More than just fan morale is affected when the Spartan football team is having a good season — local businesses are greatly affected as well.
East Lansing businesses, such as the Spartan Hall of Fame Café, 1601 W. Lake Lansing Road, can at least double their revenue during one MSU home football game despite the score after the game, but owner Steve Montanye said his restaurant notices a sizeable difference after a winning season versus a losing one.
“(Spartan football has) had more ups than downs in the last five years, but when MSU football is winning, it activates the whole community and (brings) a lot of very happy people out and about after the game,” Montanye said. “Winning brings people out not only to the stadium but to the East Lansing community, especially after a game where there’s a victory.”
Because of this increase in business, R. Dale Wilson, chair of the MSU Department of Marketing, said more help is needed for businesses to stay successful during busy winning seasons, thus helping the local economy flourish.
“(They) have additional staff, so there’s a job-creation component,” Wilson said. ”Students work more, so there’s more employment implications. There’s a lot of businesses that gear up to accommodate a good football season.”
Wilson also said a losing season and lower home attendance could lead to lows in apparel and merchandise sales, which would hit stores selling these goods especially hard.
“A negative influence or something else could have a big negative impact,” Wilson said. “People might stop coming to the games and they stop spending money on university apparel — it could be a big negative.”
With the start of a Friday night-game tradition against Youngstown State last year, Montanye said that the day the game takes place also has a large impact on his restaurant’s monetary intake.
“(Friday night’s game is) going to give us a real good Friday, but (in comparison) it’s not as good as our business as midday Saturday games,” Montanye said.
Since there has only been one Friday night game to date, Tom Branson, owner of Beggar’s Banquet, 218 Abbott Road, said he is interested to see how things pan out for his restaurant this weekend.
“We’ve only had it once, so we’re looking forward to seeing, especially on Labor Day weekend, how the Friday night games affect (our business),” Branson said.
For marketing junior Greg Gariepy, whether the Spartans are winning or losing is a moot point when it comes to buying Spartan apparel or whether he attends the games.
“(Losing) doesn’t affect my game-day routine,” Gariepy said. “I love Spartan football; I’m going to go regardless.”
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