The assistant professor of sport management spoke about what really drives the economic impact of major sporting events.
Elon University Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt was featured in a recent Spectrum News 1 story examining how visiting fans contribute to North Carolina’s sports economy during the Carolina Hurricanes’ playoff run. The article explored how travel tied to major sporting events generates spending that benefits hotels, restaurants and local businesses.
“We oftentimes have a misconception around the economic impact that a sporting event has,” Traugutt said. “Where we see the kind of economic drive is when we have outside fans from either outside the geographic area or traveling fans from away teams come into the host city and bring their money.”
Using the Hurricanes’ playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens as an example, Traugutt noted that traveling fans contribute new spending to the local economy through hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment. He emphasized that local fans shifting their entertainment spending within the same city typically do not create the same level of economic growth.
“We benefit from the Canadiens because they have a great fan base. So they will travel to see their fans play. There’s also a lot of Canadiens fans in the area, not maybe here, but that surround North Carolina,” Traugutt said.
Read and watch the story on Spectrum News 1. Traugutt also spoke about the topic on the WPTF Afternoon News.