DR. ANTHONY W. DIXON DR. MARK HENRY Economic Significance of College Football as a Tourism Attraction

Introduction Sport tourism:  “All forms of active and passive involvement in sporting activity, participated in casually or in an organized way for non-commercial or business reasons that necessitate travel away from home and work locality” (Standevan and DeKnop, 1999, p. 12)

Introduction Three types of sport tourism:  Active  Event  Nostalgia

Introduction One of the primary motivations for hosting sporting events is the anticipated economic impact. U.S. event sport tourism generated $27 billion in In 2001, 38% of U.S. adults attended a sport event as spectator or participant, while on a trip of 50 miles or more.

Introduction Review of literature:  Active and passive client profiles (Kurtzman & Zauhar, 1995)  Examine aspects of sporting event spectators (Getz, 1998)  Collegiate sporting event spectators and significance as tourism attractions (Irwin & Sandler, 1998)  Lack of research on U.S. college sporting events and as a community tourism attraction (Gibson et al., 2003)

Purpose Why college football?  Recognized as second most popular sport in America  Total home attendance for all Division I – FBS  Over 34 million each year for past 5 years Statement of Purpose:  The purpose of this research is to determine whether college football is a tourism attraction and estimate the economic impact of the activity.

Research Questions RQ1: Is college football a tourism attraction? RQ2: What are the expenditure patterns of non-local residents attending college football games? RQ3: What is the direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts of college football on a local economy? RQ4: What are the characteristics of non-local residents attending the university’s college football games?

Methods On-site sampling Systematic sampling with a random start Research assistants systematically collecting addresses Participants sent link to online questionnaire N = 769 Response rate = 47.2%

Findings Total sample:  69% of respondents non-residents of study region  60% male and 40% female  Age = 38  50% college degree and 23% college graduate degree  56% annual household income over $80,000  25% of respondents stayed overnight; average 2.38 days  Attend 5 games on average  Been visiting local area for 16 years  Financially responsible for 2.3 people  Attendance = 546,004  Estimated non-resident attendance = 375,651  Average travel distance to stadium was 87 miles  50% of respondents residing outside 50 miles of stadium

Findings Non-local residents  32.2% were sport tourist (staying overnight)  Attended 4.65 games  2.31 days  122 miles from stadium  Visiting area for 18 years  67.8% were sport excursionist (day trippers)  Attended 5 games  108 miles from stadium  Visiting area for 18 years

Findings Average expenditures of non-local residents in study area. CategoriesTotal Non-Resident (Sport Excursionist) Non-Resident (Sport Tourists) Retail (Grocery, clothing, etc.)$30.62$14.26$48.18* Restaurants/drinking places * Accommodations * Game (tickets, concessions) * Recreational activities Entertainment Auto * Other Total$237.22$162.96$ * Significant at the.o1 alpha level.

Findings Economic impact of College football games (2008)  Non-resident spending: $41,041,553  Direct: $35,277,696  Indirect: $8,895,072  Induced: $5,338,992  Total: $49,511,808  Jobs: 727

Findings Job creation breakdown:

Application Tourism organizations  Develop relationship with University Athletic Departments  Market local attractions  Additional activity available to potential visitors  Initiate strategies to covert day trippers to overnight visitors Local businesses  Develop relationship with University Athletic Departments  Sponsorship or other marketing activities Local government  Foster relationship with University Athletic Departments

Application Significant economic impact  Sport tourism as economic development strategy  Justify public subsidies to support promotion of college football  Expenditure patterns:  Athletic departments can use to increase sponsorships  Local businesses can use to develop more effective marketing strategies to target potential customers Issue  Non-local residents visiting area for approximately 18 years

Conclusion Results indicate college football may be tourism attraction. College football does provide significant economic impact on local economy. Encourage communication between local government, university athletic departments and tourism organizations.

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