Despite the unrelenting wind and rain of last week, Abbie McGuire was on her annual pilgrimage to pick up the latest in University of Central Florida gear. The last few years her shopping pursuits were limited to the stores on the UCF campus, and so were the offerings. It seemed that most of the UCF garb she found was the same old black and gold.
So McGuire, and her daughters Katie, 3, and Taylor, 1, made the shorter trip from their Eastwood home to the new Game Day Sports, located across from Waterford Lakes Town Center. And it was here that they found an array of UCF merchandise that they hadn’t seen before, along with clothing and accessories representing sister schools University of Florida and Florida State University.
“I found a lot of different things for the kids that the other stores don’t have,” said McGuire, UCF Class of 2000. For instance, in children’s shirts the UCF Knight has teamed up with Snoopy and Sesame Street characters to catch the eye and imagination of little ones, and their parents.
As season-ticket holders of both UCF football and basketball, the McGuires know it’s never too early to start raising the next generation of UCF fans. “We truck them along to all the games. We have since they were born,” she said. Of course, the fan-friendly clothing at the store also sports a message targeting a more mature, er, older audience as well.
For example, there are the “Hurricanes Blow” T-shirts, available in UCF, UF and FSU colors since all three state schools have Miami University on their football schedule this year; a special edition Gator-blue T-shirt with a (Tim) Tebow/Superman logo; or a Kevin Smith No. 34 Detroit Lions jersey.
Then, stretching out a little further in the good-taste department, there is the “Beat the Bull out of USF” T-shirt in UCF black and gold, and the UF shirt honoring this week’s matchup with the University of Hawaii, “Football and a Lei, Now that’s a Gameday.” But that hardly scratches the surface. There are also hats, flags, license plates and tailgate gear, all emblazoned with your favorite Florida school’s logo.
“You’d be surprised what we have,” said shop owner Chris Mayr. “We have Gator stuff you can’t find anywhere but in Gainesville, if you can find it there. Nobody’s got the type of stuff we have. “We could open a store the size of Home Depot for just one school, and fill it. There’s that much out there.” Not content to confine itself to traditional T-shirt attire, Game Day Sports also ventures into the stylish realm of rah-rah.
Where else can you get a men’s raw silk cabana shirt or a casual, loosehanging top for the ladies, each equipped with a subtle watermark of a UF Gator? “It’s fashionable so you can wear it out anywhere. It doesn’t scream Gator fan,” he added. For those closets already bursting with black and gold, orange and blue, or burgundy and gold, there is even a choice of clothing in unique and unfamiliar color schemes.
Open just in time for football season, Game Day Sports caters to the college sports fan who cheers for UCF, UF or FSU, or some combination thereof. Mayr’s own family is a good example of how the seeds of school spirit are sown across the Sunshine State. His side of the family has roots at FSU while his wife’s side holds allegiance to UF.
Mayr is a graduate of UCF, Class of ’94. Not surprising to locals, sales of UCF merchandise is leading the pack among fanatic followers. “A sales rep thought that UF stuff would outsell everything, but UCF has been huge,” Mayr said. “Actually, Florida State is our next big seller. I think Gator fans just aren’t aware of us yet.”
But UCF fans — and there are plenty of them — are sure to be. In a partnership with Game Day Sports, the UCF Alumni Association is helping to direct the estimated 160,000 UCF alumni (70 percent of whom live in Central Florida) to both the store in Waterford Commons, as well its online version alumknights.com. Tom Messina, executive director of the UCF Alumni Association and Class of ’84, said his organization is thrilled to promote an active supporter of UCF athletics and another outlet for UCF merchandise.
“It’s a big population of UCF alumni out there. That’s why this store is going to work so well,” he said. Besides providing access to the online store through a link on its own Web site (UCFalumni.com), the association is offering UCF alumni club members a 15 percent discount on all Game Day Sports merchandise.
“It’s a good deal for everybody,” Messina said. “We want alumni to come here and take advantage of this.” Having been with the UCF Alumni Association for 18 years, Messina has seen the school grow in both size and stature. In 1992, UCF possessed an enrollment of 20,000 and alumni of 40,000, he said. Meanwhile, current enrollment tops out at 50,000, exponentially feeding a legion of alumni that already has quadrupled in number. Messina also helped the football program blossom, then bust out big time.
But this didn’t just happen during the last few winning seasons. “We’ve had loyal alumni for years and years. It was really Daunte Culpepper (UCF quarterback 1995-98) who pushed football to the forefront. Along with the opening of the on-campus stadium (in 2007) we have seen monumental growth. It really got alumni pumped up.
“The football program has built pride in the university, and it certainly helps alumni get engaged with UCF.” Game Day Sports is all about fueling that pump even more. In fact, when Mayr was researching his idea of opening a college- oriented merchandise store, the holder of a marketing degree was shocked to discover that such a need was unserved.
A year ago, the Waterford Trails resident spent six hours driving around the area surrounding UCF, going up and down every major street from Oviedo to Bithlo to Semoran Boulevard, in search of a store for fans. He found none.
“This is the sixth largest university in the country and there’s nowhere to get stuff. On campus there were stores, but that can be a chore — finding parking and finding out when they’re open because they work student hours,” he said. “In business school we learned that low competition and high demand makes sense from a business standpoint.”
