CINCINNATI — On Game Dey, it's make-or-break for the Bengals as the team seeks to recover from a slow start, but there's also a lot on the line for local businesses. When the Bengals win, so does the Cincinnati economy.
According to the Cincinnati Chamber, the Bengals playoff run in 2022 brought $135 million to the area.
Patrick Eichhold started working at Koch's Sporting Goods that season and said they couldn't keep jerseys on the shelves.
"My first day was the Thursday night game against Jacksonville and yeah, it was just wall-to-wall,” he said. "Yeah, it hasn't, it hasn't been that way lately."
When the Bengals struggle, Koch's business struggles too.
"There's definitely a correlation between people being excited about the team and what they come in to buy and spend with us,” Eichhold said.
He said Koch’s Sporting Goods is busier during the week of a Bengals home game. They draw more out-of-town fans, like Aldo Lalama, who flew in from California for the Bengals-Raiders game.
"I'm a very loyal fan,” Lalama said. “We don't get to see a lot of Bengals memorabilia or merchandise (in California), so when we come here, we try to stock up, because we never get it over there."
Despite the recent home games, Patrick Eichhold said overall, business has been slower than usual the last few weeks.
"We've had home games, but it hasn't been there, there just hasn't been like the excitement, you know, the weekend leading up to and on game day,” he said. “And, yeah, it's kind of hurt sales a little bit.”
Fans aren't giving up just yet.
“I’m hoping that we can pull out of this, and hopefully the next few games we can win and get a playoff spot," Lalama said.
Koch's is hoping a win will bring fans back to his store for new stripes.
"We'll see, we'll see. The next two games are on prime time, they're on the road, so that'll be a little bit different,” he said. “ If they can get some people healthy after that, two solid wins, yeah, the excitement will continue to build."
The Bengals' success impacts the bars and restaurants surrounding Paycor stadium too. Last year, the general manager of Moerlein Lager House told us they brought in about a week’s worth of business during just one Bengals playoff game.
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