BCS Championship Game Bringing Big Money, Business To Pasadena

PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — BCS stands for bowl championship series, but it could also stand for big BuCkS.

Pasadena is ready to play host Monday to a highly anticipated game between Florida State and Auburn.

College football fans from far and wide (especially Florida and Alabama, where Auburn is located) are filling up Pasadena and the Rose Bowl.

That means big money for the area.

As Melanie Woodrow reports for KCAL9, dozens of RVs are already lined up outside the stadium.

"We drove all the way from Destin, Florida," said Keith Howard whose allegiance should be fairly obvious.

All those families are buying food, accommodations, gas and memorabilia.

For those who don't have the amenities of home tucked in a RV, there's Old Town Pasadena.

Linda Hinojos of 1810 Restaurant said that large crowds like this mean one thing: "We get really busy, so we bring on extra servers."

"Everyone is from somewhere and it's been like this for about two weeks," said Erin Moya of 21 Choices. "It's crazy. We're about twice as busy as we'd be on a regular normal winter weekend."

The best for the fans is seeing their favorite teams in a totally different setting.

"It's just being with your team in a whole other city, whole other part of the country," said Auburn fan Emily Williams.

"We're helping the [local] economy for sure," said Vars Moore, another Auburn fan.

All this money pumping into the Pasadena economy is a good thing, but Woodrow reports they shouldn't spend it all right now.

It could be a while before Pasadena gets to host a BCS game again. The earliest open date with the new application system is 2019.