DENVER — Colorado sports fans are some of the best and most loyal fans in the country.
Their support for the Nuggets and Avalanche ahead of playoffs is helping boost sales for local shops and businesses all across the area.
Denver7 spoke with employees at Sportsfan at 16th Street Mall in Denver who say they saw an increase in customers Sunday.
"It's a very united fan base," said sales associate, Matthew McNamara. "They just really really love their team."
Those businesses are still working to bounce back after the pandemic and now they're in the middle of a big construction project.
"If it's dusty around, people don't want to walk around in that it's loud, too. So sometimes when we're talking with customers, and they're out there with their construction stuff, you know, it gets loud. It also just impedes the whole walkway that we have going there," he added.
But he says the playoffs are already helping out a lot.
"You have Nuggets fans coming out to support the hometown team—Timberwolves fans, they're not the home team and yet we've still seen them in large force for game one tonight," he said.
Meanwhile, Denver bars and restaurants are also stocking up on everything they need.
Paul Lord, a bartender and server at Brooklyn's, a restaurant and bar located right next to Ball Arena says they have more staff on hand this week ahead of the Nuggets and Avalanche playoffs.
"It'll be good. It'll be a good crowd," said Lord. "On a day like this, you've got anywhere from 5 to 6 bartenders down here, 3 to 4 bartenders upstairs, and anywhere from 20 to 25 service staff servers."
They're just as pumped, hoping to see both teams win their games this week.
"If they're winning, the morale is always good. People are always happy," said Lord.
He said you can call the restaurant ahead of time to try to make a reservation but added that they save around 80% of the store for walk-ins, and encourages folks to come earlier to beat the rush.
