The Metro Denver Sports Commission is taking a hard look at the economic impact of sporting events, starting with Saturday’s Qwest Rocky Mountain Showdown between the University of Colorado and Colorado State University at Invesco Field.
For the first time, the commission will conduct in-depth surveys at the football game to determine where fans are coming from and how much they will spend in the area. The group hopes to do similar studies for other events it’s hosting, including next year’s NCAA Frozen Four, ice hockey’s equivalent of college basketball’s Final Four.
The nonprofit commission believes such studies have not been done for the sports industry, and therefore it’s difficult to provide an accurate estimate of the economic impact of an event.
The group is trying to develop a base-line figure to use for sporting events, similar to the $290-per- conventioneer daily spending figure used by the Destination Marketing Association International, said Jon Schmieder, the commission’s executive director.
“The challenge of our industry is being addressed,” Schmieder said. “The kid coming from CSU down for the game is not spending $290 down here. We know that. We just don’t know what they are spending.”
The purpose of the effort is twofold. First, the commission wants to become the source for such estimates.
The organization, which has an annual operating budget of $700,000 and seven full-time employees, also wants to show to its private donors and corporate sponsors what type of returns their money is generating.
Schmieder said the group, formed in 2001 to promote the metro area as a sporting-event destination, is searching for a “regular sustainable funding mechanism” as it shapes itself for the next decade.
“I think the community wants to come with us,” Schmieder said. “We have to show them why.”
About 105 cities have sports commissions, according to the National Association of Sports Commissions. The groups work to attract sporting events to their cities.
“There is no doubt that bringing a major sporting event to a community has real economic benefits and impacts that can be quantified,” said sports marketing expert Steve Sander, a commission board member. “Secondarily, there’s the pride and image associated with communities hosting major sporting events.”
Schmieder calls the Rocky Mountain Showdown the commission’s signature event. It is in the second year of a three-year deal with the schools to run the event.
Rich Karlis, director of sponsorships and events for Qwest, said the company decided to become the title sponsor last year to help ensure that the game is played in Denver. It was played in Boulder in 2004 and 2005 after a six-year run in Denver.
The game attracts more than 70,000 fans when it’s played in Denver, and the commission will try to survey at least 600 this year.
“I think it’s very important for the city and county of Denver and the Metro Denver Sports Commission … to truly understand, one, what people are thinking and, two, what’s the real economic impact to the metro area,” Karlis said.
Next year’s Frozen Four is expected to attract 15,000 people to Denver over four days.
The commission is on the final list of four groups to host the World Rugby Sevens, the largest rugby event in North America, which attracts more than 30,000 people over two days.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
$700,000
Metro Denver Sports Commission’s annual operating budget
$300,000
Corporate sponsorships sold for the Rocky Mountain Showdown
$400,000
Cost of operating this year’s Rocky Mountain Showdown
$2-3 MILLION
Cost to operate the Frozen Four
Hoping for a happy landing
Events on which the Metro Denver Sports Commission is bidding:
