Pac-12: A Win for Utah’s Economy Economic Impact and Visitor Experience of University of Utah Football Summer 2013 Pac-12: Impact Economic Impact and Visitor Experience of University of Utah Football The 2012 football season, while having mixed results on the field, was extremely successful off the field. The economic impact of the season surpassed the previous year and opposing out-of-state attendees continue to view their visit as a positive experience. The findings come from a study of University of Utah football conducted by the University of Utah’s Center for Public Policy & Administration (CPPA) and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BEBR). The multi-year research project analyzes out-of- state ticket sales, television revenues, and data collected through on-site interviews of out-of-state fans to determine the overall impact of Utah’s membership in the Pac-12. ECONOMIC IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS • 1,056 – Average Pac-12 per-game out-of-state fan attendance during 2012 football season. This includes four Pac-12 home games compared to five home games in the previous season. • 2 times – Average out-of state attendance at University of Utah football homes games has doubled since joining the Pac 12. • $2.3 million – Estimated amount out-of-state fan attendees spent on goods and services in Utah. This figure is significantly lower from the 2011 season, but the decrease is largely attributed to one fewer Pac-12 home games and nearly 2,100 fewer out-of-state attendees in 2012. • $8 million – Expected television revenues under the Pac-12 for the 2012 season, which accounts for nearly 78 percent of all revenue. This is an increase of $5 million over the 2011 season and nearly $7 million more than under the Mountain West Conference. • $10.3 million – Estimated sum of expenditures for out-of-state attendees and television revenues in 2012, an increase of $1.8 million from the 2011 season. This is projected to support approximately 275 jobs with earnings of over $6.6 million and approximately $660,000 in state tax revenue. VISITOR EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS: Out-of-state fans describe Utah football fans as extremely welcoming and the majority is likely to return for a future stay. Moreover, many fans say their impression of the University of Utah is more favorable after their visit. • Welcome-Wagon 87 percent of respondents were well or very well received by Utah fans. • Return Flight 62 percent of respondents are more likely to return to visit Utah. • Changing Minds 98 percent of respondents whose impressions of the University were changed because of their visit, view the University of Utah more favorably now. 1 INTRODUCTION Results of a study of the 2012 University of Utah football season provide an estimate of the positive economic impact of the school’s affiliation with the Pac-12 Conference. The study is a continuation of research begun in the 2011 football season by the University of Utah’s Center for Public Policy & Administration (CPPA) and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BEBR). In addition to gauging the economic effects of Pac-12 membership, general information regarding visitors’ experience was also measured. This report is a product of a target-intercept survey of out-of-state attendees conducted at each of the four Pac-12 home games during the 2012 football season. For research purposes, an “out-of-state attendee” refers only to an attendee from outside Utah who is a fan of the opponent teams. Data was collected under direct supervision of CPPA staff and with the assistance of the University of Utah Athletic Department. The interviews of selected out-of-state fans were conducted prior to games at key locations at Rice-Eccles Stadium, designated visitor tailgate areas, and on the UTA TRAX line to the stadium. Interviewers received formal training on methods to approach and screen potential respondents and detailed instructions were provided regarding completion of the survey form. To improve accuracy of the data collected, only one person in a family or travel group participated in the study. The survey was administered at all Pac-12 games though inclement weather restricted the ability to effectively gather data at some of the games. No in-state fans or non-Pac-12 games are included in the analysis. The questionnaire included details on travel party size, number of days and nights in Utah, spending estimates, and general impressions of the University of Utah. Economic estimates were prepared by BEBR utilizing economic data collected from the survey. The overall sample for the analysis is 151 out-of-state attendees from a total of 4,223 out-of state fan tickets sold. 1,2 ECONOMIC IMPACT The 2011 season analysis found that the initial move to the Pac-12 from the Mountain West Conference resulted in substantial economic gains for the State of Utah. These economic gains further increased during the 2012 season. This positive economic impact is largely attributed to the higher television revenue the University of Utah received. The football program and associated home games yield economic impacts to the State of Utah through expenditures in Utah by out-of- state fans attending football games, television revenues to the University of Utah, and improved perceptions of the state gained through visitation. 3 1 The margin-of-error is +/- 7.8 percent. 2 The University of Utah makes tickets for fans of the opposing team available through that team’s ticket office. These ticket sales were provided by the University of Utah’s Athletic Department for each of the four Pac 12 home games in the 2012 season. Although ticket sales through opposing universities serve as the measure of the number of out-of-state attendees, we note that since tickets are also available through secondary sources, out-of-state attendance estimates and associated economic impacts may be greater than reported here. 3 The impacts are measured by the number of supported jobs (Jobs) and associated earning (Earnings), gross state product (GSP), state economic output (Output), and state tax revenue (State Tax Revenue). Output is the gross value of all goods and services sold; GSP is approximately the net value of goods and services sold. The measure of “jobs” reported is job years. A job year is one full-time equivalent job for one year (or two half-time jobs for one year, or four half-time jobs for one-half year, etc.). 2 During the 2012 season, the University of Utah hosted four home games against Pac-12 opponents. In order, these opponents were: The University of Southern California (USC), The University of California- Berkeley (CAL), Washington State University (WAZU), and The University of Arizona (AZ). The average travel party size to these Pac-12 games was 2.7 out-of-state fans that stayed in Utah an average of 2.9 nights. Attendance For a second season, out-of-state fan attendance is double that of football games during previous membership in the Mountain West Conference (MWC). The total number of out-of-state attendees was 4,223 for the four Pac-12 home games. 4 The average per-game out-of state attendance for the MWC games was 1,056. Graph 1 displays ticket sales by game from Utah’s two Pac-12 football seasons. All Pac-12 affiliated games exceeded the average ticket sales (546) during the MWC. However, the 2012 season ticket sales were relatively low compared to the 2011 season, which had a significant effect on the economic impact numbers. Out-of-State Fan Expenditures Out-of–state attendees during the 2012 season spent an estimated $2.3 million on in-state goods and services during their visit. This figure is significantly lower than the 2011 season. Calculations for the economic impact are based on the estimate per-person per-day expenditures. The 2012 per-person per- day expenditure of $204 is $39 less than the 2011 season estimate of $243. The lower per-person per-day amount, one less Pac-12 home game, nearly 2,100 fewer out-of-state attendees, and fewer days per visit all contribute to the lower overall out-of-state attendee expenditure for 2012.5 4The economic impacts and visitor perceptions are based only on this subset of out-of-state attendees since ticket sales information is not available for out-of-state attendees who are fans of the Utes. The impacts of out-of-state attendees who are fans of the University of Utah are in addition to those presented in this report. 5 In both the 2012 and 2011 many survey responses were missing or questionable. In these cases, the responses were imputed from the statistical relationships among the remaining data. In handling missing/questionable data values, this analysis employs a methodology called "multiple imputation." In multiple imputation, the values that would have been observed had they not been missing are predicted from a statistical model that applies to all the data. Multiple predictions are made for each missing value. The analysis is based on the average of the predicted values. The predicted values are informed by known characteristics of the respondent and by the relationships between non-missing data from all the other records. 3 Individual spending on specific categories in 2012, displayed in Table 1, did change from the 2011 season. Differences include: • Lodging - Visitor spending on lodging, $106, Table 1: Out -of -state attendee spending per - accounts for 52 percent of the weighted- person per-day, travel and accommodations. 2012 2011 average per-person per-day spending. It is a reported increase of $20 from 2011. Visitors 4,223 6,361 • Food - The most significant deviation for fan Average Days per Visit 2.8 3.2 spending behaviors is in food, which is a Lodging $106 $86 decrease from 39 percent to 18 percent of the Food $37 $95 weighted-average per-person per-day spending, or $58.