KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The Western Michigan Bronco football team is looking for its first MAC championship since 2016.
The Broncos will take on a Miami (OH) Redhawks team they lost to back on Oct. 26, their only conference loss.
In West Michigan, fans are getting excited about the possibility of seeing another trophy for the athletic department.
The Spirit Shoppe in Kalamazoo, located on W KL Avenue, saw significant traffic in their store on Friday.
Scarlett Priebe, a senior at WMU and an employee at the Spirit Shoppe, told News Channel 3 the success of the athletic programs has driven customers.
“We’re doing pretty well with football this year, going to the MAC Championship, so there’s just been tons of customers in and out, lots of students and alumni coming around,” Priebe said. “So, it’s been really cool to see.”
Spirit Shoppe employees told News Channel 3 they received 60 online orders in one day for MAC Championship gear.
The success from the football program has created new fans and brought back old ones.
“We’ve had alumni come in and shop for the game,” Priebe said. “They’re definitely looking to see their old teammates and coaches. We’ve had old coaches come in, actually, last week a few times shopping for gear, Christmas gifts, stuff like that, and then obviously, a bunch of students coming in in big groups, getting ready, getting all their outfits planned for the game. So, there’s been a lot of people.”
WMU students also said the success of the athletic department has put Kalamazoo on the map.
“I think now that we’re starting to get more of these like national championships, state championships, playoff games, it’s bringing in a lot more coverage to our school and I think that we’re definitely becoming a much more well known like Michigan university,” Priebe said.
WMU will send two buses of fans to Ford Field from Miller Auditorium Saturday at 8:30 a.m.
