Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501280005
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: NRV-20 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
It's put the school's name - and the New River Valley's - in media across the nation.
The free advertising pays off by bringing more people here - not:wq! just for football games, but also for college, for retirement and tourism. That translates into more dollars spent locally on lodging, food, tuition and shopping.
The Hokies went to their second consecutive bowl at the end of the season after consistently ranking in the Top 25 college teams.
Despite a drubbing on national TV in the Gator Bowl, local officials say the Hokies and the New River Valley came out way ahead from the months of national exposure.
"There's no doubt about the effect that a successful football team has on this area" said Harvey Shephard, director of the Greater Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce. " ... We need the publicity we're getting."
"Any kind of exposure that we get on a national basis ... anything to put us in the nation's limelight is just a wonderful place to be," Shephard said.
Larry Hincker, university spokesman, said a winning team keeps Tech's name in people's minds. "... Awareness is the name of the game.
"This is the first time in many, many years that we've had two good seasons back to back. ... It builds a general level of excitement." The school's name gets in newspapers more and more, because if a team has a "winning tradition, sports editors feel compelled to cover you," Hincker said.
And it's not just bringing attention to the sports accomplishments. Hincker said the university admission's office sees an increase in queries and applications when Tech has winning programs that are getting media exposure.
The benefits from the headlines spread beyond Blacksburg to the region at large, Shephard said. The best example is the hotel industry.
"We keep track of the activity at the motels and bed and breakfasts for special weekends. ... Try to get a hotel in Blacksburg," on those weekends, he said. Football weekends, parents' weekends, homecoming events and graduations fill hotels from Wytheville to Roanoke and beyond, he said.
Televised Hokie football games and coverage of the Tour DuPont, the nation's pre-eminent bike race which has twice been in Blacksburg, provide immeasurable advertisement for Blacksburg and the New River Valley.
The Family Motor Coach Association's national convention hosted by the town and Tech in 1993 also spread the word about Blacksburg, as convention participants took their experiences back home and told others about the amenities of the valley, he said.
"The FMCA said they would come back here in a heartbeat," if invited, Shephard said. "they found this a very very nice place to be."
Following on the convention's success, the town will sponsor "Retire Blacksburg Expo '95" this June to draw retirees from across the nation for a four-day program featuring seminars on health care, investing and other features of Blacksburg that make it ideal for retirees.
Blacksburg is also looking forward to welcoming back the Tour DuPont in April.
"We look at it as the Tour DuPont that finished in Blacksburg, but its an event in the New River Valley," Shephard said. "We're the host town, but we're into this thing to try to put our name up to the nation as a New River Valley project not just a Blacksburg program."
But football season provides the most prolonged exposure and economic boost for the region.
Beth Ifju, director of sales and marketing at the Blacksburg Marriott, said sellouts at the hotel are a given for any football game.
"... Some will sell faster than others," she said, such as the long-standing rivalry games with West Virginia of the University of Virginia.
The Marriott benefits from its prime location across from campus on Prices Fork Road, and for its nationally known chain name, Ifju said.
With room sellouts a given, Ifju looks to restaurant and lounge activity as an indicator of how Tech's winning season affects the economy, because people who aren't staying at the hotel often come for food and drink after the game.
"We actually are packed after every football game," Ifju said.
"We're very grateful that Tech's doing so well, though, because everybody [visiting the hotel] is in such a good mood," Ifju said, her grin coming through the telephone lines.
by CNB