Centre County, home to Penn State University’s main campus, draws substantial tourism activity through a diverse calendar of athletic events. The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Centre County’s tourism promotion agency, engaged ESI to quantify the annual economic impact of those sporting events on the county economy to support strategic planning, advocacy efforts, and resource allocation decisions for tourism and economic development.
ESI gathered data on attendance levels and attendee profiles from facility and event operators as well as the Penn State Athletics Department in order to estimate the annual visitation and spending attracted to the county by sporting events. ESI than applied input-output modeling using IMPLAN to estimate direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts from visitor spending and departmental operations. The analysis captured the spending of both overnight visitors and day-trippers and the multiplier effects of that spending circulating through the regional economy, and translated this impact into total output, jobs and wages supported, and state tax revenue.
Sporting events and associated activity were estimated generate an annual economic impact of more than $400 million within Centre County, supporting more than 4,300 jobs with $133 million in employee compensation. Beyond these quantitative estimates, the study documented additional economic benefits including licensing and merchandising revenues, media exposure, alumni charitable contributions, and long-term destination awareness and repeat visitation effects. The findings gave the Bureau a robust evidence base to plan and advocate for continued investment in sports events as a driver of regional tourism and economic development.
