G-Day Has Effect on Athens Businesses

93,000 Bulldog fans plan to fill Sanford Stadium Saturday for G-Day. That means lots of foot traffic will hit Downtown Athens. Football isn’t just entertainment in Athens. It creates revenue for the community.

Businesses in Athens rely on football events like G-Day to keep their businesses open.

“I would say during the home game [we] probably make about 50-percent of revenue,” cashier at the Red  Michael Nelms said.

With the successful season last year, the upcoming football season will expect to bring in not just more fans, but more revenue to local businesses such as stores, restaurants, bars and hotels.

While the city of Athens expect to pack out the seats of Sanford this Saturday, it has also already packed out  hotels. Local hospitals such as the Hyatt Place Athens was booked up months in advance.

“Specifically or G Day, people started booking 6-8 months in advance”, Jake Grant, the Assistant General Manager at the Hyatt explained.

The city of Athens flourishes on the people it brings in during football season.

“It’s the demand”, Grant says, “And it’s only going to keep increasing.”