March Madness gets fans, alumni packing the room at Chicago's sports bars

Sports pubs were slammed over the weekend with hoops fans swept up in March Madness — a welcomed business bump amid challenging times for the hospitality industry.

Venues with affiliations and partnerships with Big Ten schools fared even better, leveraging a deep roster of local alumni and other Midwest transplants. It also helped that the 18-team megaconference, headquartered in Rosemont, had four schools advance to the Elite Eight and two to the Final Four.

University of Illinois fans on Saturday morning were holding tables at Finley Dunne's Tavern right after the doors opened at 11 a.m. The Lake View bar, established by University of Illinois alumni, was packed shoulder-to-shoulder three hours before tipoff.

Finley Dunne's Tavern General Manager Peter Gertos estimates game days generate four to five times the revenue compared to a typical day.

“A lot of Big Ten grads live in the city now. It's insane how much that affects our sales,” Gertos said.

He said a partnership with the popular Illini-focused podcast, The Boardroom, has also boosted the bar's visibility and foot traffic. The podcast has a reserved table on game days and promotes the bar and related events to its audience and on social media.

Alumni ties and a partnership with the Purdue Club of Chicago, one of the oldest and largest alumni clubs at Purdue University, helped draw more than 100 customers to Park and Field in Logan Square on Saturday night. Most were aged between their 30s and 50s, reflecting a changing demographic as younger adults eschew alcohol.

“This was a nice bump with Purdue going to the Elite Eight,” Park and Field owner Dan Nalezny said.

A year ago, bad weather chilled business for most of April.

“We just try to get to May every year,” Nalezny said.

The Iowa Hawkeyes' magical run, culminating in their first trip to the Elite Eight since 1987, generated strong sales and buzz at Theory, a popular Iowa hangout in River North.

“Most of the local fan base hasn't been used to supporting the Hawkeyes this long into the tournament so it's a beautiful thing,” owner Joel Sorinsky, an Iowa alumni, said.

The upscale sports lounge also caters to Formula One fans, a rare target market in the city’s bar scene.

“We're just as busy for the Grand Prix tonight as we are for basketball,” Sorinsky told the Sun-Times Saturday. “You have to be a lot more strategic these days.”

Game day buzz

The Last Call Tavern Group has partnerships with colleges and alumni groups at each of its nine sports bars in the city. Duffy’s Tavern & Grille in Lincoln Park, for example, is a Michigan hangout while The Reveler in Roscoe Village caters to Arizona fans.

“I think we had nine teams that made the tournament this year, which is just phenomenal,” Last Call Tavern Group Chief Operating Officer Steve Kovaka said.

Reservations at Duffy’s were booked up well before Michigan’s dominating victory over Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.

On game days, the ownership group's bars are decorated in school colors and offer food specials, T-shirt giveaways, raffles and other prizes.

The company is adapting to the times too, as alcohol consumption hits record lows. They offer more nonalcoholic beers and mocktails, especially during Dry January, as well as hemp-derived THC drinks, a growing category for breweries, restaurants and liquor stores that’s drawn the ire of some local politicians and a potential federal ban.

“We're trying to stay as fluid as we can to understand and read the market,” Kovaka said. “It definitely has changed post-COVID, as far as drinking habits and patterns. We lost a whole generation that never had the exposure of turning 21 and going out to a sports bar or going out for a drink because we were closed.”

Big Onion Hospitality, which operates five sports bars in Chicago, reported a 7% year-over-year revenue increase from the tournament’s first two rounds, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, Marketing Vice President Tim Toomey said.

The company’s Fatpour Tap Works in Wicker Park draws Michigan Wolverines fans, Hopsmith Tavern in Gold Coast is a Michigan State hub and Woodie's Flat in Old Town primarily caters to Ohio State patrons.

“Each of those affiliations have been the biggest drivers, and I think most team-affiliated bars would say the same,” Toomey said. “The better the Big Ten does, the better we do.”

The locations offer a variety of entertainment and giveaways on game days, including slap koozies for early arrivals, carbon dioxide-powered cannons used for big plays and bands playing school fight songs.

Fatpour's introduction of the Munch Madness Platter, which includes mini hoop dipper cups, has also boosted sales.

Business appears to be improving this year at several Chicago sports bars, which were buoyed by the Bears playoff run in January, when sales typically freeze over.

The March rush, aided by St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, prompted Finley Dunne's to add a cook since the pub attracted new Illini customers amid their tournament run.

“This year has probably been our best year since I started five or six years ago,” Gertos said.