Cities that have not yet invested in sports tourism now have another reason to do so. In fact, they have 128 billion reasons. That’s the total economic impact figure for sports tourism in 2023.
Want some more numbers? Here they are: The industry supported 757,600 full-time and part-times jobs. It also contributed $20.1 billion in taxes to various sectors of the economy.
All that good news (and more) comes courtesy of Sports ETA’s recently released “2023 State of the Industry Report,” which underscores the strength of the sports tourism sector and showcases a direct spending impact of $52.2 billion.
All told, it’s no wonder that the United World Tourism Agency lists sports tourism as one of its industry’s fastest growing sectors. Even the National Recreation and Park Association is encouraging its members to tap in.
“The sport tourism industry continued to grow in 2023, increasing by 7% over sports traveler volume in 2022,” John David, president and CEO of Sports ETA, the trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, said in a statement. “The number of sports travelers in America established a new high-water mark of 204.9 million in 2023.”
The study was conducted by Tourism Economics, with support from Northstar Meetings Group, a leading multi-platform brand for dedicated meeting and business planners and sports event organizers, and the presenting sponsor of Sports ETA’s “Annual State of the Industry” research report.
Other key highlights from the 2023 report:
- Sports travelers spent a $52.5 billion in 2023. That included transportation ($13.5 billion), lodging ($10.9 billion), food and beverages ($9.7 billion), recreation ($6.9 billion), retail ($6.5 billion) and tournament operations ($4.7 billion).
- The lodging sector accounted for 21% of all sports-related travel spending. In 2023, sports-related travel generated 73.5 million room nights.
- Nearly two-thirds of destinations (63%) report that sports programming is the No. 1 generator of hotel room nights in their community.
“By monitoring the sports tourism economy, policymakers can inform decisions regarding the funding and prioritization of the sector’s development,” according to the report’s executive summary. “They can also carefully monitor its success and future needs.”
Top 10 Economic Impact States
For the first time, Sports ETA identified the top 10 states in terms of economic impact generated by sports tourism. Data provided by sports tourism industry stakeholders and economic data were utilized in the rankings, and sports tourism marketing funds and other initiatives (such as bid fees and local grants) influenced how states performed.
The 10 states with the highest economic impact generated by sports tourism in 2023 are (in order): Florida, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia.
“Each state played an integral role in sports tourism in 2023,” David said. “The addition of the top 10 list of states generating economic impact with sports tourism allows us to analyze best practices for all of our members.”
It should be noted that some states naturally generate a larger share of the impact given their size (population and land mass), seasonality, location and destination infrastructure (airports, sports venues and hotel supply).
Sports ETA has more than 850 member organizations and 2,400 sports event professionals, and the “State of the Industry Report” is derived from several data sources to quantify sports tourism, which includes adult and youth amateur events and collegiate tournaments (excluding collegiate regular season games and professional sports).
Data sources include Sports ETA, Longwoods International, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the U.S. Travel Association, STR and sports attendance data.
About the Author
