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More than three decades since their last match, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish will play against the Indiana University Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff on Friday at 8 p.m.
The rare in-state match is creating buzz and excitement for fans across the state, as well as businesses in St. Joseph County and surrounding areas. With the Christmas season in full swing, the home game seems like an early Christmas present for area-businesses who usually bid farewell to football crowds in November.
“There was no single piece of business, no convention, no event, nothing else that we could have done on the weekend of December 20th and 21st that would even remotely come as close to replicating the impact of the 80,000-plus fans that will come into St. Joseph County,” Visit South Bend Mishawaka Executive Director Jeff Jarnecke said. “They will have an economic impact of more than $36 million to the entire region. It is such a gift to the entire county, if not the entire economy.”
Snow showers are expected Friday morning, well before the game starts. At kickoff, the weather would be in the high 20’s, making for less than ideal playing and cheering conditions. With decades of experience welcoming fans in winter weather, Visit South Bend Mishawaka has plans to keep visitors warm, and to display Michiana hospitality.
“From the time somebody steps off, if they’re traveling through South Bend International Airport, there are welcome banners, and balloons,” Jarnecke said. “There would be street activations with the team passing out hand warmers, serving hot chocolate, and welcoming guests to town. We’re turning the City of South Bend green on that night to cheer on the Irish.”
Following the game drawing, ticket prices and hotel rates skyrocketed, with one room going for as much as $1,359 as of Tuesday. Sticker shock, and the fact that it is an in-state playoff game, have contributed to a few hotel rooms still being available.
“There are more rooms available now than we expected there to be. Hotel rooms have come down slightly in price, doesn’t mean there are a lot available,” Jarnecke said. “They are more full than not, but there’s still rooms out there and available if you want to make an impromptu trip to South Bend this weekend.”
Adding that rooms could still be available because most fans live close enough to drive down and head back home after, Jarnecke said that other fans may be holding out to see the winning team at the quarterfinals against Georgia at the Sugar Bowl.
“They may elect to save their money and put it towards a future trip and see them in the next round, as compared to coming to South Bend,” he said. “Many more can make it a day trip, as compared to spending the weekend in South Bend.”
For first time visitors, Jarnecke said experiencing Notre Dame’s campus and downtown South Bend is a must.
“See the Grotto, the Basilica, and all the beauty that University of Notre Dame offers. It’s our number one visitor attraction in St. Joseph County, each and every day of the year, regardless if there’s a game or not,” he said. “Experience in and around Eddie Street, in and around the tailgate opportunities and activations that are out there.”
Jarnecke expects traffic to still be “painful,” especially because it is a Friday game. To make it less painful, he said fans can park downtown, take a free bus, or walk to the stadium.
“You can park downtown, on the street, or in one of the parking garages, and take the Transpo bus. That’s a free circulator bus that will pick up at the hotels and at the Century Center, take you to campus, and bring you back after the game,” he said. “There’s also The Link, the new urban trail, a 1.3 mile walk from downtown to campus as well.”
Those coming in from out of town can check out Visit South Bend Mishawaka’s website for tips and tricks for getting the best experience this weekend.
“This is our version of the Final Four, of a Super Bowl, of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. It’s something that the entire hospitality community is rallying behind right now and really looking forward to,” Jarnecke said. “We are just beyond excited to have this gift in St. Joseph County that will really help make an incredible year for many folks, or maybe make the year a little bit easier for some folks. Regardless, it’s a big win that we didn’t originally anticipate earlier this year.”
Tailgating
A huge part of the college football experience is tailgating. Local business Game Day Your Way works to put the stress out of planning tailgates, leaving fans to enjoy and make memories with friends, family and colleagues.
Matt Sheldon, CEO of Game Day Your Way, said the playoff happening in South Bend was a pleasant surprise and a welcome financial boost for the end of the year.
“The majority of our business revolves around Notre Dame football. Usually we’re done by November. So the playoff game, being at home, will have a significant impact on our business, and ultimately, the local economy,” Sheldon said. “It’s kind of like an unexpected Christmas bonus to have revenue coming in in December.”
Once the bracket was drawn, Sheldon and his team quickly put the playoff packages online, and the orders started to pour in. The company offers a full tailgate experience for a fee, but also rents out equipment to those who may want to curate their own experience. Fans from Chicago can also ditch their cars for the Irish Express, a bus service the company offers.
“We’re seeing great demand, we’ve actually sold out our party zone parking lot for the bus and car parking,” Sheldon said. “We still have some packages for the party zone tailgate party, the tailgate lot packages, and seats on the Irish Express from Chicago.”
The party zone features a barbeque buffet from Mission BBQ, dessert, a full bar, and games. Depending on the opponent, between 100 to 300 people usually sign up for the party zone. For the playoffs, Sheldon expects that number to hover around100 to 150.
“The timeline, and the game ticket price is another big driver. Some of the resale tickets are upwards of $1000 to $5,000 which is crazy,” he said. “We’ll have an enclosed tent with heaters to try to keep it as warm as we can.”
In addition to basic equipment rental, the company also offers full gameday concierge services, coordinating transportation, flights, catering, game day tickets, parking passes, and everything in between.
“We allow you to host your group without any of the work and really focus on the memories versus all the logistics,” Sheldon said. “We’re a truly encompassing one stop shop to make it easy for our customers to focus on what’s most important.”
Stadium Connectivity
When University Network and Telephony Services noticed that the Notre Dame stadium Wi-Fi was beginning to struggle to keep up with fan connectivity and streaming demands, they started working on upgrading the infrastructure.
They turned on Wi-Fi 6E access in the stadium in September, following Federal Communications Commission approval.
“We’ve had it on since then, and we’ve seen a four times increase in throughput and utilization,” University Network and Telephony Services Senior Director John Buysse said. “We’re excited about the future possibilities of how we can use this technology to improve the fan experience and engagement while they’re at the stadium.”
The new system has allowed the stadium to upgrade its ticket scanners, cutting the bottleneck at the gates. Fans are able to connect about 100 feet from the gates, and can download mobile tickets while waiting in line. With thousands of access points across the stadium, fans can connect to “ND Guest” on their smart devices to share snapshots from the game or get live updates.
“Before we upgraded the Wi-Fi in the stadium, when we had 80,000 guests connected, it was like you were on the interstate at rush hour, and it came to a screeching halt,” Buysse said. “With this newer Wi-Fi, the added capacity, capabilities, and throughput, there’s additional lanes to our interstate. So even during rush hour, the traffic is flowing.”
Buysse said the new Wi-Fi technology is expected to be in all Notre Dame buildings by the end of summer 2025 and in all patios and select green spaces by the end of summer 2026.
The winner will face the Georgia Bulldogs at the Sugar Bowl in a quarterfinal game on Jan. 1. The Bulldogs have won all three meetings with Notre Dame, but have never faced Indiana.
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