NCAA Tournament Has Fort Worth Bustling
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - March Madness is here with eight teams battling it out at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth over the next four days.
It's the first time the city has hosted these games.
"Our excitement level is off the charts right now," said Tarheel fan Brian Haynes.
Many fans enjoyed themselves at the fan fest before tip-off, taking in this experience and sizing up the arena.
"It's very impressive, we noticed how big it was," said James Reese, a Norfolk State fan.
The idea for the $540 million Dickies Arena went to voters and they approved it in 2014 and it was built and completed in the fall of 2019.
It has hosted several events, but on Thursday, March 16, it was thrusted into the national spotlight.
"We're excited to take that spotlight now and run with it so we had a lot of people come in, showcasing the building to a national audience on TV and the NCAA and show them we can do more events like this in the future," said Matt Homan, General Manager of Dickies Arena.
Homan along with Fort Worth city officials hope to lure in more big-ticket items attracting people from all around the country.
"We today are seeing the economic benefits of that facility, of Dickies Arena allowing us to compete with concerts, sporting events, just fun and economic tourism in Fort Worth," said Cary Moon, Fort Worth City Councilmember.
It's a venue most fans CBS 11 spoke with think is attractive.
"So far from what I've seen, yes I do believe a venue like this will bring more events like this," added Haynes.
Most fans like what's around.
"You have all the museums around here, the cultural district, there's tons of restaurants and parks," said Marquette fan Mike Burns.
Others have enjoyed being in Fort Worth but would like a little more things to do within walking distance.
"I would totally love to see a little more action out here before the games and that kind of thing," said Baylor fan Adam Henderson.
"Fort Worth is really nice," Kansas fan Tom Foster. "We're going to try some dinner here in a minute and check out how good they're doing with the food."
"There's tons of restaurants and parks and the campus, there's a lot of fun things to do," Marquette fan Mike Burns said.
"It's a huge boost for Fort Worth," former long-time Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said. "All over the city people are coming!"
This is what she envisioned at the ribbon cutting for Dickies Arena back in 2019.
"This was privately driven to start out with and then the state and the county and the city all got involved," she said. "It was a tremendous public, private partnership. You can't have a better example of a public, private partnership."
"We're excited to take that spotlight now and run with it," GM of Dickies Arena Matt Homan said.
Nearby, new businesses are opening up.
"Hotel Dryce over here is a small boutique hotel and there's 2 to 3 more that have opened, one under construction," Price said. "A lot of that is because of the density and business over here."
"The events and programs happening at Dickies Arena shows Fort Worth that we need to compete for other events, whether that be expanding our convention center, looking at other stadiums.. it just shows that we can compete at a national level for these events," Fort Worth City Councilman Cary Moon said.
"That would probably be good for Fort Worth for sure," Foster said.
CBS 11's Erin Jones contributed to this report.