Birmingham is ready for its annual closeup – as it prepares to host the bowl game that bears the city’s name.

And after the bands quit playing, the final whistle blows and the fans head home, that means one thing – counting the money.

When Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt kick off Friday afternoon at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium, it will be the eighteenth time the Magic City has hosted the game. Over its history, the bowl has generated an estimated $181 million in economic impact to the Birmingham area since its beginning in 2006.

And that impact takes many forms.

There’s the obvious – ticket sales, hotel rooms, meals at local restaurants. There’s the sales and lodging taxes associated with the game.

But there’s also impact that is harder to track. That’s the “goodwill” dollars – the money generated from a bowl experience that brings people to the city who might not normally visit Birmingham. Some of those people may decide to return, or go home and offer word-of-mouth endorsements to friends.

“It can be a multitude of things,” said Meredith Drennen, vice president of investor relations with the Birmingham Business Alliance. “The money that’s spent is always from visitors, and that money goes right back into the economy.

“And when we have guests come in who aren’t familiar with Birmingham, it’s a great way to show off what Birmingham is, our amazing culture,” she said.

The city has hosted the Birmingham Bowl since 2006, when the first game was staged at Legion Field. The old stadium was also the venue for the city’s previous postseason contests, the Hall of Fame Classic from 1977 to 1985, and the All-American Bowl from 1986 through 1990.

Since 2021, the game has been played at Protective Stadium. The first edition there featured Auburn, and a record crowd of 47,100. It was one of the most watched bowl games outside the New Year’s Day Six. While the last two games haven’t approached that attendance number, this year’s game features SEC team Vanderbilt in an historic season where it bested both Alabama and Auburn. But don’t hold it against them, locals.

Their opponent, Georgia Tech, is traveling only 140 miles from campus. That’s a good recipe for the kind of gameday crowd to fill restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues.

A full slate of activities is already planned for fans on Thursday and Friday at Uptown Birmingham. Drennen said the economic impact can be magnified with Protective Stadium’s convenience to downtown.

“Having a state-of-the-art stadium that is easy to get into and out of it, and is so close to hotels and restaurants, it really does make a difference in the fan experience,” she said. “It ultimately results in more dollars spent locally, and more money back into the economy.”