Playoffs back at home help businesses rebound

TAMPA, Fla. - Local bars and restaurants missed out on a lot of business during last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs because games were played in a "bubble" in Canada.

"Last year was a little different, watching them with the bubble and everything. We had a few people come in and watch the playoffs, it helped us a little bit, but now that it's live again, they're letting in more people, it's just fantastic, I am just overwhelmed," said George Equizi, the general manager of Yeoman’s Cask and Lion.  

The Tampa Bay Lightning are back in the playoffs and back playing games at Amalie Arena, with 9,000 fans in the stands.

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"Every day gets better and better, people are coming downtown now, parking lots are getting fuller, I hear the buildings behind me and to the side of me, they're starting to come out in July and August I hear, hopefully, it just gets better and better every day for us," Equizi said.

Equizi says the restaurant was as busy Thursday night as a normal game night before the pandemic started.