Editor’s Note: Enjoy this look back at Virginia Tech football and Coach Frank Beamer in this feature from our Sept/Oct 2003 issue.
Think back a moment to the most prominent moment in Virginia Tech Football history to date: Tuesday, January 4, 2000, playing for the National Championship against Florida State in New Orleans, in front of 79,280 fans, the largest ever to watch a Sugar Bowl in The Superdome.
Yes, the Hokies lost the banle, but they took one more giant step into the heady realm of major college football and the world of gridiron gold it embraces:
The payout per team was a reported $12.1 million, with Tech’s profit a tidy $2.2 million, which made the school the biggest financial winner of that year’s bowl season, according to USA Today.
Hokie fans’ reputation for “traveling well” took on further credence as more than half the record crowd rooted for Tech and as Tech merchandise outsold FSU’s by a 10-1 margin at Sports World of the South next to the Superdome.
Season ticket sales in Blacksburg shot up 25 percent for the following season, to a then-record 29,160.
In short, on that day and since, the business of Virginia Tech football has been a new reality for the New River and Roanoke valleys. The evidence is both anecdotal and somewhat quantifiable. For instance, a 1999 Tech survey of football attendees at the Miami and Syracuse games concluded that those coming to Montgomery County accounted for $1.7 million in direct spending per game. So for the ’99 season, Tech’s six home games poured more than $10 million into Montgomery County.
And that was before the 12,615-seat addition to the stadium.
“While I do not have the exact figures,” says Shane Adams, president of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, “the impact of one home game on our local economy is approximately $3 million. This does not include the multipliers. The obvious benefactors of games are hotels, restaurants and bars, and retailers who specialize in Virginia Tech merchandise, but I believe all businesses benefit either directly or indirectly from the games.”
The first businesses to benefit from Hokie home games are the hotels. Sheraton’s Four Points Hotel, located within a stone’s throw from Tech, is booked for the season by June.
“Within a week of the release of the game schedule, we are sold out,” says Melanie Clement, interim general manager at the hotel.
This turns a tidy profit for Four Points, since patrons are paying the special-event rate of $179, and are required to book a minimum of two nights. One weekend brings in $53,000 in room charges alone.
Tech Bookstore, a privately held company on Main Street in Blacksburg, is mobbed with crowds during home game weekends.
“There is standing room only,” maintains manager Jerry Diffell. “You can’t even get into the place. I wish the store was five times as big on those days.”
Though Diffell declines to give specific earnings during home-game weekends, he acknowledges the sales are “phenomenal.”
And football fans do eat. Many head to Bogen’s Steakhouse, also located on Main Street. “We get a 75 percent bump in sales during football weekends,” says owner Bill Ellenbogen, who played football at Tech in the early ’70s. “These games have a huge impact on our surroundings,” he continues. “It’s not just Blacksburg, either — it’s a 50-mile radius.”
Indeed, the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center, which is partially owned by Virginia Tech, finds its rooms filling up on Hokie game weekends. Although, says Gary Crizer, director of sales and marketing, it’s a pretty big hotel.
“It’s difficult for us to sell out,” he states. “It depends on the team playing. We have sold out before big games, like when Tech plays Louisiana State.”
Once again, rates rise with the demand. Crizer says the average cost of a room hovers between $104-$124, but that high demand could push it to $169 a night. The hotel also frequently requires two- and three-night minimum stays. People have more time — reservations can be made a couple of months ahead, with little fear of not finding a room.
“The great thing,” asserts Crizer, “is those that stay with us keep coming back.” It’s difficult to determine precisely how much money comes into the Roanoke Valley as a direct result of Tech football.
“We’re not able to track it,” says Dave Kjolhede of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Because the fall foliage is bringing in a lot of people, too. But Tech football makes a huge impact.”
Of course, money isn’t just being pumped into the region — a good dollop goes directly back to Tech. “With 65,000 people at a game, at an average of $36 a ticket — there’s $2,340,000 going into the athletic department per game,” computes Dave Chambers, senior associate athletic director.
This growth finds its way into the community, and it allows Tech to get better,” Chambers acids. “It’s a two-way street.
Chambers notes that Tech’s 1998 football budget was between $13 million and $14 million. This year it’s $26 million. Comparatively, 16,675 season tickets were sold during the 1998 season. For 2003, the figure is 36,492 and still climbing.
“This phenomenal growth quantifies the support and interest in Tech football,” Chambers concludes.
“With the national attention Tech has received in recent years, our job of promoting the area is very easy,” concurs Adams. “It would be hard to say what businesses locate here solely because Virginia Tech is here, but I feel all of them are positively affected by Tech’s presence.”
Robert Parker is the Montgomery County public information director.
“Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech football are strong selling points for those who are considering relocating their families and/or businesses to Montgomery County,” he maintains. “The university’s reputation and commitment to research are heralded worldwide, and the entertainment value of a perennial post-season bowl team — and a national football title contender — is immeasurable for Hokie alumni and for all fans of collegiate sports.”
Looking at the big picture, Parker adds: “Virginia Tech accounts for more than one-fou1th of the jobs in the region, ,more than one-third of the total salaries and wages paid in the region, and pumps $1.3 billion annually into the local economy. The presence and the success of the university contribute, on average, more than $13,000 annually to the personal income of every household in Montgomery County.”
It’s hard to imagine Southwestern Virginia life without Tech football.
“It really puts this area on the map,” says Arie Bopp, interim director of the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance. “One of the most recognizable features of the New River Valley is Virginia Tech football. In fact, if you asked people out of state if they knew much about the New River Valley, they’d probably say no. But if you asked them about Tech football, they would more than likely know something about it.”
The ACC: Any Impact On Revenues?
Tech football may have been bringing in the tens of millions before, but what about now — after a summer of noisy negotiations, and tons-o-press to boot — that they have accepted membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference, effective July 1, 2004.
You aren’t going to hear any complaints from area businesses.
“It’s fantastic,” says Jerry Diffell of Tech Bookstore in Blacksburg. “We’re already getting calls about ACC merchandise and we’ve sold out of the Big East stuff.”
Diffell is used to the crowds and big sales during football season – but he’s looking forward to new interest in other Tech sports.
“We can’t handle any more business in football,” he laughs. “Basketball will jump now. With Duke, North Carolina and Maryland playing at Tech, we won’t just see a few thousand people at the games, we’ll see ten thousand.”
Tech spokesman Larry Hincker agrees. “I’m not sure the ACC affiliation will have much of an incremental increase in the economic impact of Tech football,” he says, “because of the impact football already has. Other non-revenue sports — baseball, lacrosse, track and soccer — they will become more competitive and will get more attention.”
New River Valley Economic Development Alliance has this to say on additional revenues: “Initial estimates indicate that membership in the ACC will allow Virginia Tech to continue its athletic and construction improvement programs including the Lane Stadium West Side Project and Soccer Stadium. These projects are estimated to contribute around $59 million to the local economy.” -AH