Executive Summary

Executive Summary Background Since first operation in 1999, the Millennium Stadium has been host to a number of sporting events of global importance, including the 1999 Rugby World Cup; Football Association and League Cups; and in 2006, the ERC Heineken Cup Final. This is in addition to its ‘day to day’ activities, including being home to the international Welsh rugby and football teams. This report quantifies the economic impact the stadium has had upon Wales, and Cardiff in its first seven years of operation (1999-2006). This is of some importance, with major events providing an important part of city and National Assembly economic development and marketing efforts. The Millennium Stadium has generated around nine million visits during its first seven years, with almost half of them from outside Wales. This makes it far and away the premier tourist attraction in Wales, and easily within the UK Top Ten; one of only a handful of attractions outside London of this scale. This report illustrates that whilst the positioning of sports infrastructure and major events as drivers of economic development is in some cases problematic, the Millennium Stadium has performed strongly as a driver of inward visitation and of media coverage for Cardiff and Wales. Methodology We have based our estimate of the economic impact of the Stadium on the spending that is directly associated with stadium visits. The quantitative Input-Output modelling has a number of advantages over a simple count of expenditures, firstly enabling us to separate out and discount that spending on non-Welsh goods and services, and secondly providing an indication of the indirect impacts on the Welsh economy as stadium attendees money is ‘multiplied’ through the regional economy, providing income for suppliers to both the stadium and businesses in the wider visitor economy, and wages for workers that are then re-spent. We have been conservative in our estimates. For example we do not include any spending by non-Welsh spectators on their travel to and from Cardiff. Similarly, we do not attempt to model or enumerate the benefits for Wales or Cardiff of any media coverage of stadium events, although such effects are often held to be significant. Results We estimate the offsite spending since 1999 of stadium spectators on Welsh goods and services, net of imports and taxes, to be £364m (after also accounting for visitor displacement of Cardiff shoppers). Once added to the stadium’s own spending, this initial impact generates a total “direct plus indirect” effect of £725m, associated with £355m in gross value added in £2006. We further estimate that just over half of this impact (55%) is generated by non-Welsh visitors; i.e. can be considered “export earnings” for Wales. The annualised impact of the stadium then amounts to an estimated £105m of economic impact and £50m of gross value added. Whilst it is problematic to associate spending in i tourism sectors with ‘jobs’, we estimate that such spending could support around 2,400 full- time equivalent employees (direct and indirect) per annum. Economic Impact of the Millennium Stadium: Total (Annualised & total) Output Gross Value Employment (£m) Added (£m) (FTEs) On-site (direct) 11.7 4.3 72 (+ 50*) Turnover-related (supply chain & wage effects) 7.2 3.3 135 Off-site spectator spending 85.0 431 2,170 Total Impact (annual) 104.0 50.7 2,430 Total Impact (lifetime) £727.3 £355.0 17,000 Notes: All £2006. Employment estimates indicative only Assumes casual staff at approx 0.075FTE Will not sum due to rounding *matchday staff Whilst it is difficult to be definitive, we estimate that around 85% of stadium economic impacts will accrue in the Cardiff economy; i.e. £613m in total and £88m per annum. The Stadium in Context The results reveal that the stadium contributes to around 0.7% of Cardiff output and value added, with perhaps 14,400 FTE jobs (1.2% of city employment) directly or indirectly dependent on stadium operations. Meanwhile, the stadium is estimated to contribute around 17% of Cardiff’s tourism value added, and around 23% of the City’s tourism- depended employment. Perhaps as importantly, the stadium enjoys a close ‘cultural proximity’ with Wales, thus being an important tool for place-marketing and regional profiling. This cultural affiliation has the benefit of emphasising positive elements of Wales’ culture, including a ‘warm welcome’ and strong sporting intent. The stadium also plays a part in Welsh Assembly Government policy; perhaps not always directly, but again as an important supporting actor. For example it is critically important to the objective of levering higher visibility for the ‘Capital Network’ region in the Wales Spatial Plan, benefiting both Cardiff and the Valleys. The Stadium is explicitly mentioned in the aspiration to attract a higher level of sports and event tourists to Wales. Indeed, without the Millennium Stadium it is difficult to see any long-term comparative advantage for Wales in major event hosting. Whilst the Wales Rally GB and Ryder Cup are both essentially non-Stadium based events with a high profile, their presence in Wales, unlike Stadium events, relies upon a large measure of pubic support. It is in large part the Stadium and its suite of events that initially spurred the Welsh major event hosting strategy, and continues to contribute strongly to its credibility and sustainability. ii .

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