by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
The Gator Bowl Association was founded in 1945 for one reason and the football game was just the means to that end. A small group of local businessmen decided it was far too quiet in Jacksonville. They and their fellow merchants needed something to make their cash registers ring into the New Year. Avid football fans themselves (and University of Florida grads, hence the bowl’s name), they decided a college football game was the answer. The Jan. 1, 1946 Gator Bowl went from idea to kickoff in about three weeks, and over the decades has become a New Year tradition enjoyed by fans not only in Jacksonville but across the country as well.
Making the cash registers ring for local businesses was important then and even more important now. By all accounts, this year’s Konica Minolta Gator Bowl matchup between Clemson University and the University of Nebraska was a winner days before the grounds crew painted the sponsor’s logo on the 50-yard line at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
No room at the inns
“Thank goodness for the Gator Bowl!”
That was the consensus among hoteliers in the days leading up to the game. Even before this year’s teams were officially announced, reservations lines at the hotels were ringing with calls from fans. This year’s Clemson-Nebraska matchup generated twice as many room nights as the 2007 game and will have an estimated total economic impact of $32 million by the time all the visiting fans return home.
“I think the Gator Bowl Association did an outstanding job in selecting the teams,” said Hyatt General Manager Dan King, echoing the comment of every hotelier after looking at their room counts for Wednesday, Thursday and even into the weekend. “Not only teams that deserved to be in a bowl game this year, but teams with fans that followed them to the game.”
King also said that with New Year’s Day on Thursday this year, the game had a positive economic impact on two years of business. Not only was there not a single empty room at the Hyatt New Year’s Eve, “It’s very rewarding to start 2009 sold out,” he said.
King added, “With the economy slowing down, in the last three or four months business travel has really slowed down. That made having a successful Gator Bowl week even more important this year. We’re faced with a lot of uncertainty for 2009, but starting with good business is a great way to start the year.”
The Omni, in addition to hosting many Gator Bowl fans, was also the team hotel for Clemson. The banquet floor was transformed into training and meeting rooms to create a temporary athletics facility for the Tigers. The network television production crew also checked in for the week.
“We’re sold out,” said Director of Sales and Marketing Wendy Priesand. “That’s huge for us because business travel has been down. Business has been down in banking, mortgages, real estate and insurance and those are our major travel markets. With the downturn in the economy, the Gator Bowl has made our year.”
Janice Dailey, director of sales and marketing at the Crowne Plaza on the Southbank, said that property was also at full capacity.
“Both of these teams have amazing fan bases. Despite the economy, it was a great week. The hospitality community needed this,” she said.
Downtown hotels expect to book rooms for the Gator Bowl each year, but 2008 will go down as a year that spread the business to the entire market.
“This is One Ocean Resort’s first Gator Bowl,” said Sileshi Mengiste, vice president of the Luxury Division. “We are extremely pleased. Our rooms are sold out for the first time since October, the restaurant and bar are busy and the spa is packed. We look forward to celebrating the Gator Bowl each and every year.”
Shawn Lenoble, operations manager for the Quality Suites Oceanfront and three other properties at the beach, said, “It’s fabulous. All four properties are sold out. It’s all dependent on the teams and it’s well known that Clemson and Nebraska travel well. This year’s matchup has really helped all the hotels at the beach thrive.”
The Sponsor
“A marquee event like this allows us a strong branding opportunity,” said Kevin Kern, vice president of marketing for Konica Minolta. He and more than 200 other Konica Minolta executives, employees and customers came to Jacksonville this year for the Gator Bowl.
The company set up trade show booths at the Hyatt and the Omni to market two new products: a small printer and a compact multipurpose machine. Both will debut on the market Jan. 15, but people who came to the game can purchase the new units at a discount. The booth offered Internet access stations for placing orders and arranging shipment.
Konica Minolta was completely out of the consumer camera business in 2007 when its attention was turned to office machines and software. The Gator Bowl game’s national audience and the visibility achieved by being the title sponsor brings several advantages, added Kern.
“Sports marketing covers our key demographics, small business and college students in particular,” he said. “In addition to the Gator Bowl, we also sponsor The Konica Minolta Swing Vision during CBS’s coverage of the PGA Tour. We expose our products to millions of people on television. We get eight (advertising time) spots and 32 mentions during the Gator Bowl broadcast, but with the signage at the stadium and on the field we get constant impressions. We like to do things that allow us to be in the event. There is virtually no time during the telecast that you won’t see our brand and you can’t TiVo us out.”
Kern also said in addition to the beautiful weather compared to back home in New York (it was 35 degrees and snowing when he flew to Jacksonville), the New Year’s Day college bowl game atmosphere is unique.
“The Gator Bowl energizes the city,” he said. “Events like this, even when times are bad, make people rally around their team. I think that shows the optimism of Americans.”
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