Two major women’s sporting events in the next month and a half will pump almost $42 million into the city.
The NCAA Women’s Final Four — the largest collegiate championship that Denver can hold due to the limited capacity of the Pepsi Center — arrives at the end of the March, with several pre-tournament festivities at the Colorado Convention Center, a concert by Jewel and the three big games over April 1 and 3.
Also, the annual Colorado Crossroads volleyball tournament — one of nine national events that qualify teams for USA Junior Nationals — will draw 11,000 volleyball players and 33,000 spectators to the convention center over two weeks in late February and early March.
“Women’s sports are becoming a huge economic engine, and Denver is poised to be known as a major center for this,” said Rich Grant of Visit Denver, which joined with the Metro Denver Sports Commission in 2008 to secure this year’s women’s basketball tournament. The visitor’s bureau in 2003 lost bids to host it in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The 30,000 visitors expected for the basketball contest will fill Denver in a traditionally slower period and on the typically slower days of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The contest’s direct economic impact — which includes spending by participants and spectators on tickets, food, lodging, transportation, and other goods and services — is estimated at $20 million. Tickets are still available.
“An event like this that helps the city and all its hotels on a Sunday is a great boost to business,” said Greg Leonard, general manager of The Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency, two downtown hotels that are hosting players and fans for both sporting events.
Leonard, who was involved in a Women’s Final Four in Charlotte, N.C., said the annual tournament rivals the men’s edition in terms of fan excitement and spending.
“It will fill the city,” said Leonard, the father of a female college athlete. “Over the years, women’s sports has certainly grown, and it can be and is as exciting as any college event out there.”
Although downtown hotel rooms aren’t sold out yet, they will be.
“We don’t know what teams are playing yet,” Grant said. “It will sell out with the fans from those teams.”
It’s not uncommon for hotels to bring on temporary staff when a large banquet is held, and these events won’t be any different. However, hotels and restaurants are nimble when it comes to staffing.
“Restaurants and hotels have big floating staffs, so they put people on when they know it’s going to be busy,” Grant said.
He said it’s a great event for local companies to plan corporate parties around.
“Normally, when we have a big national event like this, the tickets are bought up by national corporations, so there aren’t a whole lot of seats for locals,” he said. “But there are seats right now.”
Colorado Crossroads is a clear illustration of the growth in women’s sports. From a little more than a 100 teams a decade ago, this year’s 26th annual volleyball contest will draw 1,100 teams from 34 states that compete over two consecutive long weekends.
The competition is expected to stir $21.9 million in economic impact.
Sporting events have generated major economic boosts for Denver in the past, including $16 million for the NCAA men’s regional basketball tournaments in 2008 and 2011 and $15 million for the NCAA Frozen Four hockey games in 2008, according to Denver Sports, as the commission is commonly known.
But it’s more than the spending that sparks city-booster hearts. During the Women’s Final Four, international TV exposure will splash images of Denver into 177 countries. Similar exposure has made Indianapolis the hottest sports-event host in the country.
Indianapolis was home to last year’s Women’s Final Four and will welcome it again in 2016.
“Indianapolis has hosted over 400 collegiate, Olympic, national and international championships within the past 25 years,” said Morgan Greenlee of Visit Indy convention and visitor’s bureau. “With both Men’s and Women’s NCAA Final Fours being on that résumé, I know it has helped pave a proven path that we can host a variety of events, even a Super Bowl.”
The city estimates its economic impact from the event at $20 million.
The bar for hospitality — set at the recent Super Bowl in Indianapolis, where each of the city’s 70,000 hospitality employees repeatedly urged visitors to have a “super day” — is prodding Denver officials to create a circus around each major contest.
Ever since winning the Women’s Final Four bid in 2008, Denver officials have been to each Final Four to gain an understanding of how the host cities operate, said Denver Sports interim president Sue Baldwin.
Indianapolis is less comparable, however, because the city doesn’t have to raise the money to put on the event because it subsidized the headquarters for the NCAA, she said. The city also automatically gets a men’s and a women’s tournament in every cycle.
“We learned more from the other cities outside of Indianapolis as to how to structure it,” Baldwin said.
In Denver, the convention center will be transformed into a basketball “Tourney Town,” with free concerts, food, merchandise, autograph sessions, clinics and interactive displays in the days leading up to the semifinals April 1 and the championship game April 3. Receptions and events will welcome visitors at every turn.
“Since hospitality is an area that Denver has a long reputation in,” Grant said, “we will be turning out the red carpet to welcome fans, players and media to the Final Four.”
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
