South Carolina's Media Engine for Economic Growth

SCBIZ 2008 - Issue 5

Game day economics: For merchants, the in-state football clash means cash

No matter which school’s name is mentioned first — Carolina or Clemson — there’s little contention that the football game between the teams is the biggest sporting event of the year in South Carolina. It’s big for bragging rights, big for player recruitment and big for the economy in each university’s hometown. And for businesses selling any goods or services associated with the game, this yearly clash means cash.

In the South, football scores and statistics are watched perhaps more closely than stock market indexes. Heated debates are more likely to arise over SEC vs. ACC than over Republican vs. Democrat, even in an election year. So it’s no surprise that a common arena to entertain top clients — even to conduct business — is inside a college football stadium. As coaches bark orders and bragging rights are being hard fought on the playing field, high above, inside a glassed-in, climate-controlled and cocktail-party atmosphere, strategic moves and some friendly back-slapping often score success for the state’s economy.

Where are they now? Mark Richardson

Mark Richardson is talking television markets. To make a point, he flips over a piece of paper and draws the outline of Carolina with the deftness of someone who has sketched it many times before. He draws the outer borders of both Carolinas first, and adds the line separating North from South only when it’s time to identify the city of Charlotte. That’s the way the president of the Carolina Panthers sees it: one big Carolina where others see two.

Where are they now? Todd Ellis

As a former star quarterback at the University of South Carolina, a successful trial lawyer in Columbia and the “voice” of USC football on the Gamecocks Radio Network, Todd Ellis has a unique view of the economic and social impact of the annual South Carolina vs. Clemson football game. “This game is the biggest sporting event in our state every year, and the economic benefits are pretty obvious. But I think there is something else going on here,” Ellis said.

Where are they now? Phil Prince

Phil Prince (right) doesn’t really want to rest on his football laurels. In fact, since he says he’s not much of a computer user, he hasn’t even seen the YouTube version of the moment his star rose on the gridiron. Sixty years ago this October, Prince blocked a punt against South Carolina, allowing the Tigers to score a touchdown that clinched Clemson's 13-7 win. He chuckles softly to himself at the memory of that “Big Thursday.”

Where are they now? George Rogers

Anyone who followed football in the 1980s is familiar with the on-the-field accomplishments of South Carolina’s resident football star, George Rogers. In his final year as a running back for the University of South Carolina’s Gamcocks in 1980, he took home the Heisman Trophy in 1980; he was named the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1981 during his first year with the New Orleans Saints; and he played for the Washington Redskins when they won the Super Bowl in 1988.

If Sun City Hilton Head residents who showed up for an August town hall meeting with U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., came anticipating a wonkish discussion of energy policy, the senator had news for them. DeMint, who in June took up the cause of promoting offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf — which had been protected for the past 27 years by a series of federal bans — spent much of his appearance preaching the Republican Party’s “Drill here, drill now” gospel with the zeal of the newly converted.

Bud Badr’s voice is the kind that falls welcomingly on the ear, much like a good, soaking rain falls on parched earth. Badr laughs easily and often during conversation, which is a good thing when you consider that as the chief hydrologist of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, what he’s talking about it is a serious issue — drought. The availability of water in South Carolina made headlines all summer, especially with regards to business.

The calls for action are constant, loud and clear. Citizens, environmental groups and government officials are demanding that the nation reduce its dependence on foreign oil, establish an environmentally clean power source and develop renewable energy resources. South Carolina Electric & Gas and its parent company, SCANA, believe nuclear power is at least part of the answer and in 2005 began the application process to build two nuclear reactors in rural Fairfield County. The $10 billion plan involves building two Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, where SCE&G and Santee Cooper have jointly owned and operated a single reactor since the 1980s.

When Britt Beemer talks, people listen. But the consumer researcher and retail guru attributes his success to having listened to others. Beemer’s business, the Charleston-based America’s Research Group, is known for making remarkably on-target predictions about retail buying trends.
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Public trust

The mighty have fallen hard and often throughout this decade. In business and in government — and sometimes a combination — they have shocked, then disappointed. And the public asks why. Scandal isn’t much interested in geography and is little impressed with the size of the stage or the depth of the stockholder roster. So it should be no surprise that national-style failings, like those of Enron’s Ken Lay and former presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. John Edwards, sometimes find a local venue.