NCAA tournament in Milwaukee: Parking tips and tricks
The NCAA college basketball tournament is back in Milwaukee for the first time in five years.
That means big business for vendors around Fiserv Forum.
Fiserv Forum will play host to first- and second-round games on Friday, March 18, and Sunday, March 20.
The influx of hoops fans may lead to some parking madness downtown.
More than 18,000 fans will descend on Fiserv Forum.
“Parking is, of course, is what the main thing is — whenever you go to an event,” VISIT Milwaukee communications specialist Lindsey McKee said.
There are two parking garages at Fiserv Forum.
They’ll be open for Thursday’s practice and game days.
“Five dollars for open practice — for Friday and Sunday, we’re going to have our normal event parking rate,” said Michael Belot, Bucks senior vice president of business ventures.
Aside from those two parking options, the Bucks said nearly 5,000 additional spots are available within a half-mile radius of the arena.
The special event parking, though, is going to cost drivers.
The last time Milwaukee hosted the NCAA basketball tournament in 2017, some lots reached upwards of $75.
Drivers feeling lucky could find a spot at a meter on the street.
“Of course there’s always the option of taking a look at some of the restaurants in town, seeing if you could kind of get in there and have parking with those entities, and walking over,” McKee said. “All strategic. It’s all strategic.”
VISIT Milwaukee also recommended taking The Hop into downtown and then walking to the arena.
That option is free.
Games:
Session 1: Friday, March 18
No. 14 Yale vs. No. 3 Purdue at 1 p.m.
No. 11 Virginia Tech vs. No. 6 Texas at 3:30 p.m.
Session 2: Friday, March 18
No. 11 Iowa St. vs. No. 6 LSU at 6:20 p.m.
No. 14 Colgate vs. No. 3 Wisconsin at 8:50 p.m.
Session 3: Sunday, March 20
TBD
The Wisconsin Badgers will hit the practice floor at Fiserv at 4:10 p.m. Thursday.
All team practices are free and open to the public.
Iowa State, whose head coach T.J. Otzelberger is a graduate of St. Thomas More High School, will practice at 4:55 p.m.
Wisconsin’s opponent, the Colgate Raiders, follow at 5:40 p.m.
Hotels are already sold out and restaurant reservations are quickly being filled.
