Businesses see boost in sales for first home VT football game

BLACKSBURG (WSLS10) - The Hokie Nation was back in action as Virginia Tech battled Liberty University at Lane Stadium, Saturday. The Hokies beat the Flames 36-13. Tech fans celebrated downtown and businesses in Blacksburg saw a boost in foot traffic.

Managers at Gillies, a restaurant in Downtown Blacksburg said they were busy.

"Summer is kind of slow, during the week, but brunch we're always busy, it's really busy before people head to the tailgate," Ray Hartley, a server at Gillies said.

He said gameday weekend is big for the restaurant and workers usually get slammed for brunch.

Hartley said they see about a 15% increase in sales for the gameday weekend.

"It's nice cause we're making a lot more money and we're a lot busier," Hartley said.

Servers at Hokie House, said they see an influx of people after 3 in the afternoon.

"The energy here for any game of the season is intense, you have a lot of Hokies, new and old that are coming back," Joseph Gillespie the Bar Manager said.

Gillespie couldn't put an exact figure on how much of an increase the business sees on game but said there is a substantial difference.

"I said I couldn't put into numbers, but I definitely lose more weight behind the bar sweating let's put it that way," Gillespie said.