When Scott Martin traveled to Fayetteville, Lexington and Tuscaloosa in the fall of 2022, he witnessed what Norman was missing ahead of Oklahoma’s move to the Southeastern Conference.
During discussions of OU’s readiness for the SEC over the past three years, Martin, president and CEO of the Norman Chamber of Commerce, has worked to prepare Norman for what the SEC could potentially bring.
Norman’s average economic impact for home football games in the Big 12 was estimated to be around $11 million, compared to Tuscaloosa’s $30 million for Alabama home games and Knoxville’s $40 million for Tennessee home games.
When Tennessee came to town as Oklahoma’s first SEC opponent on Sept. 21, Norman faced its first test.
With the excitement brewing for Oklahoma’s long-awaited conference opener and ESPN’s College Gameday’s appearance in Norman for the marquee matchup, President and CEO of Visit Norman Dan Schemm was expecting Tennessee’s visit to have the same effect on the city as when then-No. 3 Ohio State came to town in 2016 or when College GameDay visited in 2012 for the Sooners’ top-10 matchup with Notre Dame.
His expectations quickly turned to reality.
“In the Big 12, we did not get a lot of games like this,” Schemm told OU Daily. “The biggest opponent is generally Texas, and that's (played) down in Dallas. No disrespect to Kansas or Iowa State or some of these other schools that have come to Norman, but having an SEC opponent just felt bigger, and it definitely was.
“We saw way more visiting fans come to town. Seeing all of those Tennessee fans here was great.”
One of the first things Martin noticed on SEC campuses was the amount of “low-hanging fruit” Oklahoma was not previously capitalizing on. He wanted to further the connection between the community and university and ensure everyone crossing into Norman knew they were a part of Oklahoma’s game day experience.
To do so, they put up crimson OU and SEC banners on the light poles around town and are in the process of adding a pair of welcome signs north and south of Norman on Interstate 35.
Norman leaders also helped coordinate a concert series on Campus Corner where local bands perform the Friday before game day.
“We did a really good job of getting to where we're at …” Martin said. “A really gratifying thing has been reading the comments on social media from Tennessee fans and everyone really has given OU and our community high marks on their experience. That was our goal and will continue to be our goal.”
Not only did Martin and Schemm feel as though the vibe around Norman was one of the best they’ve seen in years, but the numbers back them up.
Due to the SEC move, Oklahoma was forced to double the number of visiting tickets it sells from 2,500 to 5,000. This has resulted in a major increase in opposing fan attendance. Of all Oklahoma Memorial Stadium visitors for the Sooners' game against the Volunteers, 7.27% were from Tennessee, a substantial uptick from the 0.28% of visitors from Louisiana when Tulane came to Norman the week prior.
The average daily rates for hotels were increased by about 40% compared to a typical Big 12 game, while future stay values for hotels are up 177% and future daily rates up 140%. Norman voters approved an increase to the city’s hotel room tax from five percent to eight percent in 2023.
Visitor spending also increased by over 20%, and not only did Norman see many Tennesseeans indulge in all parts of town, but they started doing it much earlier in the week.
Many retailers started to notice Tennessee fans on Wednesday. Brady Sexton, who owns Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails in downtown Norman, estimated a 15% increase in sales on Thursday from OU’s first three home games.
“That's important not only for sales tax collection but also guest tax collection,” Schemm said of Norman’s increased rates. “And in Norman, that guest tax that's collected from our visitors goes to fund the Norman Arts Council, the Norman Parks and Recreation Department as well as youth sports, and visit Norman. So getting those visitors in to help fund those things really enhances the quality of life of our citizens.
“We're already seeing since July 1, when the move to the SEC was official, our occupancy and average daily rates are up significantly for the year (from that) first SEC game.”
But Tennessee was just the starting point.
Oklahoma will play No. 7 Alabama on Nov. 23 at home. Not only is Alabama a college football blue blood program that’s won three national championships in the last 10 years, but Norman leaders know the Crimson Tide have a passionate and well-traveled fanbase.
Additionally, one of their typical means of travel is through RVs, which poses a new challenge for Norman, one Wiggin Properties, LLC is currently attempting to address as it plans to build an RV resort that would add over 500 RV and cabin spaces.
After Alabama, Oklahoma will look to next season when it hosts four SEC opponents — Auburn, LSU, Mississippi, Missouri — an uptick from the three it hosted this season, along with reigning national champion Michigan.
The SEC move will continue to propose great potential for Norman’s economic growth in future years, but there’s still work to be done to capitalize on that potential.
Sexton said his colleagues in Oklahoma City saw a heightened economic impact due to the amount of Volunteers fans who opted to stay in the metro due to high hotel prices in Norman or limited availability. One project that’s on the horizon would put a parking garage and potentially a hotel in downtown Norman, which Sexton said would help his business.
“I know there are some projects that are in the works to start going through planning, but we need a lot more short-term rentals, mostly hotel rooms,” Sexton said.
“I think they're finally starting to move towards that.”
OU’s SEC move not only affects visitor turnout and their contribution to the community, but it also impacts the university’s population.
The transition was expected to bring more students to OU, which it has done in the form of four consecutive record-breaking first-year classes, with this year’s 11% increase being the most in the university’s history.
To Ward 7 Councilmember Stephen Tyler Holman, it also highlights the need for more housing units, not just for those traveling fanbases, but for students.
“That translates into more spending because students go out to eat, shop, go to the bars,” Holman said. “They're living close to Campus Corner and Main Street in what we call the center city area, the neighborhood between campus corner and Main Street, where you're seeing a lot of redevelopment into multi-story apartments and really trying to boost the density in the campus corner and downtown area.
“By more students coming to OU … That's more potential customers for all the businesses. That’s probably the biggest impact the SEC move has had.”
But while students have always been a big part of gamedays, they didn’t show up when Oklahoma faced Maine on Nov. 2.
Oklahoma student section at kickoff: pic.twitter.com/DqUQE5bywr
— Louis Raser (@LouisRaser) November 2, 2024
Attendance for the game against Maine, which was moved from a 2:30 p.m. start to 11 a.m. less than 24 hours before kickoff due to the threat of inclement weather, was noticeably slimmer than that of OU’s SEC games or even non-conference games.
The non-conference game against a lesser opponent isn’t going anywhere. The SEC plays eight conference games and four non-conference, typically one of which is placed in the middle of conference play. Next season, OU will face another lesser opponent in Kent State at home on Oct. 4.
Those non-conference games don’t draw as much attention. However, does the impact of prominent SEC fanbases like Tennessee outweigh the downside of the midseason non-conference game?
“There was a lot of concern about a game like that being one of your lowest attended games ever …” Holman said of the Maine game. “I think it’s probably worth it to have more quality opponents overall in your schedule every year … I think it is worth it to have fans getting excited about the home schedule (because they) come out and spend money at our bars and restaurants.”
“I think it makes a big difference for Norman’s economic impact as a whole,” Sexton added of the game against Maine. “But as far as a smaller restaurant near campus, there’s still going to be 80,000 people around here on Saturday and most of Friday and for Sunday brunch too. So we always do great on home game weekends.”
For Norman leaders, Tennessee offered a blast off into a new era for Oklahoma athletics and potential for Norman’s economic growth.
But, for now, it's just a start.
“I haven’t seen it like this in a really long time,” Martin said. “This felt different. I mean, this was a different deal. So I can only imagine that when Alabama comes this season, it's gonna be ramped up.
“This is what we had hoped for and anticipated, but now we're seeing it come to fruition.”
