Well, the Super Bowl had quite an impact on Jacksonville. Unfortunately, it didn't have much impact on my business, or any other business out at the beaches. In fact, it actually did the opposite of what we wanted it to do.
For weeks and months now we had been listening to people say how slammed we would be with business when people coming for the Super Bowl came into town. That may have been true for some of the businesses downtown, and it was definitely true for people doing outcall massage, but the beaches turned into a dead area.
The event did have an impact out this way, but it had the opposite effect of what everybody was expecting. Most people that came for the game were either downtown, or much farther away than the beaches. Because of the expected crowds, all the locals stayed home, not daring to go out for fears of traffic or other problems that could be out there. Consequently, this led to a very, very dead week before my trip to Arizona. I do have to admit though that I did have one Super Bowl related massage session. One of the people that works for the NFL had been driving down Third Street, looking for a massage establishment, and saw my sign. Upon walking into the studio, he was very glad to see me. It seems he had been concerned about locating a reputable establishment in this area. I guess that can be pretty hard in New York. He really enjoyed the work I did on him and tipped real well on his way out.
The problem was that most of the people that were coming in for the game were coming up on Friday or Saturday before the game rather than earlier at the week. The celebrities who came in earlier than the weekend stayed out at Amelia Island which is north and east of Jacksonville. There were sightings of people like Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, and Clint Eastwood. (It makes sense that Clint Eastwood would stay up at Amelia Island as it is there an area called Callahan. If you don't understand the joke I'm making, look up one of Clint Eastwood's earlier movies, specifically "Dirty Harry".)
Surprisingly enough, I actually only got one phone call during the entire time Friday through today. (My office phone transfers to my cell phone, so that I do know what calls I'm getting even when I'm not at the office.) If I didn't know what the number that was calling, I simply let it go to voicemail. Of course, there were no messages left.
So, with all the business predicted from the Super Bowl, out our way it turned out to be a total bust. In fact, it cost us business instead of giving us business. I'm actually glad I didn't stay in town for the whole thing.