WASHINGTON — "A tiger, a yellowjacket, and a leprechaun walk into a bar," sounds like the start of a bad joke, but this week in the District, it could be reality.
The ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is back in D.C. for the first time since 2016, and all 15 mascots from the ACC teams came with it to cheer their schools to victory. The winner of the tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The mascots have had a busy week, with the tournament kicking off Tuesday and running through Saturday. They also managed to squeeze in a blessing at the National Cathedral and -- most importantly -- a visit to WUSA9 studios to learn how to forecast the weather!
Thursday, the mascots also gave morning commuters a show by riding Metro, and greeting passengers, stirring up some questions.
"Anybody know why there's college mascots hanging out in L'Enfant Plaza during the morning commute," one Reddit poster asked.
But local restaurant owners are hoping that along with the tournament and some fun mascot sightings, comes a boost in business.
Rick Fowler, who is the general manager of Clyde's in Gallery Place, says this week will be huge for his restaurant and bar.
"It’s going to add tens of thousands of dollars to our bottom line," Fowler said.
There has also been an increase in fan attendance at the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in the past few years. According to the NCAA, almost 100,000 fans showed up to watch the tournament in Greensboro, N.C. last year, which is up about 16,000 fans from 2022 when it was in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The uptick in business isn't just from casual fans. Owners say they've been contacted by alumni groups from several ACC institutions to reserve rooms and spaces for events. And the business support is much needed, in still-challenging post-pandemic recovery times.
"We’ve had a lot of closures of restaurants, bars close by to us, and we definitely want to be able to survive and the support from local and from outside the market makes a huge difference," said Raul Canas, general manager of Taffer's Tavern on 6th Street.
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