More business? No.

Owners of Lawrence bars say they were packed from open to close Monday because of Kansas University’s NCAA championship game, but that doesn’t mean they were making extra money.

They said KU fans were reserving tables all day but not ordering as much as if new people came in to sit at those tables every hour.

“There’s not much we can do,” said Sean Gerrity, owner of Henry T’s Bar & Grill. “We know they’re going to drink and eat. But you can only drink and eat so much.”

The bar situation was one of the few downsides for local businesses, many of which were reaping the benefits of T-shirt and other merchandise sales.

Henry T’s, 3520 W. Sixth St., had about twice the normal wait and kitchen staff on duty as usual. But Gerrity said he didn’t mind the extra work — especially because the televisions around the bar allowed them to see the game while working.

“It’s a special deal,” he said. “You can’t be the Grinch. You’ve got to be reasonable.”

The tables at Jefferson’s Restaurant, 743 Mass., were full by 11:05 a.m. — five minutes after it opened. Owner Jeff Webb said some patrons played bingo to pass the time.

Webb said people started waiting for tables at 7 a.m. — 13 hours and 22 minutes before tipoff.

“When they came in, I said, ‘We realize you’re here for the game, but we’re a business, and our (waitresses) are trying to make money, so tip well and buy some things,'” Webb said.

Still, he thought business was down compared to a regular Monday. In the restaurant business, having customers leave and replaced by other customers is called “turning over the tables.”

“We’re not turning over tables,” he said. “That’s fine. This might only happen once in a lifetime.”

Webb, like other downtown business owners, said waiting for the postgame melee on Monday was torture.

“We’re anxious,” he said. “You hear stories when teams win and people tear up the town. I’m hoping Kansas fans have more class than that.”

Bars weren’t the only companies that had business affected Monday. Mark Garrett, plant manager at Lawrence’s Hallmark Cards production plant, said he gave employees the option of taking vacation or unpaid leave to watch the game.

He said Hallmark usually limits the number of employees who can be off at one time but made an exception Monday night.

¢ See photo galleries from Lawrence and New Orleans, video highlights and full stats, post-game audio, animated plays at KUsports.com

Garrett said he didn’t have an accurate count of how many second-shift employees took him up on the offer, but he said the offer seemed to be popular.

“Naturally a lot of our employees want to watch the game, as opposed to hearing about it or listening to it on the radio,” he said. “This is probably the first time we’ve done this for basketball.”