Milwaukee bars and restaurants prep for surge in crowds, promote safety for Packers-Falcons game

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Local bars are getting ready to handle the crowds as the Green Bay Packers take on the Atlanta Falcons Monday night, Oct. 5. 

In Milwaukee's downtown Deer District, the MECCA Sports Bar and Grill will be open and they are expecting a lot of people.

"We’re expecting a pretty big crowd," said Gracie Pugliese, the Director of Arena Marketing for MECCA.

"Now that football has started and we have Packers going, we pretty much have been at capacity both in the beer garden and in the MECCA," said Pugliese.

With Wisconsin surging in COVID-19 cases, they're making sure precautions are in place, and that includes tables six feet apart and mandatory masks.   "We’re big into lots of hand washing, masks are mandatory everywhere in the Deer District of course, and there is tons of extra cleaning going on multiple times a day," said Pugliese.

The MECCA made sure they had a plan in place because the return of sports meant the return of crowds. 

"Once basketball started, it really picked up. And people love sports -- and they love their Milwaukee teams -- so we’ve seen big, safe crowds," said Gracie Pugliese, director for arena marketing for Fiserv Forum. 

Fans like Adia Humrich-Sexton went down to Old World Third Street to take in the game, but wanted to watch from outside.

"Outside because here it’s very distant, and we have a close group of people so not really that worried about it," said Humrich-Sexton.

But many bars we saw Monday night had people sitting closer than 6 feet apart, and masks weren't always being worn.

"There’s a lot of bars that are packed, like on the weekend so try to avoid it," said Humrich-Sexton.

It could be a sign of a growing COVID fatigue, people want things back to normal.  A Packers Monday Night Football game gives them that chance.

"I’m really tired of it but I know that it’s important to keep social distancing and wear a mask so there’s really nothing I can do about it but be safe," said Humrich-Sexton.