by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Love it or not, football is big business in Jacksonville. Aside from the NFL’s Jaguars, this season’s four college football games will generate tens of millions of dollars for the local economy, fill hotel rooms and restaurants and provide much-needed income.
“We do not focus on sports itself. We focus on the business of sports,” said Gator Bowl Association (GBA) President Rick Catlett. “This year, four college football games will draw 175,000 people to Jacksonville and generate $60 million. That’s what this is all about.”
Tuesday, Catlett met with members of the local media from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach at the World Golf Village. While the golf outing got washed out, the annual meeting provides an opportunity for Catlett to talk about the Gator Bowl game and the GBA’s role in the local economy. He pointed to the success of Saturday’s game between Florida State and Alabama. The game set an attendance record for the stadium, put Jacksonville in the national spotlight and brought nearly 90,000 people to town. Still to come is Florida-Georgia, the Dr Pepper ACC Championship and the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. Heading all of those games is the GBA, which according to Catlett is a volunteer organization, that oversees those three games and many of the peripheral operations and events.
Catlett said he and the GBA understand the importance of retaining those games as well as the importance of securing an FSU/Alabama-like match-up every year. In fact, Catlett and his staff are already working on securing a big-time match-up for next year.
“We are sort of at a disadvantage with Florida-Georgia here,” said Catlett, who took over as president in January 1993. “It’s difficult to get the University of Florida to play a home game here. That leaves FSU and we are in discussions with other teams. Many of them are amenable to playing on a neutral site.”
Catlett said Florida State has an open date on its schedule and he has talked with them about scheduling a 12th game in Jacksonville. Finding an opponent may be difficult. Catlett said several upper echelon SEC teams have open dates next year also, but they have all declined to meet the Seminoles in Jacksonville.
“It’s hard to find a team to come in here and play FSU,” said Catlett. “FSU is willing to move a game here, but they are also looking at Tampa. Alabama would be willing to play a game in Atlanta. The bottom line is, we can pay more.”
According to Catlett, FSU makes about $1.5 million for each home game played in Tallahassee. Both FSU and Alabama left Jacksonville with a check for $2.25 million.
“Neutral site games are the thing of the future,” said Catlett, adding the GBA is looking to bring the Notre Dame-Navy game to Jacksonville within 3-5 years.
The Gator Bowl game has grown steadily over the years. The first game in 1946 between Wake Forest and South Carolina drew 7,362 fans and paid each team $20,000. Last year’s game between Ga. Tech and West Virginia drew 67,714 and paid each team $2.25 million.
The Jacksonville Convention and Visitors Bureau tracks the effects of the game as well. Over the past six years, the game has been responsible for 120,800 room nights and $107.4 million in economic impact. That impact is not lost on Catlett.
“The games fill the stadium, hotels and restaurants,” he said. “Let’s not forget about the folks that work that week. Part-time employees get full-time work. What do you think they do with that extra money? They spend it or they pay bills.
“It really does flow back into the local economy.”
The future looks bright, too. Provided the local community buys tickets to the ACC title game in December and shows the ACC executives and presidents Jacksonville is serious about keeping the game for years, Jacksonville is on the verge of becoming the country’s top football city. Catlett is convinced the NCAA will eventually go to a playoff system within the next decade and he’s sure Jacksonville will be in the mix. Catlett said the ACC title game will likely become part of the playoff system, but his ultimate goal is to host a national championship game.
The immediate goal is to secure a long-term deal for the ACC title game. Jacksonville is currently competing with Tampa and Charlotte and the winner will be announced shortly after this year’s game.
“Our bid is as good as anybody’s,” said Catlett.
Since the first Gator Bowl in 1946, the game has grown in stature and impact on the local economy. The following numbers show the benefit of the game to the teams and the benefit to the local economy. The Jacksonville & the Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau only had economic impact statistics dating back to 2002.
Gator Bowl
— statistics courtesy the GBA
Economic impact
— statistics courtesy the CVB