When the University announced new regulations regarding tailgating on North Campus, several downtown business owners “freaked out.”

Mike Bradshaw, the owner of The Grill, said many businesses were anxious about sales plummeting because pedestrian traffic coming from North Campus would be drastically less.

Downtown businesses such as Pauley’s on Clayton Street have seen a slight rise in sales this fall despite the ban on gameday tailgating on North Campus. Photo by AJ REYNOLDS.

Without the steady flow of tailgaters from North Campus, Bradshaw said he was convinced downtown would be a ghost town on gamedays.

However, for many businesses, including The Grill, the implementation of the new tailgating regulations has had the opposite effect.

Ashley Becker, the owner of the downtown clothing store Flirt, said sales have actually increased this football season. But whether this can be attributed to the tailgating rules or the afternoon kickoffs, she does not know.

“The 12:30 games are good for business,” Becker said. “Many people leave at halftime and come downtown to walk around.”

Bradshaw said he has not noticed any drop in sales this football season.

He said once people begin coming into The Grill at 8 a.m., the restaurant stays full all day.

What may affect sales more than where football fans are allowed to tailgate is how well the football team is performing.

“The better the football team does, the better we do,” Bradshaw said.

Pauley’s Crepe Bar has also experienced a slight rise in sales this football season. Joshua Fox, Pauley’s assistant manager, said gamedays have been busier than he expected.

“The past game, we had a lot more people than we thought we would — more than compared with last year,” he said.

Now that people cannot tailgate on North Campus, they come downtown and spend money, Fox said.

Several business owners said the new tailgating rules are not a major point of concern among them, now that they have not felt any negative effects.

“People are going to come downtown whether there’s tailgating or not,” Fox said.