The $52.2 Billion Case for Sports-Related Travel

Subscribe now using your favorite service:
        

In 2019, the Sports Events and Tourism Association, or Sports ETA, embarked on an ambitious State of the Industry report to attempt to put a value on the economic impact derived from sports events and sports-related travel. The timing was fortuitous as it set a baseline for future studies just before the pandemic. In 2022, a second report analyzed the pace of recovery from that pandemic, looking at data from 2020 and 2021. But the latest report arguably paints the fullest picture yet not just at how the industry has recovered, but how it continues to thrive.

The headline numbers from the report, which was sponsored by the Northstar Meetings Group, are that sports-related travel had a $52.2 billion direct economic impact in 2023. More than 200 million travelers were reported, generating more than 73 million room nights. But perhaps most impressive of all, some 63 percent of destinations surveyed said that sports are their largest generator of room nights. Think about that statistic for a moment and you can start to grasp the true power and potential of this market.

John David took over as Sports ETA’s president and CEO last year after decades as an event organizer and executive himself at USA BMX. So his perspective, and his support of continuing this vital research, are the perfect match to wade into the details of the full report. And Greg Pepitone from Tourism Economics, as the lead researcher in the project, also brings his perspective on where sports fit into the mix since his organization is one of the leading data providers for the overall travel industry. In this discussion, we talk with John and Greg about the not only the headline numbers in the report, but deeper insights that were analyzed about how event organizers make their decisions on locations, what kinds of services travelers are spending their money on, which areas of the country are sourcing the most events and much, much more.

Among the topics in this episode:

• Context on past State of the Industry reports (5:08)
• What types of sports the current survey covers (6:43)
• The direct and indirect economic impact of sports-related travel (8:05)
• The strength of the sports-related travel market post-pandemic (10:22)
• Context on the number of travelers and hotel room nights (12:34)
• Looking beyond room nights to show the power of the industry (14:22)
• Why event organizer and venue data was included in the study  (17:30)
• The key factor for why event organizers choose a destination or venue (19:18)
• Do researchers get surprised by the data? (21:35)
• Findings from the venues that were surveyed (22:52)
• The Top 10 states attracting sports events (25:47)
• The big stat: 63 percent of destinations report sports as their largest room night generator (30:40)
• The story told by the percentage of cities where sports are the key sector (33:13)
• How to use the report to advocate for sports-related travel (34:24)
• How to gain access to the full report (36:42)

This episode is sponsored by: