Report: College sports
bring big bucks to
isle economy

A UH study of two
national events estimates they
yielded $13.3 million in
expenditures here

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Big-time college sporting events in Hawaii pay off in a big way, a new study shows.

Acknowledging that it counted the numbers from an unusually active weekend for local sports, the study's authors concluded that collegiate events put money into Hawaii pockets, increase the state and local tax take, and finance isle jobs.

UH economics professor Jack P. Suyderhoud and graduate student William Park studied the economic impact of two big sports events during Nov. 28-30 -- the UH-Notre Dame football game and the United Airlines Tipoff basketball tournament which attracted three mainland college teams.

The weekend's events produced $7.5 million in direct spending by visitors -- teams, their fans and media here to cover the events -- says the report.

Using the standard multiplier effect used by state statisticians to show how far visitor dollars go when they pass through the hands of local merchants and their workers, the study said sales in Hawaii were boosted by $13.3 million because of the visiting teams.

That boosted isle household incomes by $4.9 million and put $840,000 into state and local tax coffers, the UH economists estimated. Visitor expenditures from those events support the equivalent of 190 year-long jobs in the Hawaii economy, the report said.

The UH Athletic Department, which issued the report this week, said it shows that UH intercollegiate events in Hawaii don't benefit just the fans and the athletic department. They provide a much-needed boost for the economy as a whole, concludes the report, issued when the state Legislature is in budget talks that have included proposals to cut funding for the UH sports programs.

The Notre Dame football game brought in 6,064 visitors, based on ticket sales, the report said. The United Airlines Tipoff basketball tournament that weekend brought in 789 visitors, who came to see the Illinois State University, Indiana University, Northeast Louisiana University and University of Hawaii teams compete.

Based on Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau studies, the report concluded that the events created stays of 54,413 visitor days by people who spent an average of $138.27 a day each.

The University of Notre Dame alone, not including its fans, spent $36,611 on hotel rooms and $42,940 on meals. Media members here to cover both events spent an estimated $13,856 that weekend and there was another $40,206 in local production expenses that went to Hawaii businesses and workers, according to the report.

The study was prepared with support of the Asia-Pacific Center for Executive Development in the UH business school.