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    WVU game at FedEx Field worries hometown merchants

    MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Word that one of West Virginia's 2012 football games will be played at FedEx Field isn't sitting well with some Morgantown businesses that bank on Mountaineer fans.

    On game days, Milan Puskar Stadium's 60,000 seats effectively double the city's population. Fans pack bars, restaurants and hotels.

    Some merchants fear the James Madison matchup is the start of a trend that will cost the home town money.

    They're meeting Monday with WVU to discuss it and to consider an economic-impact study.

    Athletic Director Oliver Luck understands the concerns, but says the FedEx deal is good business, too: WVU will make $2.3 million — $500,000 more than at home.

    But Luck says it won't become an annual event. WVU probably won't play at neutral venues more than once every five years.

     

    21 comments

    • David Smith  •  9 mths ago
      Now I'm confused... Where will they burn the couches?
      • doug 9 mths ago
        Love it.
    • Dennis in WV  •  9 mths ago
      Morgantown deserves to keep all home games. Those local businesses have supported the university for generations. The university needs to re-think this move.
    • Oldterp  •  9 mths ago
      The university does not owe businesses that leech on their football games anything

      Why don't those businesses pay WVU fleece the people who go to their games?

      If you have ever been in a college town on game day .... prices go way up .... to stick it to the alumni and the parents of current students
      • Kryptik 9 mths ago
        Seems to me that the taxpayers of West Virginia own the University and the money ought to stay right here in the Mountain State.
      • Kryptik 9 mths ago
        ...besides you went to Maryland. What would you know about Capitalism and free enterprise?
      • Oldterp 9 mths ago
        Thomas DOOOSH .... What you just posted says that the taxpayers of WV want to fleece themselves at large sporting events
    • RAllen1st  •  9 mths ago
      Is this a WVU home game or a James Madison home game? If its a WVU and they need an NFL stadium why FedEx Field outside of DC and some 216 miles away from WVU and not Heinz Field in Pittsburgh which is only 75 miles away. Wouldn't it be a little more convenient for WVU fans, students and alumni to make a quick trip up I79 to Pittsburgh rather than trudge all the way down (through some of the most horrendous traffic in the US) to go to FexEx field. Sorry... it just doesn't make sense.
    • erp65  •  9 mths ago
      IT'S ALL ABOUT $$$$$$$$$ THE $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for the educational system . lol
    • C Lloyd  •  9 mths ago
      So they will spend more on a study than they will lose in revenue by private merchants.
    • Roy S  •  9 mths ago
      Rick must not know much about wvu. NY and North Jerz make up of half their student body, with the other half spread from WV, VA, PA, OH
    • VincentD  •  9 mths ago
      free enterprise at its finest...
    • VincentD  •  9 mths ago
      who says college sports is not big business???
    • Nick S  •  9 mths ago
      I've gone to my share of WVU home games, but I have to tell you, finding a place to eat afterwards is TOUGH. The eateries are usually so packed that the wait is 90 minutes just to get seated.
    • Rick  •  9 mths ago
      Why in the DC area? Whose idea was this? Why not play it in West Virginia, where it belongs? The thought of this many WVU fans or whatever you wanna call "it" in this area is nauseating. Hopefully these hillbillies will be on their best behavior.
      • jemmajolie 9 mths ago
        Rest easy, Rick. Many WVU fans will not travel to this area for a football game after years of abuse and harassment at U of M. On my last visit, a 12 year old wearing a Mountaineer jersey was treated and released from a local hospital after being struck with a beer bottle. Disclaimer: We realize that this behavior is not typical of Terps fans, and does not represent the position of the University of Maryland.
      • Rick 9 mths ago
        I just wished the game was elsewhere and not here, I don't like WVU fans or what they stand for. Hop that 12 year old recovered and may God bless him.
      • hoops poop 9 mths ago
        You must be a Terps fan. They really stink.LOL
    • Jessica James  •  9 mths ago
      It would be nice to attend a football game closer to my hometown of Columbia MD even if it is every couple of years!
    • Reality Bites  •  9 mths ago
      Let's no forget all the hotels in Morgantown that require a two night minimum for every game weekend, forcing traveling fans to either stay in town one night longer than they plan, or to pay for an extra night and go home.
    • Hoosier Chuck  •  9 mths ago
      It's nice for Luck to say that his school makes $500K more, but Morgantown's population triples on football Saturdays. That's a lot of money that's not going to be spent in hotels, restaurants, etc.
    • Derek  •  9 mths ago
      JMU will beat them in Morgantown or DC!
      DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKES!
    • Rick  •  9 mths ago
      I'm worried too, living in Northern Va/ DC Metro area we do NOT want Mountaineer fans in this area when it's large numbers of them! These people are not use to what this area has to offer LOL!
      • Kryptik 9 mths ago
        Oh we're a pretty hearty lot. But thanks for your concern.
      • Reality Bites 9 mths ago
        Hey Rick - you're an idiot. There are over 20,000 alumni that alread live in the D.C. area. Just ask the Maryland fans when we play the Twerps in College Park. We own that stadium. As to what the D.C. area has to offer that WV does not, you would of course have to include crime, an abundance of drugs, traffic jams, HOAs, rude drivers, illegal alien driven crime, and a ton of lawyers and lobbyists.
      • Kryptik 9 mths ago
        Wassa matter? Fraid we'll steal yer wimin and eat up all yer victuals?
    • Kryptik  •  9 mths ago
      "Won't be done more than once every five years"...GET IT IN WRITING!
    • A Yahoo! User  •  9 mths ago
      Luck is no dummy and knows what he's doing. "Oliver Luck was also a finalist to be a Rhodes Scholar (but he did not obtain the scholarship), a National Football Foundation Scholar and a two-time GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American who graduated magna cum laude from WVU in 1982. He was named the team MVP in 1980 and 1981 and won the 1981 Louis D. Meisel Award. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa."
    • Bull Dawgs  •  9 mths ago
      Go Dukes!
    • SSG  •  9 mths ago
      ....how 'bout forgetting all the DC-area money, and just get back to the bones....Lane Stadium on a Saturday night one weekend and Morgantown the next, just for old times' sake! Now those were the good ole days, and you really dont need a hotel for either, unless you are just a sissy!!!! Go Hokies! Not that you mountain boys are wusses by no means, but you got to admit, that is a good deal for everyone....kind of like VT whooping up on UT (and yes, JMU whooping up on VT), good for the region as a whole and we all have friends and or family in all three (or four, JMU).....win win win win....... at least in Morgantown you can go into a fast food shop and not have to speak spanglish to order una hamberguesa con queso....
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