MADISON (WKOW) -- Barry Alvarez announcing that he'll coach during the Rose Bowl has suddenly created huge interest in what was regarded as a very mediocre Rose Bowl.
The internet has been buzzing with comments, pictures and several tributes to the Wisconsin football legend. Badger fans are eager to get anything they can to mark the special occasion.
"Right away I was like "Barry Knows," so we came out with a shirt that just says "Barry Knows" on it," says Sconnie Nation manager Isaac Lenz.
For Lenz and his co-workers, the news about Alvarez inspired many ideas. Most of them became T-shirts.
"We had the "Barry Knows" shirt up within 10 minutes of Bielema letting it slip in his press conference in Arkansas that Barry was going to coach," Lenz says.
Since then Lenz and his designers have added two more designs with another one on the way.
They read, "Stay Calm and Barry On," "Teach Me How to Barry," and "In Barry We Trust."
So far the T-shirts have only been offered online, but that's not stopping fans from buying.
"The website traffic is 1000 percent over the day before," says Lenz.
In only two days each design has sold hundreds of shirts at $17 each.
Besides T-shirts and clothing, Rose Bowl tickets also saw an uptick in sales the last two days. According to StubHub, Wednesday was its busiest day for ticket sales. That trend continued on Thursday bringing the average ticket price to $353 apiece.
