The regular season is over for Crimson Tide football. And Tuscaloosa area businesses are looking at what these fans spent at local restaurants, shops, and hotels. The University of Alabama is still adjusting to the retirement of coach Nick Saban. APR news looked at how the dollars and cents are shaping for the football economy in the era of coach Kalen DeBoer…
Fans mill around the jerseys and Crimson Tide souvenirs at Bama Stuff Apparel. This shop is barely a block away from Bryant-Denny Stadium where Alabama plays its seven home games every year.
“Game day weekends we have is probably half of our annual revenue.” That’s David Jones. He’s run Bama Stuff for fifty-five years. That sounds like a long time, until you consider that his store has been around for eighty-six years. That includes the days of championship winning coaches Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings, and of course Nick Saban.
“Man, there's a big difference from 18 years ago to when Coach Saban got here, when he got here, that when he signed that day, we had a store full of people who were excited about him coming and, and, of course, the first a day game he was here, there were over 100,000 people.”
But all of that changed in January of last year when Saban retired.
“But we knew that they would hire somebody you know qualified, and they have, it was, it was kind of scary, because, I mean, he Coach Saban, was the best, and he meant a lot to our business,“ said Jones.
In fact, an article in Alabama News Center in 2017 gives one sign of how popular the Crimson Tide under Nick Saban was at that time. The story is about comedian Conan O’Brian’s visit to an Alabama souvenir shop in Jerusalem. No joke. It’s there. That may give the impression that the Tide’s current head coach Kalen DeBoer has some big shoes to fill. But David Jones says not so fast.
“I mean, he Coach Saban, was the best, and he meant a lot to our business, right? Last year we had two of our best revenue games ever, and this past weekend, with Vanderbilt, was number three.”
“So, you spread that across seven home football games. I mean, you're over $200 million.” That’s Robins Bonner. He’s the senior sports sales and event development manager for VisitTuscaloosa. “That's people coming in, of course, staying in hotels, that's people going out to eat, that's people going to the shirt shop, going to the locker room, going to Effie’s going to buy clothes or buy whatever they need for the game.”
Drawing fans during Nick Saban’s time in Tuscaloosa looked like a snap. But, when he retired and Kalen DeBoer came along, Bonner admits people were worried about what might happen.
“From the football side, but also from the city side, we turn into a program that's, you know, not winning as many games or potentially not competing for national championships. What impact will that have on people coming into town?”
But what does the economic future of the Tide really hold not Kalen DeBoer is here. We spoke with Dr. Christopher Keshock. He teaches at UAB and one of his specialties is the value of sporting events. He said the gameday economics is more complex than most people might think.
“Let's face it, a fan coming in for Alabama football game is going to have open pockets, wallets and purses, and especially if they're winning, in comparison to, say, somebody that's coming to the state of Alabama for bird watching, which is a leisure activity… you've got to dig deeper and who and where are you getting those figure figures from. So, are you counting in, say, a retail shop, the people that are already there spending on game day Saturday, or is it people from outside the impact region?”
Then, there’s something known as the “Flutie Effect”. That’s when Doug Flutie threw a Hail Mary pass in a game against Miami. Boston College won and student applications jumped for the following two years. Keshock says there might be a “Flutie effect” in Tuscaloosa following the Saban years.
“You know, there's a theory called basking in reflective glory when the team wins and the coach is good, you know, everybody's happy, but then when that goes away, now, all of a sudden, people aren't willing as much to go to the games, to travel from out of town.” Dr. Keshock also said, “Sports tourism is probably third or fourth largest, you know, in tourism, and sport is probably the third or fourth largest area of revenue generation that we have here in the United States, and so it's a big money maker.”
“We want them to experience a home football game, because that is the best way to experience Tuscaloosa. But we want them to come back.” That’s Robins Bonner at VisitTuscaloosa.
We met him earlier in our story and he’s thinking bigger than just football season. That only lasts about fourteen weeks.Bonner shared the story of a friend of his from Scotland. He came to Tuscaloosa for Crimson Tide football, but saw more.
“The city was fun. And the more people that we can have that, the more people will continue to come back to Tuscaloosa, experience things like Kentuck, the art festival that is taking place this weekend. Come out to North River. Come see Lake Tuscaloosa and go to the captain's club, rent a boat, go out for the day.”
We wanted to wrap up this story on college football and economics with what may be the elephant in the room. It’s the system of Name, Image, or Likeness known as NIL. College players earn a lot of money even before they graduate and go pro. Christopher Keshock says NIL may depend on the success of the Tide as well...
“And if, for example, there's a downturn and the team is not winning as much, obviously, those donations go down, and then the revenues, or the people that are donating to NIL, that bucket of money is not going to be as large. So, the effect would be that we may not be able to entice the players to come here to Alabama.”
Back at BAMASTUFF, owner David Jones thinking about name, image, and likeness as well. He says he’s had experience with NIL, and he’ll take a pass on it in the future.
“It just is too expensive, and I don't know of anybody except maybe Tyler Simpson or Ryan Williams. That would make that much difference. We've had people come to us and want us to do a NIL with a lineman. And you know that just it's such an expense to get the merchandise, and it costs us $100,000 to get merchandise,” Jones observed.
I got the chance to speak with Bamastuff employee Mary Baily, who had this to say.
“It's slower when we lose, but we haven't been losing. So, people are coming in droves.”
In conclusion, there seems to be a pattern with Alabama football and gameday businesses, but it is a short-term effect. If the team wins, fans will come from far and wide to Tuscaloosa to see the Tide.
