“Winning makes people happy, and happy people like to spend money.”

If you win it, they will come.

“The schools that win national championships see a significant push in their licensing revenues,” Thomas said. “When you win a national championship, you take on a more national effect because of the exposure that goes with it.”

Thomas predicted that if Georgia won a national championship in football, royalties would gross more than $9 million, nearly twice the amount made last year ($5.383 million). Georgia merchandise royalties could climb even if the football team lost in a national championship, as evidenced by Notre Dame’s climb up the list of top grossing schools after appearing in the 2013 title game, according to ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell. (Notre Dame went from ninth to third in one year.)

And even if you don’t, it may work out if you have a forgiving fan base.

“I don’t really think that Georgia fans get down for that long,” Towe said. “Everybody’s disappointed when they lose but there’s always next week. I see a quick rebound in attitude. People take a couple of days to pout and then it’s back to business.”

You’ve got to make hay while the sun shines.  And that sunshine doesn’t last too long.

But once the football season is over, the rush trickles down. Red Zone and the Clubhouse don’t see nearly as much traffic in the spring as they do in the fall. Royals said the rest of the year was just a lot quieter.

Her store and other Georgia memorabilia stores like it are able to stay in business because of a constant, if somewhat dimmed, demand for “G” or Bulldogs-branded items.

“We’ve seen the cycle 10 times and it’s pretty much unchanged,” said Towe, who opened Red Zone in 2003. “The end of football season is also the same as the end of the calendar year and the holiday season. There’s that typical dip. We climb through December and January 1st, until the bowl game, and then (sales) take a nose dive. Then it’s a steady climb back up the ladder.”

You want to get those licensing revenues up?  Get to that national championship game, or schedule more regular season home games.  Cupcake?  It’s what’s on the menu.