SPOKANE, Wash. - The return of the world's largest three-on-three basketball tournament to the streets of Spokane–and an increase in team registrations for this year's Hoopfest–hopefully signals a slam dunk for downtown businesses this weekend.
"Hoopfest I would say is probably our most high-volume weekend of the year," said Ev Warnock, manager at The New 63 Social House & Eatery in Downtown Spokane.
Warnock says they're making some special arrangements to prepare for the rush that Hoopfest brings:Â "Water stations for people who just need to come in and grab a quick drink, and large batch cocktails is usually something that we'll do."
That rush will likely contribute to the $47 million of economic impact to Spokane–that number coming from Hoopfest Executive Director Riley Stockton.
"Not only do we want to be a good tournament, but we want to bring more than that as well," Stockton said.
As a major economic driver for the region, Stockton said he feels a responsibility to encourage people to visit downtown businesses.
"We're a Spokane organization," Stockton said. "There's a reason why Hoopfest isn't in other places, it's because of the people of Spokane. We want to contribute to the people of Spokane as much as we possibly can."
Stockton says they have about 800 more teams signed up this year, and over half of them come from out of town.
"That means they're coming downtown, sleeping downtown, spending money in restaurants," Stockton said.
They'll also likely be spending money at the Hoopfest store, which is now in a brick-and-mortar shop on Main Ave. instead of a tent outside.
"We've got some great, great merchandise, so we're excited," Stockton said. "It's going to give the Hoopfest store a little bit of a different feel."
Local businesses are feeling that excitement too.
"I can't wait, it's going to be a good time," Warnock said. "It's going to be all hands on deck [to] feed the people, give them drinks and send them back to the hoops!"
