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NFL Fans on Campus Don't Necessarily Mean Sales
07/31/09
There was a time when traveling to a college campus to watch training camp was a yearly ritual for fans of teams in the National Football League. That changed with the advent of million-dollar training facilities for all but 13 teams, which still head back to college each summer to prepare for the upcoming season.
NFL training camps open in early August, meaning thousands of fans will be traipsing around those 13 campuses. The schools receive recognition for being associated with an NFL franchise, and often some facility upgrades through the partnership, but the campus bookstores are normally not part of the equation as fans tend to make their purchases at team shops closer to the practice fields.
The St. Vincent College Bookstore, Latrobe, PA, is an exception when the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town. The defending Super Bowl champions, which open camp Aug 1, have trained at St. Vincent since 1966.
"The bookstore carries a number of Steelers items and the fans visit because of that," said Fr. Anthony Grossi, bookstore manager. "They come in to buy the merchandise, but also come in for snacks and beverages, and to cool off in the air conditioning."
The bookstore buys merchandise from NFL-approved vendors to sell in its campus location, in a tent set up outside the store, and on its web site. But the store also does a brisk business in sundry items such as Sharpie pens, disposable cameras, batteries, film, and sunscreen.
"I've heard some of fans say, 'It's St. Vincent and I want to bring something back from there because it's where the Steelers practice,'" said Grossi, who reports a sales increase of 10%-15% during a normal August because of the influx of fans on campus to watch training camp. "We have to plan for extra merchandise and we hire work-study students as cashiers and for stocking shelves.
"It's fun because we get to meet a whole variety of people and see the real team spirit that comes on campus."
The more normal NFL experience for a campus bookstore is only an occasional customer.
The Kansas City Chiefs have held training camp at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since 1991 and begin practice Aug. 1, but the Falcon Shop is not expecting to see many the fans. Only the hardiest Kansas City fans make the trek hundreds of miles north to reach River Falls, which is 30 miles east of Minneapolis, MN. In addition, those fans who do attend camp have to walk another mile to visit the bookstore.
"We don't experience much traffic," said Sherry Rehnelt, Falcon Shop manager. "Occasionally, fans will stumble across us, but the merchandise they are after is out at the field.
"But River Falls is a relatively small town and the Kansas City Chiefs do bring a lot of revenue to our small community. Being affiliated with the football team is a great opportunity for us to get our name out and get more students interested in coming here."
The Indianapolis Colts open training camp Aug. 3 at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN, but the Rose-Hulman Bookstore won't see much traffic either. The bookstore doesn't stock team merchandise, which is available from the team at the practice facility.
"The Colts are a welcome addition to our campus," said Sheryl Fulk, manager, Rose-Hulman bookstore. "A lot of alumni do visit and they do come in to see us. The camp also increases our name and our visibility."
The Store at Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY, has developed a relationship with the Cincinnati Bengals when the team comes to town. The store provides workers and space, and the team brings in the merchandise for fans to purchase.
"We always have the store open and we get some crowds here, but not too big," said Dustin Brown, a Georgetown grad who manages the school's publication and duplication department and the spirit shop during the college football season.
There's also another aspect of the NFL experience for campus stores: They are all working feverishly to be ready for fall rush. "For us, being so close to the time when school opens, everybody is so busy getting geared up for the next semester we don't have time for much else," Brown said.
The 13 college campuses that host NFL training camp:
- Georgetown College, Georgetown, KY (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (Philadelphia Eagles)
- McDaniel College, Westminster, MD (Baltimore Ravens)
- Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff (Arizona Cardinals)
- Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Miami Dolphins)
- Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL (Chicago Bears)
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN (Indianapolis Colts)
- St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY (Buffalo Bills)
- St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- State University of New York-Cortland (New York Jets)
- University of Albany, Albany, NY (New York Giants)
- University of Wisconsin-River Falls (Kansas City Chiefs)
- Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC (Carolina Panthers)
—Dan Angelo
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