OU hosting Women's March Madness games means big excitement and big bucks flowing through Norman

NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) – Norman is booming with excitement as Oklahoma University is hosting Women’s March Madness basketball tournament games for the first time in a decade. 

“Oh, it's amazing,” said Chris Elam, a fan who traveled from New Mexico for the games. “It's an awesome venue.” 

The Sooners earned a four seed in the Big Dance, which means they’ll host the first and second round of the tournament at Lloyd Noble Center. 

Not only are sports fans thrilled, but so are Norman businesses. 

“I'll tell you it's the talk of all of the corner,” said Jeff Stuart, the manager at O’Connor’s Irish Pub and Grille. “We’ve all kind of gone business to business saying, ‘what do you think, it’s going to be great,’ and it has been absolutely wonderful.” 

He said he, along with neighboring business owners he’s talked to, have noticed an increase in sales this week. 

Norman’s Mayor, Breaa Clark told KFOR that since Oklahoma’s a state that relies on sales tax revenue to support general funds, hosting a tournament like March Madness is “huge for our local economy.”  

“Any opportunity like this, as we come out of COVID, continuing to stimulate the local economy is very, very important,” said Clark. 

Estimates for the amount of revenue and fans this weekend will bring into Norman were not available Saturday.