Sports tourism generates millions for the local economy

College Station recently received the 2024 Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism award from Sports Destination Magazine for hosting the Junior Olympics. Similarly, the Legends Event Center in Bryan was also recognized by the same magazine as a Champion of Economic Impact for hosting boys and girls basketball tournaments last spring. Being able to host high caliber national sporting events has had a significant positive economic impact and generated millions of dollars for both cities.

To fill the city’s normally quiet time, College Station hosted a wide variety of summer events, including the Mexico-Brazil soccer match and the George Strait concert. The period June-August 2024 was a record season for the city in terms of sports tourism.

Jeremiah Cook, tourism manager for College Station, gave a presentation on the economic impact to city council members during Thursday’s meeting.

“The USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics championships were a very big win for the city of College Station, while the last two events in June were hosted and officiated by Texas A&M. This event was actually hosted by the city of College Station,” he said of the Junior Olympics. “This event brought 8,000 athletes from across the country where they competed for seven days.”

The estimated economic impact of the Junior Olympics was $10.8 million, with a projected sales tax of $124,000 and $248,000 in hotel taxes.

“It was a really big week for College Station, but what we saw in the July graph is that it wasn’t just that week. That week was also the Fire School and another conference that had to be rescheduled,” he said. “It was several weeks that all came together to help our local economy.”

With the football season coming to an end in College Station, Cook said they hope to finish the year strong with Christmas events to continue to boost tourism to the city.

“The typical visitor here in College Station spends 1.6 days at our market, so when we think about that, that means we get one hotel night from everyone who comes to visit Santa’s Wonderland. Maybe they eat beforehand, then spend the night in a hotel, have breakfast and then go back to the city,” he said. “We can work with local partners to increase that 1.6 to 2, to get that extra afternoon and that extra meal in our restaurants. These are things we want to continue to work on to ensure that next year is even better.”

For June 2024, hotel room revenues were 30.8% higher than June 2023 and 26.1% higher than June 2022, a significant increase according to College Station city officials.

“The record-breaking 110,905 attendees who were here that weekend for the George Strait concert saw $2.2 million in hotel revenue, which is more than the (Missouri football) game brought in last year, so more than any SEC game we had in the United States saw. market,” Cook said. “So in June we really added two football-sized events for our hotels, for our stores and for our restaurants, and that’s all on top of the things that are already happening in June.”

In Bryan, the Adidas 3SSB Spring Series basketball tournaments brought more than 4,300 players to the Legends Event Center. The facility officially opened on December 10, 2022 and has recently started hosting sporting events. The 120,000-square-foot space includes eight basketball courts, 16 volleyball courts, four outdoor sand volleyball courts and a large conference and banquet area. According to city staff, the basketball tournament raised more than $5 million for the entire B-CS area and provided a crucial platform for athlete recruitment.

“This tournament underlines Legends Event Center’s position as a premier sports tourism destination,” Jamie Cox, general manager of the Legends Event Center, said in a statement. “Our state-of-the-art facility, built by the City of Bryan, has proven its ability to attract high-caliber national sporting events that drive significant economic and community engagement.”

In addition to the 4,300 basketball players in attendance, there were approximately 5,500 fans and parents and hundreds of Division I coaches. More than 25 courts were used, including Bryan and Rudder high schools.

In total, Brazos County saw a combined $438 million in taxable sales for June 2024, about $15 million in hotel room revenue and $8.3 million in mixed beverage sales. Because data from the Texas Comptroller is presented in monthly increments, it is difficult to isolate the impact of a single event, but city staff ultimately concluded that June 2024 was an exceptional economic month for both cities.