JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the football teams for Notre Dame and South Carolina battled it out on the field, fans brought with them a big economic impact to Jacksonville.
According to Visit Jacksonville, the city will get a boost thanks to the game. Between games, food, and drinks -- thousands of Fighting Irish and Gamecocks fans had a great time tailgating and supporting their team outside and inside TIAA Bank Field.
Walter Golden hasn’t missed a Gamecocks’ home or away game in six years. “To me, they’ve earned the right for me to be here to cheer them on,” Golden said. “It’s just a good ole time and a fun ole time so you just come out here and have fun.”
Diehard fans like Golden aren’t just boosting morale for their players by being here, they’re boosting sales at local businesses.
Will Frazier is a taproom manager at Bold City Brewery. Frazier said he expects to see sales increase by up to 50% this weekend.
Travis Newsom, head brewer at Ruby Beach, told News4JAX, “Today’s been fantastic. We opened up early, we actually partnered with the Notre Dame alumni club for Jacksonville,” Beach said. “This kind of thing is a boom for us.”
And the manager at Bellwether said this game gives her businesses a much-needed boost after sales were lower for the holidays last week. Sales Friday are more than 50% higher than this time last week.
The marketing officer at Visit Jacksonville told News4JAX she is expecting the city to get millions of dollars from the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl -- predicting it could be as good as the economic impact the city saw from the game in 2010.
That’s when Florida State beat West Virginia, 33-21. 84,000 people watched FSU coach Bobby Bowden get carried off the field.