Studer Community Institute

What can sports offer Pensacola's economy?

January 26, 2015
/ Carlton Proctor
/ economy

Dollars generated by sporting events represent only a fraction of the Pensacola Bay area’s robust $1.4 billion tourism industry. But many local leaders believe that sports tourism could pack a far bigger economic punch if the community would make significant increases in new recreational facilities. One of those believers is Nash Patel of LHS Companies, which owns and operates several area motels. Patel also serves on the Escambia County Tourist Development Council. “I think if we would create, like other communities along the Gulf Coast have done, a major sportsplex in the central part of the county, it would make a huge difference and have a big impact on the local economy.” Patel envisions a multimillion dollar sportsplex similar to one in Gulf Shores, Ala., that offers a multiuse field house, football field, baseball, softball, and soccer fields, and state-of-the-art collegiate and high school track facilities. Such a year-round facility would give the Pensacola community a strong hand when bidding on regional and national high school and collegiate sporting events, which can attract thousands of out-of-town participants. What's more it would help the economy of the central and north end of Escambia County. “For a major sportsplex to have an impact, it's all about location,” he said. “It’s got to be located in the central part of the county if it’s going to have an impact on communities like Cantonment and Century.” There’s no question the Southwest Sportsplex has had impact on that area of Escambia County. It features lighted baseball, softball, soccer and football fields, an open play area, walking trails, playgrounds, covered pavilions and parking. Completed in August 2012 and funded with $9 million of local option sales tax dollars, the 200-acre Southwest Escambia Sportplex was an immediate hit among youth and adults. Moreover, it has become a contributor to the tourism economy, said Michael Rhodes, the county's Parks and Recreation director. Regional soccer tournaments held in the spring and fall of last year attracted several thousand visitors to the tournaments and, according to Pensacola Sports Association figures, provided a $1.1 million economic impact. “Last year the Southwest Sportsplex had more than 1,200 kids on 124 teams participated in league play, and another 723 kids participated in baseball, softball and T-ball,” said Rhodes. “When we build facilities, we build them for local kids, but these kinds of sports facilities also attract out-of-town teams and that's when they produce a significant economic impact,” Rhodes said. Studying sports impact One person who needs no convincing about the positive impact a sportsplex could have on the local economy is Ray Palmer. The longtime executive director of the Pensacola Sports Association, Palmer is busy laying the groundwork for a new generation of Pensacola area sports facilities. Palmer was instrumental in getting the Escambia County Commission late last year to approve funding for a strategic plan that would serve as a roadmap to greatly expand the community’s sports tourism economy. The feasibility study will be done in three phases. “The first phase will take a look at what we have,” said Palmer. “Then it will determine what we need, and the third phase will focus on what can we afford to build.” The Florida Sports Association has taken a look at Pensacola’s sports infrastructure, and concluded the community does face some significant challenges. “One of those challenges is that the University of West Florida is really the only venue that can accommodate a host of different sporting events, and they are often booked up," Palmer said. While the sport tourism sector of the economy faces major challenges if it is to continue to grow, it’s still a multimillion dollar business and job creator. A 2012 study led by Rod Lewis of UWF’s Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development, found amateur sports tourism contributes about $22 million annually, and supports nearly 300 full-time jobs. Noted UWF economist Rick Harper said the Haas Center uses a standard figure of $151 per adult, and $75 per youth to calculate the daily economic impact. Moreover, sports tourism also produces more than $55,000 in annual local option sales tax revenues, the study found. And that impact will continues into 2015 with a slate of 40-plus events throughout the year. Those events include the Gulf Coast Winter Horse Show this month at the Escambia Equestrian Center, an event expected to attract some 1,000 visitors and produce a $3.1 million impact. Other big-ticket events include the Wavefest Volleyball Tournament in March, expected to attract more than 4,400 visitors and produce an economic impact in the $1.3 million range, according to PSA data. For 2015, PSA estimates more than 40,000 visitors will attend or participate in locally sponsored sporting events. Minor league teams lead the way While amateur events are the big drivers of the area’s sports tourism market, local professional teams do their fair share.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos, a AA baseball team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, generate some 2,500 room-nights and $400,000 a year in local spending by visiting teams and major league scouts, said Jonathan Griffith, executive vice president. What’s more, ticket sales and concession revenues generated by the 300,000-plus fans during the six-month season support 400 part-time jobs, and generate significant local option sales tax revenues, Griffith said. “I think we could could honestly suggest that our economic impact, is probably $30 million to $35 million,” said team president Bruce Baldwin. “Obviously that is a rollover number.” Baldwin said employees and players pay rent, shop in grocery stores, buy cars, all things that ripple through the economy. The team's marketing influence also can be felt in surprisingly subtle ways. For example, Baldwin says the Wahoos sell more women's apparel than any team in minor league baseball, with merchandise sales tracking as far away as the Pacific Northwest and Texas. "We have a lot of visitors to this area from Texas," Baldwin says. "And, yes, each of those purchases is now a walking a billboard for Pensacola." The recent announcement that two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson has purchased an ownership share in the Wahoos seems likely to enhance the marketability and appeal of the team's brand through the Bagdad native's fan base. At the recent Destination 2020 event, panel moderator Bill Geist of Zeitgeist Consulting, Madison, Wis. Geist said, “you do not build destinations for visitors, you build them for yourselves. “Tourism isn’t just ‘heads in beds.’ It’s also ‘cheeks in seats,’ ‘torsos through turnstiles,’ ‘feet on our streets’ and ‘fans in the stands.’” That bears out, for example, what Cyndee Pennington at Pensacola Ice Flyers games. The hockey team is enjoying another strong year, as evidenced by the more than 6,000 fans that turned out earlier this month for back-to-back games at the Bay Center. Pennington, general manager of the Bay Center, said ticket sales to local fans and concessions constitute 98 percent of the economic impact of the Ice Flyers. Out-of-town fans and visiting teams contribute only a tiny fraction to the Flyers’ overall economic impact. In all, means that Pensacola’s sports tourism economy has a lot of room to grow. And real growth is not going to come cheap. “I think current investment in Pensacola’s sports tourism market really has not grown in the past two years,” Palmer said. “And, frankly, until we define the needs, and get in a solid financial place, and invest some money in new infrastructure, it's not going to grow much more.” Pensacola Today editor Shannon Nickinson contributed to this report.

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