LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A lot of blue and white in the streets of downtown Lexington means a lot of green for business in the city.
From hosting high school and college tournaments to Wildcats fans filling up bars and restaurants, March Madness is bringing an economic boost to the city.
VisitLEX, the city's convention and visitors' bureau, is projecting a $12 million total economic benefit to the city, higher than its original projection of $10 million.
"That's conservatively speaking, we hope to see once the actual numbers come out that we exceed that," said VisitLEX Director of Communications Martina Barksdale.
$1.5 million of that projection is estimated to come from the Women's NCAA games hosted in Lexington, as well as the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen tournament at Rupp Arena.
Small businesses like Local Taco are reminiscing about the impact of the 2012 win on downtown streets.
"You know, we, when we first opened here was our last championship title so it's a pretty big deal for us here," said owner and operator Kevin Lewis.
Lewis said the energy around campus is reminding him more and more of the 2012 victory, ahead of the Cats playing in Indianapolis.
"Bring it on. I mean, it makes the campus so much more lively when our sports are doing good, whether it's basketball, football, baseball, whatever, there's a different vibe on campus," he said.
