s basketball.
Gustin said restaurants and bars will be packed full of fun and people throughout the weekend, including Kassis’ Whistle Taproom, which is hosting a welcome party for North Carolina State on Thursday and a watch party this weekend.
“Oh my gosh, I mean, so if we have a big weekend, that's going to cover a huge chunk of our monthly expenses that we otherwise would have to earn from normal sales,” Kassis said.
Additionally, about 30,000 people will fill Downtown Cleveland for the weekend, allowing the city to show off what it has to offer.
“It's huge for the city because a lot of people see Cleveland as an underrated city,” Kassis said. “People don't know what our city has to offer until they come.”
