March Madness descends on Central Florida this week

March Madness returns to the Central Florida area on March 16 and 18 for the first time in six years.

Fans will be able to watch the first and second rounds of the Division I NCAA Tournament at the Amway Center. Six games will be played in total in Orlando.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he expects tens of thousands of fans to descend on the area and support local businesses.

“Last time we had March Madness was 2017, and we had about 14,000 hotel rooms and about $14 million worth of economic activity," said Dyer. "I would anticipate that we would have a bigger impact than that.”

Dyer said he expects the majority of these fans to be traveling from surrounding Southern states and that local businesses including hotels and restaurants stand to benefit.

“I think especially the downtown area, and probably the I-Drive area will certainly benefit from having all the fans from Charleston," said Dyer. "Not sure we're gonna get a whole lot from San Diego [fans], but certainly we have four or five that are regional teams.”

Furman University, University of Virginia, College of Charleston, San Diego State, Oral Roberts University, Duke University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Tennessee State University will all play games in the City Beautiful.