APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Last year was a bad one for events, especially sporting events. Sports tourism has taken a big hit in the Fox Valley.
No games also means no money coming in.
While athletes play on the court, families are spending money off the court.
“They’re spending a lot of money at area restaurants, stores and hotels,” Matt Ten Haken, director of sports marketing at the Fox Cities Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, said. “In the Fox Cities, we lost over a hundred events that were set to take place in 2020, which would have accounted for $6 million in direct visitor spending.”
In Grand Chute, the Community First Champion Center’s general manager says they’ve had to limit the number of people allowed inside the $30 million facility.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to host some hockey games and tournaments as well as some basketball and volleyball events,” Adam Ligocki said.
The facility was open for about four months when the pandemic hit.
“There’s definitely a decrease in revenue for us. We have limited concessions available right now, so that’s a big hit for us in the concession stand,” Ligocki said.
The loss of revenue has also been felt in Minor League Baseball. The Timber Rattlers’ season was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“We’re down 90% this year from a revenue stand point. We were having outlays for different expenses, bobble heads, getting everything ready for the season, and then all of a sudden COVID hit and everything shut down,” Timber Rattlers President Rob Zerjav said in a press conference last month.
Ten Haken says he’s hoping sports will have a rebound in 2021.
“We’re shooting for about 180 events that we’re looking to host in the area… sports tourism events, so youth tournaments, amateur events. That would equate to a little more than $11 million of direct visitor spending in the community,” Ten Haken said.
Ten Haken says the 180 event goal is what they aim for in a normal year.
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