KNOXVILLE (WVLT) – UT Football fans weren’t the only group of East Tennesseans upset over the Volunteer’s loss to Auburn. Local businesses foresee a subpar football season as a major loss in revenue.
"If they're not successful, we won't be successful," said Kevin Perkins, manager of Rocky Top Books East on Cumberland Avenue.
For businesses along “the Strip”, when the Big Orange is winning, the Power-T is like winning the Powerball jackpot for local businesses. The problem is that when the Vols aren’t playing well, their sales suffer.
"Somebody brought a t-shirt back for a refund,” said Perkins, “that is when I knew we might have a problem."
That incident at Rocky Top Books happened before the Florida game. Since then, sales have lagged.
"Our sales to last year are down, but we had a much better season last year,” said Perkins.
Several bars on Cumberland Avenue are also suffering. Half Barrel opened early for the game against Auburn, but with few fans to watch the game, they didn't get busy until later in the evening.
"Business during games has been down considerably,” said Grier LeQuire, manager of Half Barrel. “People don't really come out and get fired up by watching this ball club, which hurts."
All the businesses said they were hoping for a win against Northern Illinois, which could bring around another a boost in sales.
If that doesn’t happen, businesses on the strip said basketball is becoming the season they most look forward to.
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