Meineke Car Care Bowl Brings Big Business To Charlotte

Saturday's Meineke Car Care Bowl in uptown Charlotte is a sellout.

Even before this weekend's big college football game, hundreds of students and their families are packing into the Charlotte area.

Mark Paschal is not only a player, but a born and bred Charlottean. “They come and stay in the hotels and they're having fun in Charlotte and it raises great awareness for whole city. It's been a lot of fun for the last couple of days.”

73 thousand people will file into Bank of America Stadium; more than 80 percent of them are traveling from out of town.

Moira Quinn with Center City Partners said the event was scheduled for this weekend for a very specific reason.

“The timing of it was so important. It's done between Christmas and New Year’s and that's critical because that's a time when restaurants and hotels tend to be slow,” Quinn said.

Quinn said the Meineke Car Care Bowl is expected to bring in $10 million directly to Charlotte.

Couple that with the fact that the two teams playing, North Carolina and West Virginia, are known to bring strong fan support with them.

Bowl director Will Webb said that equates to a shot in the arm for Charlotte. “Well, what we've got is proximity and they don't have to fly here. Most of these people are going to drive in. And because they're not spending money on airfare, they're able to stay in a hotel."