FSU football: How COVID-19 could affect Gameday rituals

Potential impact

Gameday in college is such an event that it would be difficult to avoid it. Madison Social is packed and will remain packed no matter what.

All of which being contributed to by the strong alumni presence on Fridays and Saturdays. How will shops like the Garnet and Gold shop survive without as much of that gameday boost? How will any of the local businesses cope with the restrictions?

People will still be there, but with the reduction of activity in places like Madison Social and Garnet and Gold, the gameday impact is vital. Shops like these will typically have a continuous trickle of people, whether in town for a basketball game, a conference, or a future student visit.

That kind of traffic will be almost eliminated and has been, during the current restrictions. I project that there will still be students occasionally going in and out, especially places like Madison Social, where it is the go-to lunch spot on campus, but to a much lesser degree.

Thus, I expect a significant decline in overall traffic. There will be fewer alumni on campus, fewer people on visits, which affects the local businesses in that the impact on game days will end up diluted. There will still be a spike among the local population, but the sales to out of town visitors will be few and far between.

This article is all barring any outbreak. If games get shut down, there will be many businesses suffering a lot more than just missing the contribution from alumni or a couple of students.