Businesses in Manhattan plan for possibility of no college football

MANHATTAN, Kan. (KSNT) – With the decision looming of whether or not to cancel college football this fall, business owners in Manhattan are ready the worst.

Scott Sieben is the owner of Kite’s Bar, Mr. K’s and the soon to be Rockin K’s right across from Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It seems like the perfect spot for a new bar and grill with all the thousands of football fans that pack the stands.

While some imagined fewer fans this year due to the pandemic, many business owners never imagined it could sit empty this fall.

“Being this close to the stadium is always a huge help for us,” Sieben said. “Like everyone we’ve had 100 different ideas on the wall, if football happens this is what we’re going to do, if it happens with 50% of fans we’ll do this.”

It’s not just the bars worried about what no fall sports could do to them.

“Aggieville is small businesses — it’s bars, it’s gift stores like ours, and restaurants,” Acme manager April Wagnon said. “What affects one — it affects us all.”

With a summer full of empty businesses in Aggieville and a potential for no game day weekends, places that sell Manhattan and K-state merchandise are having to get creative.

“We’re bringing our online store up and we are going to offer floral classes outside,” Wagnon said.

She says sales have already been down and this new conversation of a different fall in the Little Apple could be another blow to business.

“Football….we hope happens but if it doesn’t were just going to keep plugging away and doing everything we can,” Wagnon said.

The Riley Co. Health Department and the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jason Smith both declined an interview telling me they would prefer not to speculate about the final decision officials make.