Written by: Cameron Kaehler
As many of you may know, the Pewaukee Girls Basketball team was just one win shy of making it to the state tournament to be held at the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI. Not only is the WIAA Girls State Basketball Tournament held at the complex, but the WIAA Girls State Volleyball Tournament is also played there as well. In return for hosting these statement sporting events, the city of Green Bay is able to benefit economically from the added tourism.Over the years, the girls basketball tournament has averaged around 40,000 fans per year as well as a $2.5 million economic boost. Similarly, the girls volleyball tournament has averaged around 20,000 fans with a $700,000 economic boost (Venci). By drawing in new crowds of people to the Green Bay area, more money is able to be generated as seen from the prior statistics. Having the players, coaches, parents, referees, and spectators potentially spend multiple days and nights in the city serves as a huge incentive for local businesses. In addition, due to the increasing popularity of girls sports in the recent years, the girls basketball tournament in particular “is expected to bring $3 million dollars to the area” for the 2019 season. This just goes to show that when venues create an inviting atmosphere and offer a lively city, they are able to reap the rewards economically for their efforts.
Furthermore, to spice things up, the Resch Center created a promotion to get high schools competing against each other before the teams even take center court. The promotion is called the ‘Rush to the Resch’ and schools compete to see who can sell the most tickets to members of their community. The winning school receives a check as a reward for all of their hard work and dedication which can go toward anything of their choosing (Mays). This promotion gets the schools in the spirit of friendly competition while also serving as an aid for the city of Green Bay to earn more revenue by drawing larger crowds. Competitions always seem to get more people involved; after all, more people equals more needs which equal more money.In the end, one thing is crystal clear. . . the city of Green Bay was very smart in extending their contract with the WIAA, keeping the girls tournaments there until at least 2025. All of the economic benefits to the city far outweigh the actual costs to operate the tournament. These tournaments are also a great way for the city to maintain a constant stream of revenue when their professional sports team, the Green Bay Packers, are in their off season. As long as people keep attending and event coordinators keep utilizing interesting ways to attract spectators, the Resch Center will continue to serve as a popular economic booster for the city of Green Bay.
Works Cited
Mays, Gabrielle, and Fox. “State Tournaments to Stay at Resch Center through 2025.” WLUK, fox11online.com/sports/high-school-gametime/wiaa-announcement-on-future-state-tourney-locationsVenci, Scott. “WIAA Extends Contract for Girls State Basketball and Volleyball Tournaments.” Press Gazette Media, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, 7 Mar. 2018, www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/2018/03/07/wiaa-extends-contract-girls-state-basketball-and-volleyball-tournaments/403835002/.
Wearegreenbay. “Green Bay Savoring Economic Impact from WIAA Tournament.” WEAREGREENBAY, WEAREGREENBAY, 11 Mar. 2016, www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/green-bay-savoring-economic-impact-from-wiaa-tournament/394826113.
With both girls basketball and girls volleyball going to green bay to compete at the state level how does this compare to the revenue of boys basketball and wrestling in Madison? If the location of these girls sports were changed would more money be made or would that hurt the city of Green Bay too much? If girls basketball could get the same amount of followers as boys basketball the city of Green Bay would continue to project more and more growth in their revenue eventually making Green Bay a place to host more state tournaments or meets.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you, as a result of the Resch Center supporting WIAA the city of Green Bay and local business were able to benefit from these events. You could compare this to, how Milwaukee and the baseball team the Brewers help contribute to the economic progress of city. As a result, brewing industries such as Miller, are impacted in selling of their products to consumers that aren't local to the area. Which means as a result of funding sport teams, it can lead not only the profit of the stadium or center that their games are hosted at. It also can lead to the economic increase within local businesses by exposing more outside consumers into cities like Milwaukee to help increase the overall growth of the economy itself.
I agree with you that this is a really great thing for Green Bay to have to help boost revenue that you otherwise wouldn’t end up getting, and it help to draw a lot of people to one area, which helps to boost business revenue with all the added tourism that they wouldn’t see otherwise this time of year. Also this is a great way for communities to come together and get motivated to encourage their team to try their best showing that there is a positive end goal that wouldn’t be available otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic because it reminds you how even high school basketball is able to effect the economy. The State tournament really does bring many different people to one area allowing for local businesses in Green bay to make an increased revenue that they would not have received if the tournament was held at another venue.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was a very smart decision by the city of Green Bay to form a contract with the WIAA, allowing them to have annual revenue from the State basketball tournament. It is interesting though how large the economic boost is, as I would not expect it to be nearly as much as $2.5 million. If this one weekend of a high school basketball championship tournament can create this much revenue, it would be fascinating to see how much this compares to larger sporting events for high school championships such as football, or even on a college or professional level. The Resch Center also has a strategic plan of creating pre competitions before the games even begin to see which team can sell the most tickets in your community, as that is yet another example of how they can strategically create revenue without even having to put in direct effort since the teams will be doing the selling. Overall, I would not have expected the impact on Green Bay's economic climate and the Resch Center to increase in profit by this much just for a weekend, high school tournament, but they have done an excellent job with their plans for maximizing revenue during this period.
ReplyDeleteGirl sports have been constantly increasing in popularity which does mean more revenue to whoever is hosting the game.Sales of tickets, food and renting out the gyms will benefit the area or complex these games take place at. In green bay since they hold he State Tournament every year and will last for a couple of days, players and families may stay in hotels or go out to eat after the games which is benefiting the economy in a positive way contributing more to the GDP since individuals are spending more money.
ReplyDeleteThere’s definitely nothing to refute about your argument, Green Bay was very smart to host state tournaments for girls basketball and volleyball which would in turn boost the economy. The city’s intellect and increasing revenue also goes past offering the Resch Center as a place to play the games. As you mentioned, the “Rush to the Resch” was implemented to increase ticket sales. The organizers of the event were also strategic by scheduling games either early in the morning or late at night and over a span of a few days to incentivize families to book a hotel room. Additionally, the state tournament added a three-point contest for the top shooters in each division, which would bring even more players, parents, and spectators. Green Bay is using the state tournaments to its advantage as much as possible to grow their economy.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree, and it is interesting that you chose high school sports, and this is because most people believe that high school sports are not popular enough to bring in crowds large enough to generate any real monetary gain. However, unlike professional sports, a tournament like the State Tournament brings in multiple teams instead of just the regular two teams brought in for professional events, allowing the communities of possibly 4 different teams more than doubles the amount of revenue one could make. In addition, because of the growing popularity of high school sports as well, many regular citizens who may not be apart of the communities these teams are coming from turn up as well for Tournaments, filling more seats and generating more revenue. This is especially good for the small businesses of Green Bay as well, because if people are coming from far places across the state, usually, people want to go to places they have never been to before instead of McDonald's. So more local businesses will receive the money of the tournament as well. As some of the people above me have said as well, bringing in fun elements into the tournament also beings in more people, kind of like the All-Star events that occur in the NBA as well. Lastly, all of the teams are definitely a positive externality for Green Bay, as the small town could get excited for a large tournament in their area.
ReplyDeleteI already knew that the volleyball and basketball state games are hosted at the Resch Center, but I never really thought about the economical benefits Green Bay gets due to hosting these events. It is crazy to think how much money one sport event can raise, like you said around 40,000 fans come to support the basketball teams, which brings in 2.5 million dollars. Similar to the amounts they raise hosting the volleyball tournaments alone. Not only do fans come, but teams and referees come and stay in town overnight which brings in even more money. I agree that it is very smart of the city of Green Bay to continually host these tournaments, since they get economical benefits.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that sporting events are a huge part of a cities economy. I'm sure Milwaukee gets a lot of economic boosts from the Bucks and Brewers however it is nice to see even some 'smaller' events such as high school sports can impact a cities economy by so much. It would be cool to see how the impact changes though different divisions and sports.
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