It’s less than two weeks before the ISU Cyclones play the Alabama Crimson Tide in the MainStay Independence Bowl and football fever has sparked a spending frenzy among Cyclone fans.

Although the main event is a football game, the flow of millions of dollars begins in local retail and travel businesses.

And it ends in Louisiana. The game is expected to send approximately $30 million dollars to the Shreveport-Bossier City, La., area, said Brandy Evans, public relations specialist for the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.

The now-official economic recession and the effects of Sept. 11 have taken their toll on the travel industry. But business is going as well as can be expected with plans for the bowl game, said Jenny Halligan, manager of Travel and Transport, 213 Duff Ave.

“We have had a lot of calls,” she said.

Many people will not get arrangements made right away, Halligan said. Instead, Cyclone fans will call and get information on the Travel and Transport package and compare it to other deals.

Another package is being offered by the ISU Alumni Association.

The Alumni Association Web site had 4,000 hits soon after the travel package was announced, said Jan Breitman, director of alumni travel.

Unlike Halligan, Breitman said Sept. 11 has not had an impact on the association’s travel business because the Alumni Association uses chartered airplanes instead of commercial aircraft.

And when the Cyclone fans arrive in Shreveport, they want to arrive in style, decked out in cardinal and gold.

Whenever ISU athletic teams are on the winning track, retail business gets a boost, said Gene Poklitar, manager of The Sports Page at North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave.

“It always has a positive impact,” he said. “We’re very fortunate in this area to have loyal customers.”

There are advantages to selling Cyclone clothes in Ames, Poklitar said, since many customers are students. He called the pre-bowl business a “shot in the arm” before retail sales drop with the students’ mass exodus for holiday break.

Current sales are similar to last year’s, when the Cyclones were headed to Phoenix for their Insight.com bowl bid against Pittsburgh, said Pat Scharfenkamp, manager of JC Penney at North Grand Mall.

“The week before Christmas, we’ll sell a lot of bowl stuff,” he said.

Although many businesses have experienced a positive impact before the bowl game, some end up losing money because of redirected priorities.

Rick Swank of Swank’s Jewelry, 319 Main St., said last year’s bowl game had a very significant negative effect on his business.

Many would-be jewelry customers last year told Swank they were not buying because they were using that money to take their families to the Insight.com Bowl.

The Independence Bowl may be a little different, he said.

“I haven’t heard that at all this year,” he said.