It is no secret that in a city where there are college universities the economy thrives and reaps the benefits of the sports team’s success, but where there is success there are hardships. 2017 was a bizarre year for Tallahassee and the economy faced some challenges that were not expected. In the year of 2017, the uncertain happened. Under Jimbo Fisher’s leadership the football team was unable to succeed, the outcome of this was afternoon football games. There was no doubt that Florida State football had seen better days. However, I don’t think the Tallahassee community was ready for the one of the biggest economical anchors to abruptly impact businesses the way it did. During 2017, businesses started to slow down. Less and less Tallahassee students, alumni, and fans were interested in attending the football games because of the heat and the inconvenient time frames. This led to less people making commutes to Tallahassee. Therefore, businesses were struggling to make enough profit.
Although government also drives Tallahassee’s financial growth, college sports have a substantial effect on revenue. After the fall football season in 2017, there were a lot of adjustments that occurred to improve the football team. Florida State hired Willie Taggart to be their new head football coach and boy did this ensure a quick turnaround. Just in the short period that Taggart was employed for FSU, he proved to be an effective and persistent recruiter. This was great news to the Tallahassee community and it played a crucial role in boosting sales back up, because now there is hope for a more exciting season. Year around businesses promote football season to encourage consumers to make a decision that will either benefit them during football season, or prove to be a convenient option for football season. This also includes other collegiate sports. This market has become very successful, considering it is a huge factor in reeling customers back in for continuous purchases.
College sports at both Florida A&M and FSU have created endless opportunities for the Tallahassee community and as the years go on, businesses will continue to expand and use college sports as a gateway to help increase their revenue. Restaurants, real estate facilities, clothing stores, even gas stations all incorporate college sports marketing to benefit their businesses. Clothing stores in Governor Square mall have become stocked with game day attire, restaurants offer deals you cannot pass up on game days, like bogo pizza, upon touring student housing facilities they even mention that some of their properties are within walking distance to the FSU stadiums. If you take a look at the picture below you can see how this local Tallahassee restaurant targeted all Seminoles with their clever name. In 2018, with Willie Taggart as FSU’s new head football coach were hoping to see more night games come our way, that way companies will continue to accumulate more sales, as opposed to afternoon games.
