BOZEMAN — It’s Bobcat season, and that means the economy in downtown is booming. MTN spoke with local businesses about what they are expecting with the first home game this weekend.
“This week’s been restocking almost constantly,” said Dawson Raulston, who works at Universal Athletic, a staple for MSU merch. He says he has been working at that location for a year and previously worked at the Missoula location. Still, he says “bobcat fans are different.”
“They go crazy for their bobcats,” said Raulston.
That craziness is reflected in Universal Athletic's sales for gold rush. “Two years in a row, we set a company record on gold rush days and that’s 40,000 dollars in 2023 and 41,000 dollars in 2024,” he said.
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And in the high volume of customers. Dawson says the store has close to 300 or 400 sales per day that strictly gold rush related.
CEO of Bozeman Chamber of Commerce Daryl Schliem says the economic impact for this game is significant.
“We’re thinking this weekend alone could be $5 to $7 million economic impact for all the businesses that are here,” said Schliem.
This economic boom is especially pertinent for hotels. Schliem says more than 700 new rooms have been added in the past year and he expects them to be filled this weekend.
“It’s actually the first year in my fifteen years that we haven’t had people calling saying ‘Hey, we can’t find a hotel room,’” said Schliem.
A valet I spoke to at the Armory Hotel says he’s noticed an influx of South Dakota State fans.
“I think I’ve seen about 10 so far, and it’s still pretty early in the day,” said Christian Fagan.
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No matter the industry, the business owners I spoke to share the same sentiment:
“Go bobcats,” said Fagan.”
“Go cats,” said Raulston.
