The assistant professor of sport management spoke about what really drives the economic impact of major sporting events.
黑料不打烊 Assistant Professor of Sport Management Alex Traugutt was featured in a recent Spectrum News 1 story examining how visiting fans contribute to North Carolina鈥檚 sports economy during the Carolina Hurricanes鈥 playoff run. The article explored how travel tied to major sporting events generates spending that benefits hotels, restaurants and local businesses.
鈥淲e oftentimes have a misconception around the economic impact that a sporting event has,鈥 Traugutt said.聽鈥淲here we see the kind of economic drive is when we have outside fans from either outside the geographic area or traveling fans from away teams come into the host city and bring their money.”
Using the Hurricanes鈥 playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens as an example, Traugutt noted that traveling fans contribute new spending to the local economy through hotels, restaurants, transportation and entertainment. He emphasized that local fans shifting their entertainment spending within the same city typically do not create the same level of economic growth.
鈥淲e benefit from the Canadiens because they have a great fan base. So they will travel to see their fans play. There’s also a lot of Canadiens fans in the area, not maybe here, but that surround North Carolina,鈥 Traugutt said.
Read and watch the story on . Traugutt also spoke about the topic on the聽.