Assessing the Economic Impact and Financial Return on Investment of a National Sporting Event

Abstract

Sporting events are phenomena shared by numerous commumties throughout the country that generally make a positive contribution to the local economy. To be able to determine the economic impact of tournaments, championships, and races is of great value to both public and private groups in any town. This economic gain may be the deciding factor for the future provision of these staged tourists attractions. The specific methods used to assess accurately the economic impact of short-term sporting events have received considerable attention in the literature, contributing to the development of a refined economic impact methodology; however, relatively few studies have attempted to assess the financial return on investment (ROI) accruing to the sponsoring local government. Determining HOI requires extending current economic impact methodology to include organizing costs less revenues and tax dollars accruing to the local government. This article presents the economic impact and ROI of a nine-day national sport championship to the host community and sponsoring local government. This type of research provides sport event directors with the information needed to justify their budgets and to support their submissions through the budget decision-making process.