How Tracks and Sports Complexes are Giving Back to the Public
By: Zach Frei
The diverse events and brutal competition of a track meet have never failed to draw in large numbers of spectators to each event. From pole vaulting to steeplechase and everything in between, there’s something for every athlete and audience member. However, none of this would be possible without, of course, a track to host all of the events. At the collegiate level, high quality tracks are a must have for event, and schools are willing to dish out heaps of cash to fund construction for these first-class facilities. It’s easy to spend a few million dollars to get a high quality track and stadium. The track alone can cost around one million dollars, but then add in seating, facilities, and maintenance. So where does the money to fund these massive projects come from and where is the benefit to the public? It comes from and goes back into local businesses that fund and benefit from these types of events. Tracks and sports complexes offer a way for a local community to invest into itself and allow for growth amongst local businesses.
Track and field is by no means a high revenue generating sport compared to others, average revenue from entry fees and concessions being around ten thousand per event (Mondo). Yet hosting prestigious collegiate meets attracts thousands of athletes, fans, and spectators from around the area. All of these people need food, a place to stay, and of course some opportunities to spend money on souvenirs and entertainment. The demand for food and shelter go up as visitors expect to stay at a decent hotel and be able to eat somewhere. Hotels will often drop prices as to encourage visitors to rent out their rooms and compete in the perfect competition of hotels in the area. This allows for an increase in quantity of rooms demanded by spectators. Restaurants also benefit by much of the same way. Many will advertise in order to create greater consumer taste for their restaurant and thus increasing demand for their restaurant amongst visitors. Stores and merch shops in downtown areas benefit by again lowering prices to increase quantity demanded and sell more to the incoming consumers.
An example of these events is during June 2014 during the Wisconsin state track meet hosted by the University of LaCrosse. According to university, “Last year’s event brought a total of about 23,800 people to the area with a total estimated economic impact of about $3.9 million” (UWL Sponsors). These statistics get even more interesting when considering this is an annual event and only a high school level meet. Collegiate level meets are much larger as they are hosted in the larger areas of every state and are often more frequently occurring. These marginal benefits clearly outweigh the marginal costs of the initial price of building and maintaining these complexes. Businesses who invest in projects like these often see a large return due to the large intake of new consumers in the area for the corresponding events. These complexes offer services for student athletes as well as a way to help grow the local economy by investing money back into the community and stimulating growth in the local businesses.
Works Cited
Mondo. "The Positive Economic Impact of World-Class Track and Field Facilities for Cities and Local Businesses." Www.sportscommissions.org. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Sponsors, UWL. "Campus News – UW-La Crosse." Campus News UWLa Crosse. UW LaCrosse, 3 June 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
Investing in track and field complexes are definitely worth the marginal benefit. If it costs a few million dollars to get a track and field complex up and running, it seems like a lot of money for a marginal cost. However, if it brings in $3.9 million dollars of revenue to the city that has it for just one event, in the long run the marginal benefit far outweighs the costs. Seeing as many people come to the track and field events, its complements would increase in demand- like hotels and food. This is similar to the PHS football game at CMH, where the all of the people that came, bought complements like hot chocolate because there hands were cold or burgers at half time because they were hungry. Not all revenue, always comes from ticket sales, and people building complexes like that have to keep that in mind when predicting revenue.
ReplyDeleteTrack meets, especially local high school events, rarely have even half the amount in attendance of a football or basketball game. But once competition begins to get more serious, as in the State Meet like Zach mentioned, more people begin to attend. With more people attending and traveling from across the state, this also means that they need a place to stay, things to eat, and activities for entertainment. Having a nice facility, like La Crosse has, benefits the community. It allows the State meet to be hosted there which draws people from all over the state to the businesses in the area. I also see the increase in demand when attending other state events in Madison. I spend money that I normally wouldn't spend while wasting time on State Street. The companies know about the local events and fix prices to meet the expectations of the consumer, thus, gaining profit. Overall, it is a benefit to the companies in an area to help build nice facilities for colleges or other schools in their area. They will increase their profit when large events are hosted because the ones coming to watch, or participating, need places to stay, eat, and be entertained.
ReplyDeleteI could see how spending large amounts of money on a track for collegiate athletes would be sufficient, especially if putting money into the site makes you money back as a business owner. I support, supporting school endeavors, anything that could make a school better in the area in which I live I see as something that is important. I think that the initial cost of building a track, is insanely high - but to reap the benefits later is a great thing. Although, I do not run track myself, I enjoy spectating and when the place that you're going to has a nice field and setting, it makes you more inclined to go, even if it isn't a conscious thing there are certain school's more people traveling to because of their nice facilities than the other school's that may not be up to par for some people, and you do it without even noticing. Investing in a sport that shapes people into who they are, and investing in a school's athletic program is important no matter what. I really enjoyed your blog post!
ReplyDeleteI do believe tracks and sports complexes generate a large amount of money to the community and other businesses. The demand for entertainment results in the need for teams to build bigger and better stadiums and facilities. Though some people in the community would be against this because they do not want want to pay taxes, the post mentions all the public benefits from gaining these facilities. Also going along with the benefits, if the sport or event is televised, it helps not only the surrounding community, but can bring in other businesses around the nation with a tv crew and possible commercials, while also broadcasting to people around the nation.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the cost of building the facility will be greatly outweighed by long term profits. Although schools will bring in thousands of fans each, and that can't be compared to the amount of track fans, it is important to remember that track meets don't have just two teams. So even if each school brings in less people, the demand will still be high. It could also be a benefit that these teams come from more areas because people from different geographical areas tend to have slightly different customs and tastes that will bring more sales to a greater number of places, making it more difficult for one firm to monopolize all the profits.
ReplyDeleteI never realized how much of an expense that track and field facilities are. These facilities, while they cost millions to build, provide much more for the spectators than the excitement of a race. In conjunction with the actual sports events, visitors are able to spend their extra time at nice hotels and shopping in the local town. So, while the track meets are intended to solely focus on the actual running, the meets bring success for the entire town in multiple aspects. Investing in the complexes are worth the marginal benefit and far outweigh the marginal costs. Visitors are willing to pay for attending the meet and are willing to spend money at local hotels and restaurants, so companies will fix their prices to satisfy customers while making a sufficient profit at the same time. The demand for entertainment is so high, and as the competition gets more serious, attendees are willing to pay more and more money. Thus, spending so much money on track and field complexes are definitely worth the price because of how much revenue they bring in.
ReplyDeleteTrack and field events at the collegiate does create a lot of revenue. Not only for the college that is hosting the track meet, but also for restaurants and hotels around the area. When it comes to marginal cost and benefit. Creating a new track complex completely out weighs the marginal cost. Especially when it comes to creating more revenue. It is important to have a place to host 10 or more teams. With 10+ teams, it also brings in more people and spectators, which will also increase the overall demand. Therefore hosting and spectating high school or collegiate level sports is important to the economy, and to the school. It creates a lot more revenue not just for the school, but also for the area around it.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea how expensive tracks costs for schools. And I am surprised by the willingness for a lot of these schools to pay the money for the tracks. I agree with you that many of the businesses are wise to get many of the consumers who visit to watch students compete to lower the cost to increase the quantity demanded. I would be interested to know how much bigger and smaller schools spend and the correlation between the popularity of different sports centered around the track raise revenue for the surrounding community.
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn’t realize how many people attended the high school state track meet. Now that I know how many people went to that, I understand how they brought in $3.9 million. I agree with your statement of investing in tracks can be very beneficial. I could only imagine the amount of revenue each and every collegiate meet generates. Although it probably doesn’t bring in as much money as say a college basketball or football game, I’m sure it does bring in a good amount of money.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I love your topic of Track(: I also enjoy how you brought up Wisconsin State track that takes place in La Crosse! It’s interesting how hosting a track meet brings so much variety into the economy. No one would think of the additional factors that go into establishing this complex. It’s true the marginal benefit overcomes the marginal cost by people being able to watch the competitive track meets. The issue is the high demand of food at meets and how they are able to raise these prices due to the high demand.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how much an event such as a high school state track meet can impact an area. The increase in the market size, even for just a week, can cause a big change in prices and quantities sold and that causes a big profit in the short run. This could make investing in a high quality facility, for any sport, a worthwhile investment. For example, the state soccer finals are not held at universities like many sports so if a university invested in building a top tier soccer complex, they could bring in a lot of money to both themselves and their community.
ReplyDeleteI have dealt before with how sporting events and the stadiums in which they occur in affect the area surrounding them. I before had to go out into the community as well as find incentives for businesses to donate to help fund a scoreboard for the soccer stadium. This could help increase demand for their businesses, leading to more revenue generated by them. In addition to the soccer scoreboard, every 4 years when the FIFA World Cup occurs, many businesses in that area benefit from the increase in population, which also increases the demand for their own products. The FIFA World Cup is similar to the high school track meet, but on a much larger level.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked by the cost of track and field as well as the total revenue it makes. I found it really interesting that for State Track in Wisconsin alone, there was a total revenue of 3.9 million dollars. I didn't realize track was that high of a demand. If one state for high school track could generate this much revenue, I cannot imagine how much it makes at the collegiate level. This being said, the profit could be outweighed by the cost of the complex.
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