Business is Booming as Fans Swarm Starkville

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- It’s almost like a preview to Super Bulldog Weekend in Starkville

Campus is crowded, downtown is full of shoppers, and restaurants are trying to handle an increase in orders.

All that points to one thing… An increase in money.

Bulldog Baseball is a big draw every Spring, but add to that Softball, Track, Tennis, and the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and it’s a recipe for Big Business in Starkville.

Local businesses are seeing a flood of customers as fans take in the sights and catch up with friends.

“We’ve been able to walk around campus which has been so much fun, kind of seeing that kind of bigger school feel it’s been really nice to see we’ve also been able to go downtown and kind of see some of the little shops that have been around definitely have taken in some of the local hospitality,” said Abby Dufrane.

“Well we have a grandson who is a senior here, and we schedule time with him try to, and we also have grandchildren who will come in we have a couple at Southern, and some who haven’t made it to University yet we try to schedule time with family and friends,” said Donna Saunders.

Steve Saunders tries to make it to every baseball home game, and that can start to weigh on his wallet.

But he and his family find ways to save.

“We are here in the Airstream so we can cook meals here if we want to. We can go out if we don’t feel like cooking. We just pretty much handle our resources so we can do what we want to do,” said Steve Saunders.

All of this extra traffic is having a big economic impact on the City on Starkville but not as big as they would like.

The city is working to add a 1% percent tax increase to help pay for park improvements.

The proposal is in the Senate and waiting to be signed by the governor before going to a referendum.

“It would add an additional 1% to the two that were already going to collect. As it builds, and we bring more people to town, which is the goal, then it will build as well. So we can do more with it which is to increase those things like adding to our parks, maintaining our parks, upgrading our parks all over town. This is not just one thing; this builds on its self in a way that we then can be very impactful with how we spend it and who gets it,” said Mayor Lynn Spruill.

With so many athletic options, many fans are planning on jumping between games this weekend to get the full gameday experience.