“The cavalry is not coming up the hill,” said Fritz Smith, CEO of Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, which promotes tourism near Penn State’s campus. “[Local businesses] have to go out and try to figure out how to survive without getting into a large customer base. Honestly, some of them may not make it. “
Coronavirus-related shutdowns near campus caused local hotels 96% of their revenue in April, 92% in May, and 80% in June, according to the tourism bureau.
Judy Karaky, general manager at The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center, says state restrictions limiting indoor meetings to 25 people less and a 25% occupancy rate at restaurants have raped local businesses.
“No fall football season, unfortunately, will have a negative economic impact on our province and region,” she said in an email on Thursday. “After growing up in State College, I personally see the downtown businesses taking a major hit and I hope our local community does its part to support all of these businesses.”
About 60% -65% of visits to the area have some connection to Penn State. The football team is “a big chunk of it,” according to Smith, who estimates that Penn State football generates only about 8% -9% of all visitor spending in the local community.
“We are essentially a factory town with white collar and our factory is closed,” Smith added.
The situation is not nearly as bleak in suburban areas like Columbus, Ohio, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, who became number one nation in the fall after falling in the playoffs in December. played college football.
But Don DePerro, president and CEO of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, says the cancellation of Ohio State football games this fall will cost the city “hundreds of millions” of dollars. lost income.
“This is like a double whammy for these restaurants and catering … meeting parties at the tailgate,” DePerro said.
Kari Pollarine, a day manager at the Varsity Club, a typically bustling Ohio State campus bar, says that business has been dramatically slower all summer because of Covid-19. Canceling Buckeye football in the fall, she says, is an extra “big bump in the road.”
“I hope maybe with NFL football getting some people in, but it’s going to be pretty quiet for the rest of the year,” Pallarine told CNN Business. “[The bar’s owners] pull out of their savings to keep it afloat. We’ll make it just because we’ve been in business for so long. “
In Madison, Wisconsin, Badgers football games generate $ 114 million each year for the state and employ more than 1,000 people, according to the university’s athletics department.
Rob Gard, director of PR and communications for Destination Madison, the city’s tourism and marketing organization, says the loss of Badger football for the fall was expected, and so has the business community. since the pandemic began.
“This will certainly not help us start a rebound,” Gard told CNN Business.
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