Stateline Bars and Restaurants prepare for the Influx of guests thanks to the NFL season.

ROCKFORD, Ill (WTVO) — Local restaurants and bars welcome the start of the NFL season and for good reason, as the new season brings in more business.

Tony Bilic, one of the managers at Murphys Pub and Grill said, “we go, we employ more staff, we have better drink specials, better food specials. Just generally, this is the time when everyone’s smiling, everyone’s buzzing and business is flowing, drinks are flowing and the money’s coming in.”

After just one NFL week, businesses have already seen an influx of business, with Michael Sterling, the owner of Legends Bar and Grill saying the NFL season boosts revenue quite a bit.

“NFL in this area probably boosts most restaurants by 10 to 15 percent,” said Sterling. “So these are times that we look for every year.”

Though, with different games on different streaming services, having every NFL game each week comes at a high cost.

“The different TV options has kind of thrown us for our little local areas for a little bit of a loop,” explained Sterling. “Trying to catch which games are going to be on what TV station or channel. For Legends, it was 7500 dollars for the NFL package, for another bar of mine that is bigger, it was 12,000 dollars.”

At the end of the day, it is all about the camaraderie in celebrating your favorite team, as well as bringing in the business.

“It was good to see people that you haven’t seen in a couple of months,” said Sterling. “To see new faces also, because obviously, the area is always changing. So people are coming in, and they’re always looking for a new place to feel comfortable.”

“We see a lot of people come in here, it really helps the business out,” said Bilic. “It feels like a community, a community based in Rockford, and a community based in Football.”