ANTHONY W. DIXON Economic Significance of College Baseball as a Tourism Attraction: A Pilot Study

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  Passive/Event  Nostalgia

Introduction Primary motivation 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 Future research:  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 baseball?  32 of top 40 college universities with highest attendance (x=104,742) are in South Region Statement of Purpose:  The purpose of this research is to determine whether college baseball is a tourism attraction and estimate the economic impact of the activity.

Research Questions RQ1: Is college baseball a tourism attraction? RQ2: Is there a difference between weekday and weekend game spectators? RQ3: What are expenditure patterns of non-local residents? RQ4: What is economic impact of college baseball spectators on the local economy?

Methods On-site sampling Systematic sampling with a random start Research assistants systematically collecting addresses Participants sent link to online questionnaire N = 347 Response rate = 52.3%

Findings Total sample:  70% of respondents non-residents of study region  64% of these respondents were non-students and non-residents  36.5% of these respondents stayed overnight  Attendance = 140,040  Estimated non-resident attendance = 98,168  Average travel distance to stadium was 61 miles  Financially responsible for 1.6 people  Age = 41  71.4% college or graduate educated  52.9% had annual household income $75,000 or above  61.5% male; 38.5% female

Findings Weekday games:  60% non-residents of study area  50.9% of these respondents were non-students/residents  12.3% of these respondents stayed overnight  Estimated attendance = 34,120 non-resident/student  Overnight = 4,197  Sport excursionists = 29,923  Average travel distance was 33 miles  Financially responsible for 1.43 people

Findings Weekend games:  82% non-residents of study area*  73% of these respondents were non-students/residents*  51.6% of these respondents stayed overnight*  Estimated attendance = 64,075 non-resident/student  Overnight = 33,063  Sport excursionists = 31,012  Average travel distance was 93 miles*  Financially responsible for 1.84 people* * Significant at.05 alpha level.

Findings Average expenditures of non-local residents in study area. * Significant at.01 alpha level.

Findings Economic impact of Clemson Baseball (2008)  Non-resident spending: $6,828,320  Direct: $5,146,960  Indirect: $1,105,016  Induced: $698,046  Total: $6,950,016  Jobs: 105

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 baseball  Expenditure patterns:  Athletic departments can use to increase sponsorships  Local businesses can use to develop more effective marketing strategies to target potential customers

Conclusion Results indicate college baseball may be tourism attraction.  Weekday games mainly entertainment activity of local residents  Weekend games have large number of visitors staying overnight and day trippers College baseball does provide significant economic impact on local economy. Encourage communication between local government, university athletic departments and tourism organizations.

Questions