December 27, 2009

College bowl games boost Valley economy

The recession may have sacked the local economy, but the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Insight Bowl are coming to the financial rescue.

The economic impact of both games — the Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 4 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, and the Insight Bowl, Dec. 31 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, along with related activities — is expected to reach $250 million, up from $230 million last year, according to the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

“Given the current economic conditions and the fact that Arizona has been hit so hard, in fact harder than most communities in other parts of the country, I think it’s even more important this year that we have these people coming in who will really be giving a shot in the arm to our economy,” said Tony Alba, director of media relations for the Fiesta Bowl and Insight Bowl.

That economic impact should spread across all parts of the Valley, including all of the East Valley, he said.

The Valley’s hospitality industry is anxious to receive the boost in business, said Kristen Jarnagin, vice president of communications for the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association.

“This comes at such a perfect and much-needed time for our hotels to wrap up what’s been a truly challenging year, the most difficult year in the history of most of our properties,” she said. “The hotels are usually pretty quiet at this time, so to have all these teams, their alumni and fans, and their sponsors coming to our destination, eating in our restaurants, shopping in our retail outlets, renting cars and staying in our hotels, it’s an immense economic boost so badly needed for our hoteliers. It’s also going to be a huge tax revenue windfall for our state and city governments.”

Out-of-state visitors began arriving before Christmas.

Nick Gosiak, manager of the Just Sports store inside Chandler Fashion Center, reported fans snapping up Fiesta Bowl merchandise as early as last Wednesday.

“A lot of the fans travel after the holiday, so most of our sales pick up after Christmas on bowl merchandise,” he said. “We have quite a big selection of the Fiesta Bowl products. The bowl games help us, and the Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs helps us.”

‘they’ll be all over’

This year’s team mix guarantees substantial out-of-state attendance at both games, Alba said. The Fiesta Bowl features Boise State vs. Texas Christian, while the Insight Bowl features Minnesota vs. Iowa State.

“If we look at the Fiesta Bowl side, we have two schools … that are in relative close proximity to the area, so their fans will be able to get here quite easily,” Alba said. “Initially, each school receives 17,500 tickets, but both schools told us they would need more than that … so each school will receive 19,000. That’s 38,000 tickets that are being distributed.”

That doesn’t include the thousands of people who come to the Valley without tickets to participate in bowl-related activities, he said. In all, about 40,000 people will be descending on the Valley for the Fiesta Bowl, he said.

The Insight Bowl will attract at least 15,000 out-of-state visitors, more so from Iowa State than Minnesota, Alba said.

“With all the events combined, you’re looking at a good 55,000 to 60,000 people coming in from out of state for this year’s activities,” he said. “Once you get past Christmas and to December 27-28, you’re going to start to see a steady flow of people coming into town. They’ll be here through January 5. They’ll be all over.”

In addition to the games, visitors will be attending the massive Fiesta Bowl Block Party on New Year’s Eve on Mill Avenue in Tempe, as well as the Fiesta Bowl Parade in downtown Phoenix and other activities, Alba said.

“I think you’ll see the entire metropolitan area will be benefited by the influx of people,” he said. “You’re going to have people staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, enjoying entertainment activities and going to grocery stores, so it really is across the board in terms of our hospitality industry and our retail communities.”

Bob Brinton, president and CEO of the Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the economic impact makes a difference in the East Valley.

“We obviously don’t get as much Fiesta Bowl business in Mesa as we used to because of its location,” he said. “Insight Bowl, we do a little better with because of it being in Tempe. But the thing is, it’s good to have people here no matter what. Even from things like the (Waste Management) Phoenix Open (PGA tournament), we get benefits. There are people who stay in hotels, but it’s not like we’re the first choice.”

Plenty of room

The bowl games prompted the hospitality industry to hire its seasonal employees a month earlier, Jarnagin said. Hotels added about 2,400 employees last month in anticipation of the games and the upcoming travel season, which starts next month, she said.

Hotels in Mesa hope to see a bump in business from the bowl games and related festivities. David Croughan, general manager of the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Phoenix/Mesa/Chandler, said this has been the worst year he’s ever seen in his 31 years in the hospitality industry.

“It makes 9/11 look like a picnic at this point,” he said.

Croughan said he has contacted a number of team booster groups and “potentially there could be a couple of folks who sneak in the door” for the Insight Bowl.

“We had a fabulous November, but December is going to be at best probably flat (compared with) last year,” he said. “If you consider the fact that the overall market has been operating 20 percent to 27 percent down, coming in flat is actually an improvement. I can only do what I can do, and if I’m getting my fair share and I’m not sinking like the rest of the market has at certain times, that’s encouraging.”

The Hyatt Place Phoenix/Mesa, located just a few miles east of Sun Devil Stadium near the Riverview shopping center in Mesa, has seen a slight increase in bookings from the Insight Bowl, said Candy Greff, general manager.

“We do have rooms that are (booked) for those couple of days over the bowl period that we do know are directly related to the Insight Bowl,” she said.

The hotel opened at the end of this year’s travel season and has been slowly increasing its business, Greff said. Occupancy has been running 30 percent to 40 percent, she said.

“We have real good weekend business,” she said.