JROCK said:
By the same token, you have families that save money the entire year for this event and will drop a thousand or more. Hell, I am not but one person and spent over a thousand last year. And, I have family members and friends from both Gram & S.U. that spend a hell of a lot more than me.
J, that's just it, a case like you pointed out is the exception, and not the norm. More times than not, the scenario is like that in which Sperm pointed out, but instead of staying in dorms, kids stay with family, and friends that are from NO, that attend SU or GSU, or have attended.
Families are only going to do so much though (if they have kids), they can't really go into the FQ without being in harms way, they rarely go to the zoo, or aquarium, and they're certainly not taking the kids to the parties.
Money is being spent at the Classic, but it's on different scale compared to the Sugar Bowl. Now a more feasible comparison would be with the upstart New Orleans Bowl. The BC thrawfs that in comparison, but again it's still in it's infant stage. Remember we just not to long ago celebrated 25 years of the BC, the Sugar Bowl has been around a lot longer, with more fanfare, especially if the national championship is on the line.
I will say that I don't think the merchants in New Orleans do enough to attract BC dollars, but truth be told, those kids just don't have the money to fork over like that. The ones in school are more than likely broke, but they've spent their money before arriving to New Orleans. Either on new clothes, hair do's, and cuts, their share of the rental car, game tickets, their share of the hotel. Very few of them have a lot of money left over for the extra curriculars. The money they bring is for fast food, their share of liquor, and for 2 nights of parties.
The local kids aren't spending anything. The money they spend is on the BOTB, and the game if they go. Their money goes to the schools, and the Superdome, and not the city. Well, if you count RTA, some of their money is going to city bwo bus fare if they don't have a ride.
The older folk are out, and about if they know the city, but they're not going to the city's main attraction (The French Quarter), because of how rowdy the crowd has become. You find more, and more of them are getting something to eat at the eating booth's the vendors have set up, or at the hotel they're staying in, or at the game. But mostly if you find them out, they're at the casino.
That Sugar Bowl crowd (unless LSU is playing), doesn't have that same luxury, it's foreign territory, it's a new experience, they're not the same crowd that's at the classic every year. You can pretty much bet that 85% (if that low) of the BC crowd isn't making their first trip, or even their 2nd trip.
That SB crowd is filling the restaurants, the bars, they're club hopping, the strip clubs, they literally turn the French Quarter into their own little Mardi Gras. They party from the time they get there, until the time they leave, and they're in the city longer than 2 nights, so that alone means they're going to spend more money.
When they add up the doe being spent in the city, the numbers the French Quarter merchants submit for the SB, are no where close to what they submit at Classic time. Then when you add on cab fare's, streetcar rides, horse carriage rides, and city tours they take while there, our dollars don't compete. That's what they're gauging it on, not just hotels, and restaurants. Not to mention, the money the airport submits from their souvenier shops. How many of us do you see in the airport shops after the classic? Not many huh?
We spend bruh, but not at the places they're dropping doe. If you take the 5-6 black clubs New Orleans has that are filled at Classic time, compared to the numerous clubs the French Quarter is filled with during SB time, it's not as close as you think.
NICE
