Shayne Walsey’s interest in the on-court proceedings at next weekend’s NCAA Final Four basketball championship in Atlanta rides on the fate of her alma mater’s team.
“Depends on how far Michigan goes,” she said.
But Walsey’s Atlanta marketing firm, Urban Enterprises, already is a winner off the court.
Employees of the 35-year-old business have been hand-delivering posters and other materials promoting the event around town — in office buildings, coffee shops and on the street — to generate excitement.
“This is a huge opportunity,” she said. “It’s a big resume-builder. Once we can tackle a certain type of event, then we can go after more events like this. This will be a like a case study on our website and one we can start bragging about.”
From a business perspective, the big winners at major traveling sports events generally are companies in the hospitality industry such as hotels, restaurants and transportation services. That will be the case next week when more than 100,000 visitors to Atlanta are expected to contribute to what the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau expects will be $70 million in direct local economic impact.
Small-time local street vendors hawking bottled water, souvenirs and t-shirts aren’t likely to be part of the party. A large area referred to as a “clean zone” around the Georgia Dome, where the games will be played, is off-limits. And, in a move that drew criticism from a group called the Atlanta Vendors Association, police Thursday began enforcing a city-wide ban on sidewalk vending on public property.
“With the special events that are happening downtown and around the city, we just want to put a good face for the beautification of the city,” Atlanta police Deputy Chief Ernest Finley said.
But some small businesses like Walsey’s still can gain from the arrival of an NCAA Final Four, just as they can from various all-star games and the godfather of such events, the Super Bowl. In her company’s case, the benefit is experience and exposure as well as added revenue.
Another local business, the Frabel Glass Art Studio and Gallery in Atlanta, is involved in its own small way with the Final Four.
The studio sold 16 frosted glass pieces in the form of miniature dogwood flowers to tournament organizers who plan to present them to VIPs attending the event.
Gallery manager Harold Fineroff said, “I’m not into sports,” but added that for the dogwood piece recipients, “It’s a piece of Atlanta only made in Atlanta.”
The major beneficiaries of the tournament’s presence are hotels, all the way out to the Perimeter.
William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the Final Four comes at an opportune time for them: over a weekend when hotels typically struggle to fill their rooms. For the tournament, many out-of-town visitors are expected to arrive in the city on Friday and not leave until Tuesday, yielding at least four room-nights each.
The tournament’s games are played on Saturday and on Monday.
However, the event also has been expanded to include activities beyond the games that will occur inside the Georgia Dome those two days. For example, there will be two smaller college basketball championships played at Philips Arena on Sunday. Entry to the games will be free of charge and open to the public. There will also be concerts and other attractions.
“A lot of people will come down even if they don’t have a ticket (to the Final Four),” Pate said, adding that some visitors will venture beyond the Georgia Dome to take in other local draws, ranging from the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola to Stone Mountain.
Walsey is looking for great things, too. Her firm’s street marketing teams normally distribute materials promoting restaurants, shopping malls, museums and entertainment events such as the circus. The Final Four, though, is unique, she said.
“The whole city is excited,” she said. “You walk in (to a shop) with a Final Four poster and they’re begging you to put it in their window.”
