The Neenah Streetball Challenge by Isaac Woelffer
The Neenah Streetball Challenge was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament hosted in downtown Neenah and was a staple in the community of Neenah for 25 years and it was run by a for profit company called Future Neenah. Sadly, this event came to a close in 2016.
This event brought in many people from around wisconsin to Neenah for 25 years benefiting the local community. The Neenah Streetball Challenge was run by volunteers and donations by local businesses. Although this might not seem like a good use of resources for the local businesses, it brought in more customers and got their company name out into the open as well which helped to improve sales. At its peak, over 500 teams were competing against each other which brought in over 2,000 people to the community which led to many competitors getting a hotel room in the area supporting the local economy while also helping the economy of neighboring cities. These people ate at local restaurants, bought food from local grocery stores and did fun activities such as going to Badger Sports Park in Appleton.
In 2016, this event only brought in 221 teams and only 881 people which is a major turnaround from what had happened in the past. Also, because it had become so small, the economic benefit that it had provided to the local economy for two days had diminished and it was becoming more costly to operate. It had become more costly to operate because the demand for the tournament had gone down, this led to the price of the tournament increasing which might have persuaded less people to participate in this tournament. Because of this shortage of players, the Neenah Streetball Challenge was no longer seen as a money making event which it had been in the past and because less people were attending the event, the demand to have the event went down. This was the last year the event was run by Future Neenah and it seemed to be the last 3 on 3 tournament that would happen for a while. Even though that the number of teams that were brought in for its 25th anniversary and last year, many people were sad to see it go because it had helped bring the community together and improve the local economy. This drove the demand back up for the tournament which helped to show the importance of the event.
By driving the demand back up for the event, the community including and around Neenah created a need for this event to continue. One person saw this as an opportunity to bring back the 3 on 3 tournament because he would be able to make money off of it as well as providing a service that the community desperately wanted. Also because 2017 was its “grand reopening”, more people were drawn into the event which helped the to greatly improve the local economy. Overall, the Neenah Streetball Challenge improved the local economy of Neenah and the surrounding towns by bringing people together to have a little fun. It is now called Wisconsin Streetball.
Works Cited
Froberg, Tim. “Neenah Streetball Could Return This Summer.” Post-Crescent Media, Wisconsin, 26 Jan. 2017, www.postcrescent.com/story/sports/2017/01/25/neenah-streetball-return-summer/97063744/.
Zettel, Jen. “Game over! Neenah StreetBall Calls It Quits.” Post-Crescent Media, Post Crescent, 17 Aug. 2016, www.postcrescent.com/story/news/local/2016/08/16/game-over-neenah-streetball-calls-quits/88832764/.
This event that the city of Neenah host sounds like a very good way to draw people to the city and increase revenue in companies. During this event many people came to the city which attracted increased revenue to businesses and therefore the people remembered the company and would possibly return. Also, this event was a huge economic benefit for the city for those two days that the event went on. Overall, the Neenah Streetball Challenge was a good way for the city to raise their economy and bring in more revenue and tourists.
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ReplyDeleteIsaac: The Neenah basketball tourney is very unique. Coming from a small town community bringing in that many people is crazy and it’s sad that they had to close. Being that this was in a small town you are right it did bring in a lot of money for different businesses and stores. Small town stores with a small population of people really do not bring in all that much revenue due to the fact that there is not a lot of people so the quantity demanded is not that much due to the small population. This can be seen in any city that has a small population not just Neenah. This tournament closing down will no longer give the business a boost like they used to recieve when the tournament was in full force bringing in 500 teams. Hotels in the area will also not get any revenue that weekend like they used to because all those people that played will no longer be staying there so the boom in sales they would have would not be there anymore. It is good to see that the demands have went back up because this really seemed to bring the community together and bring in high sales to small local businesses.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the Neenah Streetball Tournament it is a whole different idea many are used too. Therefore it does a good job at bringing in many others from neighboring areas. It would make sense that the tournament has an economic benefit, but to get it running finding the donations doesn’t make sense to me. If a business is going to donate they are losing money, and although they may gain business for the tournament do they for sure make that donation back. In addition, at the end of the article it stated that the revival of the tournament is going to be seen as a way to make profit, so now who's benefiting from the tournament?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have attended this tournament in Neenah and in the moment I did not realize how largely this event effected the economy. I think it is interesting that the demand has gone up after the tournament ended because it proves that it was a beneficial event so they should try to bring it back for the 2018 season. Overall, I think it is positive that this event effected Neenah's economy and how one event can effect so many different things within the area.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of street ball because it defiantly brings the community together. People are so used to all these rules and regulations that they sometimes get bored watching NBA or something like that. People want to see some broken ankles and alley-oops. Over and out.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Neenah Streetball Tournament was a great idea to get people into northern Wisconsin and to help boost the economy even for a small period. However, I think that it was also good for the economy that it sort of “went out of business” because now that it is reopening, more people are likely to attend the event as it is making a comeback. This will likely boost the economy again and potentially by even more than before because it has been gone for some time and people are excited to see it come back as Wisconsin Streetball.
ReplyDeleteThis is very unique that a city this small has a very high demand for a 3v3 basketball tournament. But, when there is a demand for a product or service, prices can be raised, which would majorly help the economy of a small town like Neenah.
ReplyDeleteI think that something like this street ball challenge, that has brought up to 2000 people to the event before, is something that a small community like Neenah needs. This event coming back will bring more outsiders into the city, spending more money at local shops and restaurants. If the tournament were to market itself more, they could bring back the numbers that they had before, and keep the money pouring into the local businesses during that event.
ReplyDeleteI think that little events like this appear small to the glancing eye, but when you look down into statistics, it looks like they had just had a huge boost in economic growth. When I went to La Crosse for my sisters cheer competition, we stayed in a decent sized hotel roughly 10 minutes away from where she was performing. This hotel was very quiet and empty the 4 days leading up to the event but the day right before hand, all these guests started to pile in and the hotel was crazy. Small events that don’t appear to be worth it, end up being what makes or breaks a companies business. Although, this event had lasted roughly 2 days, this hotel was able to see a spike in income along with gain a stronger reputation for years to come. Restaurants along the strip were packed with visitors and parking meters were flooded with coins.
ReplyDeleteWith this tournament coming back, I think its a great way to help out their small town. It's a shame that it was closed down the way it was. It makes you wonder what happen that year to all the different people and teams that made them change their minds about this. It's great that it came back and that it can once again help out the small town and the community around it.
ReplyDeleteThe Neenah basketball tourney is very unique. After having in shut down after 25 years, and now being brought back creating a buzz around a small town is huge. Being that this is in a small town it does greatly affect the town’s economy . Small town stores don’t really bring in much revenue due to the fact that there is not a lot of people so the quantity demanded is not that much due to small in town population. So when the tournament closed down the boost Neenah received from the 500 teams. The tournament shutdown not only affected the local businesses it also affected hotels around the area. As less people booked hotel rooms due to the tournament’s departure. All and all, it’s good to see that the demand for the 3 on 3 basketball tournament has came back with a fire. It seemed to bring the community together and most of all bring in solid income for local businesses
ReplyDeleteWith Neenah being a relatively small community, i'm sure this event provided a big boost to the local economy. Considering how many new people were in town for the event, local businesses were probably booming compared to normal. For a small community, small businesses mean everything so i'm sure local residents really appreciated the tourism as i'm sure they made a decent amount of profit off of it every year.
ReplyDeleteI think local unique events like these are great for the Economy. They bring people in and create a demand and revenue for both the event and local companies. When the tournament shut down you could see that this impacted not only the tournament but all the local businesses around Neenah as well. This shows the impact that events like these can have. On a broader scale this is why countries go head over heals to host the Olympics, because of the amount of people events like these bring in
ReplyDeleteThe Neenah Streetball Challenge is a very interesting and unique idea. I am glad to see that the tournament is back up and running because it really is a great boost in the economy of that area. This challenge reminds me very much of the annual dodge ball tournament held at Skyzone. I was at Skyzone when the tournament was being held and the place was filled with players, spectators, fans, and even commentators. I can imagine that many of these teams participating are not from Wisconsin so they would likely have to buy a hotel room. Additionally, they would have to spend money on food, clothes, and other activities in the local area. These annual tournaments are a great way to increase the economy in a specific area.
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