UK Business Impact

2.png will u-k football play this fall?

It's what everyone wants to know.

Uk athletics director mitch barnhart is hopeful... saying his team is trying really hard to find a path forward.

If fall sports don't happen... the financial consequences could be big.

As abc 36's christy bollinger found out..

The hotel industry would take a huge hit.

Christy"the bluegrass hospitality group has been saying lets just get to fall, lets just get to fall... but not knowing what the fall will look like epsecially in terms of sports, is causing some serious concern."

Gm embassy suites & prez of hospitality group"it's become very apparent that fall isn't going to be the great savior that we thought it would be."

And hotels need a savior... when the pandemic first hit, general manager of embassy suites pam avery says they took a 90-95-percent loss in revenue.

Pam avery-gm & prez"i've been doing this a really long time and i've never seen anything like april before."

Business is a little better since then..

But still down as much as 70 percent.

Avery says they've gone from almost 80 employees, to 16 now.

"never seen an impact so sudden, so drastic, and so... there's no light."

If fall activities don't happen..uk football or other college sports, keeneland, breeders cup..

Avery says the hotel industry could suffer an 80- percent revenue loss.

"we're obviously all sitting on large pieces of land with property taxes and mortgages like everybody else."

That financial loss could result in hotels having to cut back even more.

"we're in a business that usually we have a lot of fun, and i gotta tell ya this is not fun."

But she says this'll pass... and fun will happen again.

Visit lex president mary quinn ramer says without fall sporting events, restaurants, transportation and retail also will take big hits.

And that doesn't include u-k itself, which has more than 250 people in the athletic department alone whose jobs could be at stake.

Christy bollinger, abc 36 news.

Ots image:right no act/sat