THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SPORTS TOURNAMENTS AND EVENTS.Last year, the National Recreation and Park Association solicited cities to participate in a study detailing the economic impact of sports tournaments, festivals, and spectator Spectator, English daily periodical published jointly by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele with occasional contributions from other writers. It succeeded the Tatler, a periodical begun by Steele on Apr. 12, 1709, under the pseudonym Isaac Bickerstaff. events organized or facilitated by park and recreation agencies. The goal of the study was to collect reasonably accurate data from a substantial number of events, and to estimate the economic impact of these events, hopefully free from the errors and abuses found in most economic-impact studies. It was anticipated that these results would reveal consistent patterns and parameters that could be used to estimate economic impact in communities that did not lend themselves to the collection and analysis of empirical data. Seven cities Seven Cities may refer to:
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the county seat of Ada County and the principal city of the Boise metropolitan area. ; College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in Central Texas. It is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near to three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San ; Des Moines, Iowa “Des Moines” redirects here. For other uses, see Des Moines (disambiguation). Des Moines (pronounced /dɪˈmɔɪn/ in English, ; Everett Everett. 1 City (1990 pop. 35,701), Middlesex co., E Mass., an industrial suburb of Boston, on the Mystic River; settled c.1643, set off from Malden 1870, inc. as a city 1892. , Wash.; Grand Rapids Grand Rapids, city (1990 pop. 189,126), seat of Kent co., SW central Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1850. The second largest city in the state, it is a distribution, wholesale, and industrial center for an area that yields fruit, dairy products, farm produce, and Lansing Lansing. 1 Village (1990 pop. 28,086), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb of Chicago, near the Ind. line; inc. 1893. Among the city's industries are meatpacking, food processing, and the manufacture of metal products. 2 City (1990 pop. , Mich.; and Scottsdale Scottsdale, city (1990 pop. 130,069), Maricopa co., central Ariz.; settled in 1895 by Winfield Scott, inc. 1951. It is a resort and retirement center in the Phoenix metropolitan area. , Ariz. -- volunteered to participate in the study. All were reasonably diverse in size and geographical location. During the year, the economic impact of 30 events in these seven cities was estimated. The Rationale rationale (rash´  nal´),n the fundamental reasons used as the basis for a decision or action. for Economic-Impact Studies When the park and recreation department in City A reported the financial consequences of organizing and hosting a national softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' championship tournament, it revealed a loss of $9,375. When City A's convention and visitors bureau reported the consequences of hosting the same event, it showed a gain of $525,000. It is obvious which agency was likely to be viewed more positively by elected officials and taxpayers. Why did the two agencies report such disparate data from the same event? The two agencies used different approaches for demonstrating accountability for their public funds See Fund, 3. See also: Public . Park and recreation agencies have traditionally provided financial reports, while the tourism field has proffered economic reports. Thus, the two agencies have occupied very different positions in the eyes of public officials. By using economic reports, many convention and visitor bureaus A Convention and Visitor Bureau(CVB) is a Destination Marketing Organisation in the USA which represents a tourist destination. A tourist destination in the USA is every State, almost all bigger cities and a several counties. Financing There are two different types of financing. have convinced elected officials and decision-makers that they are central contributors to their community's economic health. In contrast, because they rely upon financial reports, park and recreation agencies have not typically been successful in creating a similar niche for themselves. Fig. 1 provides the rationale behind park and recreation agencies developing economic balance sheets to supplement financial information. Residents of a community "give" funds to their city council in the form of taxes. The city council uses a proportion of these funds to subsidize sub·si·dize tr.v. sub·si·dized, sub·si·diz·ing, sub·si·diz·es 1. To assist or support with a subsidy. 2. To secure the assistance of by granting a subsidy. production of an event or development of a facility. The facility or event attracts nonresident non·res·i·dent adj. 1. Not living in a particular place: nonresident students who commute to classes. 2. visitors who spend money in the local community both inside and outside of the events and facilities they visit. This new outside money creates income and jobs for community residents, thus completing the cycle. When community residents provide the initial funds, they receive a return on their investment in the form of new jobs and more household income. [Fig. 1 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A park and recreation agency's traditional financial balance sheet assumes that the cycle shown in Fig. 1 starts and ends with city council, not residents. This is narrow and misleading because it includes only the taxes and revenue that accrue To increase; to augment; to come to by way of increase; to be added as an increase, profit, or damage. Acquired; falling due; made or executed; matured; occurred; received; vested; was created; was incurred. to local government from the event or facility. Such a narrow definition suggests that concern should be focused on income accruing to the council from lease fees, admission revenue, increased sales-tax revenue, and other sources. However, this approach is flawed flaw 1 n. 1. An imperfection, often concealed, that impairs soundness: a flaw in the crystal that caused it to shatter. See Synonyms at blemish. 2. conceptually because the money invested belongs to the city's residents, not the council. Although it is efficient for residents' investment to be funneled through the council, the return is what is important, not the proportion that filters back to the council. The purpose of economic-impact studies is to measure the economic return to residents. Table 1 illustrates the differences between the financial and economic approaches. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the park and recreation department's financial balance sheet, the tournament was a $9,375 disappointment. However, if the agency had used an economic balance sheet -- as tourism agencies do -- it would have shown a net return of $273,000, $511,000, or $150,000, depending upon whether economic impact was reported in terms of direct expenditures, sales impact, or impact on personal incomes. (These figures were calculated by subtracting the $14,000 net cost to taxpayers from the gross amount of hosting the event.) Table 1. Amateur Softball's Economic and Financial Returns Context All 37 teams that qualified for the tournament were from outside the local area. The average number of players per team was 15. Some players brought family and friends with them, so the average size of the contingent associated with each team, including the players, was 21. Because it was an elimination tournament, the length of time that the teams stayed in the community varied from two to six nights. Economic Return A survey of the players revealed the following: Total expenditures in the local area by players and $287,000 their family and friends An input-output model that calculated multipliers concluded the following: Total economic impact on sales $525,000 Total economic impact on personal income $164,000 Financial Return Income to the city parks and recreation department $4,625 from entry fees Costs incurred by the department, including $14,000 manpower, to host the event Net financial loss to the city $9,375 Payback Period The cost of constructing the softball complex was almost $2 million. Based on economic return to residents in terms of personal income, the capital cost of the complex would be repaid after 14 similar tournaments. The capital cost of the softball complex was approximately $2 million, which means that if the personal-income measure of economic impact was used, which is the most appropriate measure, the investment would pay for itself after 14 tournaments. How many other investments pay for themselves in two years (assuming seven tournaments per year) and continue to contribute $1 million to residents annually for the next 20 years? Caveat Emptor [Latin, Let the buyer beware.] A warning that notifies a buyer that the goods he or she is buying are "as is," or subject to all defects. When a sale is subject to this warning the purchaser assumes the risk that the product might be either defective or Because the findings reported by many economic-impact studies are not always what they appear to be, "buyer beware be·ware v. be·wared, be·war·ing, be·wares v.tr. To be on guard against; be cautious of: "Beware the ides of March" Shakespeare. v. " is an appropriate warning for readers. Most research projects are based on a search for truth. But the goal in economic-impact studies is to legitimize le·git·i·mize tr.v. le·git·i·mized, le·git·i·miz·ing, le·git·i·miz·es To legitimate. le·git a position. Economic-impact studies are usually undertaken in order to justify a public expenditure in quantitative dollar terms, with the expectation that the results will reinforce the case for sustaining or increasing resources allocated to the service. In these circumstances CIRCUMSTANCES, evidence. The particulars which accompany a fact. 2. The facts proved are either possible or impossible, ordinary and probable, or extraordinary and improbable, recent or ancient; they may have happened near us, or afar off; they are public or , there is a temptation Temptation Terror (See HORROR.) apple as fruit of the tree of knowledge in Eden, has come to epitomize temptation. [O.T.: Genesis 3:1–7; Br. Lit. to manipulate manipulate To cause a security to sell at an artificial price. Although investment bankers are permitted to manipulate temporarily the stock they underwrite, most other forms of manipulation are illegal. the procedures to strengthen the case. Because economic-impact studies use complex procedures and produce quantifiable Quantifiable Can be expressed as a number. The results of quantifiable psychological tests can be translated into numerical values, or scores. Mentioned in: Psychological Tests outcomes, bottom-line-oriented audiences often presume pre·sume v. pre·sumed, pre·sum·ing, pre·sumes v.tr. 1. To take for granted as being true in the absence of proof to the contrary: We presumed she was innocent. that the analyses are "scientific" and that outputs are objective and unequivocal. This is misleading. Economic-impact analysis is an inexact in·ex·act adj. 1. Not strictly accurate or precise; not exact: an inexact quotation; an inexact description of what had taken place. 2. process; therefore, output numbers should be regarded as a "best guess," not inviolably in·vi·o·la·ble adj. 1. Secure from violation or profanation: an inviolable reliquary deep beneath the altar. 2. accurate. To further illustrate, five different individuals would probably produce live different results. The National Recreation and Park Association's involvement in this study was stimulated by an awareness of the temptation to adopt inappropriate procedures and assumptions in order to generate favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. numbers, and the tendency for errors that result from genuine lack of understanding of economic-impact analyses. NRPA NRPA National Recreation and Park Association NRPA Natural Resources Protective Association (Staten Island, NY) NRPA Niagara Regional Police Association (Canada) NRPA National Rifle and Pistol Association considered it important that statistics relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc economic benefits be accurate, otherwise the credibility of the Benefits effort would be undermined. Some Conclusions Reviewing the results from the 30 case studies did reveal some consistent patterns. Researchers will be quick to point out that results from the tournaments and events in the seven cities followed here are likely to differ from studies of similar events in other communities. Notwithstanding these reservations, in communities where managers have no empirical data but are required by stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. to provide estimates of visitor spending and economic impact, or need such estimates to help reposition their agencies, the results from these case studies suggest useful parameters for providing "intelligent guesses." Patterns emerging from the 14 sports tournaments suggested the following: 1. The larger the number of out-of-town out-of-town adj. 1. Of, relating to, or being from another town or city. 2. Happening in another town or city: the out-of-town début of a new musical. Adj. 1. participants, the greater the likely economic impact. 2. If an overnight stay is not required, the economic impact on the community is likely to be small. The highest total expenditures correlated cor·re·late v. cor·re·lat·ed, cor·re·lat·ing, cor·re·lates v.tr. 1. To put or bring into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation. 2. strongly with longer tournaments, which presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. required more overnight stays. The two tournaments with the smallest economic impact were both one-day events one-day event a contraction of the three-day event but like that contest is aimed at selecting the best all-round horse and rider. The events usually contested are show-jumping, dressage and cross-country. . Such sports events are probably too small or not prestigious enough to attract visitors from far away, thus relying primarily on locals. 3. An expectation of approximately $55 per participant, per day is likely to be a reasonable basis for estimating expenditures at youth soccer tournaments. 4. An expectation of approximately $100 per participant, per day is likely to be a reasonable basis for estimating the expenditures at softball tournaments. Patterns emerging from the 16 festivals and events suggested the following: 1. Large groups of participants and spectators do not necessarily equal large economic impact. Many out-of-town visitors traveled short distances to an event, and their spending on accommodations and food in the host community was minimal. 2. The importance of ascertaining the proportion of time-switchers and casuals was clearly demonstrated. Time-switchers are visitors who plan to visit a community in the near future but change the time of their visit to coincide with an event. Casuals are visitors already in the community who elect to go to an event instead of doing something else. In both cases, the spending of these individuals would have occurred without the event and, thus, cannot be counted as economic impact attributable to the event. In five of the 16 studies, time-switchers and casuals represented approximately one-third of all visitors. 3. Reasonably accurate measures of economic impact are dependent upon reasonably accurate visitor counts. At sporting events where teams or individuals have to register with the organizer, an accurate count is usually available. Similarly, at gated spectator or festival events that charge an admission, accurate counts are available from ticket sales or turns the counts. However, many festivals are not gated and do not charge admission. In these cases, organizers : Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
4. A golf tournament--a stop on the men's pro tour -- demonstrated the extraordinary economic impact generated by a mega-event in a local community. The total expenditure not only reflected a large proportion of out-of-town visitors and multiple nights spent in the community, but also that the visitors were relatively affluent. The nearly $30 million estimate of direct spending was limited to the expenditures of spectators, and dwarfed the $8 million generated by the other 15 festivals and events, as well as the $3.3 million at the 14 sports tournaments. 5. Expenditures by out-of-town visitors exceeded $100,000 at seven of the 16 special events, while 11 of 14 sports tournaments exceeded this mark. These data suggest that sports tournaments are more likely to generate substantial positive economic impacts than special events because of the higher proportion of out-of-town participants and the frequent requirement that participants stay for multiple days. Presenting the Results Agencies should prepare an annual economic-impact report for their stakeholders. Extrapolations can be made between data collected from surveyed and non-surveyed events in a community. An example, taken from sports tournaments in City A, appears in Table 2. Data from the six events listed above the bold line were collected by surveys, while no surveys were performed at the remaining four events. These events were then matched against the first six, and the per-team member, per-day dollar value was used from the matching events to calculate the total expenditure and economic impact.
Table 2. Economic Impact of Sports Events Held in City A in 1998
Duration
(No. of No. of
Date Days) Teams
USS Swim Meet 1-23 3 24
Boys' Soccer Tournament 2-20 3 68
Girls' Soccer Tournament 2-28 3 70
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 5-29 3 69
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 8-1 3 28
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 9-7 5 60
Budweiser Tournament 5-2 2 162
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 7-10 3 34
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 7-24 3 101
State Women's Fastpitch 8-1 2 5
Total - - 621
Average
Size of No. of
Team Individual
Squad Participants
USS Swim Meet 45 1,079
Boys' Soccer Tournament 15 1,020
Girls' Soccer Tournament 15 1,050
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 12 828
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 14 392
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 14 840
Budweiser Tournament 14 2,268
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 12 408
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 14 1,414
State Women's Fastpitch 12 60
Total - 9,359
Teams Teams
from from
Inside Outside
City City
No. % No. %
USS Swim Meet 2 8.3 22 91.7
Boys' Soccer Tournament 5 7.4 63 92.6
Girls' Soccer Tournament 0 0.0 70 100.0
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 15 21.7 54 78.3
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 1 3.7 27 96.4
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 2 3.3 58 96.7
Budweiser Tournament 30 18.5 132 81.5
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 1 2.9 33 97.1
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 14 13.9 87 86.1
State Women's Fastpitch 0 0.0 5 100.0
Total 70 11.3 551 88.7
Average Direct
Expenditures
Total Per Per Team
Expenditure Team Per Day
USS Swim Meet 124,999 5,682 1,894
Boys' Soccer Tournament 128,519 2,040 680
Girls' Soccer Tournament 160,956 2,299 766
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 184,517 3,417 1,139
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 93,219 3,453 1,151
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 386,999 6,672 1,334
Budweiser Tournament 303,864 2,302 1,151
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 112,761 3,417 1,139
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 300,411 3,453 1,151
State Women's Fastpitch 11,390 2,278 1,139
Total 1,807,635 - -
Average Direct
Expenditures
Economic
Per Team Impact
Per Team Member
Member Per Day
USS Swim Meet 126 42
Boys' Soccer Tournament 136 45
Girls' Soccer Tournament 153 51
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 285 95
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 247 82
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 477 95
Budweiser Tournament 164 82
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 285 95
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 247 82
State Women's Fastpitch 190 95
Total - -
Economic Impact
Personal
Sales Income Jobs(*)
USS Swim Meet 236,852 64,201 5.3
Boys' Soccer Tournament 247,085 69,493 5.7
Girls' Soccer Tournament 305,070 85,889 6.8
Girls' Fastpitch
Invitational Tournament 351,588 99,811 8.0
ASA Men's Fastpitch
Softball Championship 176,903 50,904 4.0
ASA Men's Class B
National Championship 730,973 211,870 16.7
Budweiser Tournament 440,655 151,729 9.8
State Girls' Fastpitch U-18 163,523 56,305 3.6
Men's Slowpitch State Class C 435,648 150,005 9.6
State Women's Fastpitch 16,517 5,687 0.4
Total 3,104,814 945,894 69.9
(*) This figure refers to both full-time full-time adj. Employed for or involving a standard number of hours of working time: a full-time administrative assistant. full and part-time jobs. It assumes the local economy is operating at full capacity and that there is no slack 1. (operating system) slack - Internal fragmentation. Space allocated to a disk file but not actually used to store useful information. 2. (jargon) slack to absorb additional demand created by these events. The economic-impact report in Table 2 shows that almost $1 million accrued ac·crue v. ac·crued, ac·cru·ing, ac·crues v.intr. 1. To come to one as a gain, addition, or increment: interest accruing in my savings account. 2. in new income to city residents, and that out-of-town expenditures resulted in more than $3 million in additional sales. This balance sheet was presented to City A's council as part of the budget process and helped to solidify so·lid·i·fy v. so·lid·i·fied, so·lid·i·fy·ing, so·lid·i·fies v.tr. 1. To make solid, compact, or hard. 2. To make strong or united. v.intr. the department's position as a contributor to economic development. RELATED ARTICLE: Measuring the Economic Impact of visitors to sports tournaments and special events NRPA has published an 87-page how-to publication titled Measuring the Economic Impact of Visitors to Sports Tournaments and Special Events. This guide includes materials developed for the study. Its four sections discuss how to reposition park and recreation departments so they are perceived by stakeholders as central contributors to economic development, describe the rules and principles that govern legitimate economic-impact studies, describe how to collect data, and report the results of the 30 economic-impact studies and the conclusions they suggest. In addition, the guide provides sample questionnaires and templates of reports, which make it simple for agencies to plug in their numbers and produce a report. The publication is available by calling (703) 858-2190. Looking to reposition your park and recreation department as a central contributor to economic development in the eyes of community stakeholders? John L. Crompton, CLP 1. CLP - Cornell List Processor. 2. CLP - Constraint Logic Programming. , a professor of park and tourism sciences at Texas A&M University, gives P&R readers some helpful hints on how to instigate To incite, stimulate, or induce into action; goad into an unlawful or bad action, such as a crime. The term instigate is used synonymously with abet, which is the intentional encouragement or aid of another individual in committing a crime. public enthusiasm -- and impress the bottom4ine pants off of community leaders at the same time (p. 142). |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion