By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Two major collegiate sporting events will be held in St. Louis over the next few weeks. Downtown businesses and attractions are getting ready for thousands of fans.
This weekend, fans following the University of Florida, Butler University, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the University of Oregon will converge on downtown St. Louis for the NCAA's men's basketball regional tournament. Then on April 5th, college's Frozen Four, the championship in men's ice hockey will be held here.
Shuntae Shields-Ryan with the Downtown St. Louis Partnership says preparations have been made for the crowds, "Downtown St. Louis is ready. We have lots of new retail and restaurants on board and lots of hotels for those people to stay in so hopefully they'll come and make a week or weekend out of it."
With all of the games nationally televised, Shields-Ryan says the two events are great opportunities for St. Louis to gain important exposure.