WVU’s football season has dramatic impacts on small businesses in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) - Win or lose for WVU football, small businesses in Morgantown always win during football season.

The influx of alumni and fans that come back to campus make this time of year very important for business owners.

“Oh it’s crucially important. We get a lot of alumni that like to come back here and eat the food, but we have a lot of people that have been coming back for years, and they like to come in and celebrate with us,” said Tori Batton, Manager of Wings in Morgantown.

And this type of success for small businesses is what they prepare all year for.

“So I would say percentage-wise, it’s a large percentage of our sales and we see an increase. It’s something we prepare for all year, and during the summer, I tell my employees, ‘Take it all in, take your time off’ because in August, we hit the road running and get ready for football season,” said Nicole McKinney, manager of Score Sports Bar in Morgantown.

Most of the money is made during home games from catering and dining in.

“Mainly Saturdays before the game, we get a lot of calls for the pickups, and a lot of people like to come and dine in to watch the game here,” said Batton.

One business owner found success in an unique way for WVU’s first away game.

“We’ve actually, for the first three home games, dropped off caterings to the light blue lot to some of our loyal customers. I sent 300 chicken wings to the Penn State game in an RV, so that was pretty exciting,” said McKinney.

The next home game for WVU is October 21st against Oklahoma State.

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