Local restaurants, bars, and shops are preparing for one of their busiest weekends of the year, as game-day crowds create a surge in business throughout CollegeTown.
On average, out-of-town attendees to football games spent $87.38 per day and $349.50 per trip (Downs and St. Germain Research) In the Fall 2023 season, FSU football attracted 118,857 out-of-town visitors to Leon County. (Derril Beech, Senior Vice President of Marketing) Watch the video to see how Local Businesses look to these big-time matchups to help out their business.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It’s expected to be big weekend, football–fun– and an economic boost.
Im Justin White, your CollegeTown neighborhood reporter.
Florida State and Alabamas matchup is bringing thousands of fans into town, and for local businesses, it means packed patios, long lines, and a major boost to the bottom line.
CollegeTown is at the center of it all. Restaurants, bars, and shops are staffing up and stocking up.
Someone who has seen a few big game days in his tenure, Zachary Perkins, the manager at Table 23.
He told me big weekends like this are especially important for local businesses that rely on game-day crowds.
“I mean this is a huge deal for a small business to get all this additional money coming in as the practice report comes in and everyone starts to get excited for the big game immediately,” sais Perkins. “We are completely booked we’ve been booked for two weeks now. We’re still accepting walk in table but probably not a great chance of getting in here on a busy game day weekend.”
And it’s not just restaurants, it’s campus shops like Garnet and Gold who feel the impact of a big game as well.
I met up with manager Krislyn Kelley, who said how important FSU football is to their business.
Kelley said, “Everything happens during football season, and it all revolves around Florida State football, so we benefit greatly, and big games like this this weekend give a huge boost for us and all local businesses around here, so we always support Florida State football.
And with kickoff set for 3:30 Saturday afternoon, businesses here in CollegeTown say the game is just as big for them as it is for the fans.
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