Football championship game brings business to Frisco: Event scheduled to take place noon Jan. 5

Football’s a lucrative business, and the city of Frisco knows that as well as anyone.

For the third consecutive year, Frisco is hosting the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game in coordination with the Southland Conference and Hunt Sports Group.

The game, scheduled to kick off at noon on Jan. 5, will take place at FC Dallas Stadium and features Huntsville-based Sam Houston State against North Dakota State in a rematch of last year’s title game. ESPN2 will televise the game.

A consultant hired by event organizers estimated the game brought in about $4 million for local businesses two years ago, the game’s first year in the city, and $5.8 million last year.

Marla Roe, executive director of the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, said this year’s game will likely have a similar or slightly larger economic impact compared to last year’s.

“The event’s grown each year, and it doesn’t only impact Frisco – it also impacts neighboring cities,” she said. “Hotels are already sold out for the most part; there’s a pretty limited availability left.”

The fact that a Texas team is playing in the game again could be of benefit for local businesses, Roe said, as it will garner support from the local community.

This year’s game is expected to draw a record crowd for a football game at FC Dallas Stadium. Last year’s championship game set the current record with an attendance of 20,586.

“We’re adding additional bleachers for the bands, which will open up more seats, and we’ll also potentially be selling standing room-only tickets,” said Nick Shafer, vice president of FC Dallas Stadium operations. “We’re expecting at least the same amount of fans as last year.”

Shafer added that the NCAA is in charge of ticket sales, although he noted seats for the game are already sold out.

Tony Felker, president and chief executive of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, said the past two years have shown fans are willing to spend time in the city.

“One of the main goals when we brought this game to Frisco was the opportunity to provide an event where people would be coming in multiple days from out of town,” he said. “Having folks in here from out of town for two, three, four days is a huge economic boon for local businesses.”

While a wide range of businesses benefit from the game, the companies impacted the most are retail and travel-related businesses such as hotels, restaurants, stores and car rental companies.

Wednesday’s announcement that the game would continue to be hosted in Frisco through 2016 means those businesses can continue to expect an economic benefit for years to come.

“I just hope Frisco residents come out strong on Jan. 5 to welcome our out-of-town guests,” Felker said. “We’ll be educating people about what to expect from the game so we can continue to be great hosts for our visitors.”

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