Event Recap: 2014 Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships presented by MINI Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships: Monday, Mar 3 – Saturday, Mar 8, 2014 Nick Sargent, Burton Snowboards Office: 802.660.3285 Mobile: 303.588.5807 [email protected] 2 Event Overview The 2014 USO went down in the books as the best one in the history of the event. The 32nd annual USO saw 96 of the world’s greatest snowboarders, including Olympic gold medalists Jamie Anderson (USA) and Kaitlyn Farrington (USA), silver medalist Stale Sandbech (NOR) and bronze medalists Mark McMorris (CAN), Taku Hiraoka (JPN) and Kelly Clark (USA). In all there were 54 USO competors that were also in Sochi. In addion top riders such as Torstein Horgmo, Chas Guldemond, Taylor Gold, Arielle Gold and Spencer O’Brien took part in the 4 days of compeon and the week long fesvies. This year, built on the momentum and success of the 2013 event. A week’s worth of acvies were offered to the riders, media, locals and spectators alike, showcasing how Burton and Vail are best in class….all that Vail and Burton can offer: top notch riding, world class venues, nightlife, après acvies, sponsor interacons, best in class free riding, kids and family acvies, top musical acts and more. New this year was the Olympic Welcome on Wednesday. Designed to get people into town earlier in the week and to celebrate the riders that competed in Sochi. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 3 Vail Brand Compatibility Standard of excellence met by: • For the second year in a row, the greatest snowboard event in the world was hosted by the premiere mountain resort community in the world. Building on the momentum and excitement of 2013, the 2014 event saw event greater aendance, quality of experience and economic impact further demonstrang the power of marrying two premium brands. • The 2014 Burton US Open featured the World's best female and male snowboarders including 54 athletes that had competed in the Olympics and six 2014 Winter Olympic medalists. • The event producon level was further elevated in 2014. On hill venues were enhanced, new off hill acvies were added and exisng acvies were improved all creang a best in class experience for the athletes and the spectators. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 4 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • Exceeded expectaons: • The 2014 Burton US Open connues to met and exceeded all expectaons set by Burton and its supporng partners. World class compeon combined with top notch off hill acvies and fesvies created, all hosted in a premiere resort locaon yielded the “best ever” in the history of the USO. “It was so great to be able to make the US Open this year at Vail aer a whirlwind Post-Olympics tour. The town does such a great job, and I was so excited to get back on snow with such a great group of riders. I’m looking forward to next year as I think it is an awesome way to end my compeon season!” Kaitlyn Farrington, Gold Medalist in Halfpipe, 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 5 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • Event Highlights: • The USO saw 96 of the best riders in the world, including 54 Sochi Olympians and 6 medalists compeng for 4 days on world class halfpipe and slopestyle venues. • The USO featured enhanced in town acvies for all ages that enhanced the spectator and town visitor experience including: Olympic Celebraon, Après All Day Lounge, Riglet park, USO entertainment hubs, live DJs and concerts and more. • Over 49,000 projected spectators came out to aend the USO Wednesday – Saturday. • The USO once again helped have a posive impact on local revenues: March tax revenues up 3.5% from 2013 and parking revenues up 9% from 2013 Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 6 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • During the USO week, Vail Mountain saw a significant increase in skier visit over the same week in 2013 and 2012. They also saw a significant increase in the number of snowboarders on the mountain during the event week than in the previous year. • The USO packed the town with 96% lodging occupancy for the valley • 2014 saw a connuaon of the collaboraon with local businesses started in 2013 in which people were encouraged to visit Vail businesses. • The USO connues to aract media with over 192 media and photo credenals were distributed onsite, represenng 91 media outlets and resulted in 1200+ stories, up 66% from 2013. • The 2014 USO was Burton’s most socially engaged event to date with over 15,000 tags across 46 countries. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 7 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • The USO connues to be provide a successful global TV and webcast plaorm for the event and its partners: Over 1,000 hours covering more than 185 broadcast territories and with a potenal reach of all programming to more than 9,000,000,000 house holds. • In 2014, the USO established a partnership with the new network FS2 which included live coverage of the men’s and women’s HP and SS finals and yielded over 900,000 viewers. • The USO connued its efforts on local and regional markeng including print, online, radio, social, billboards and broadcast • The USO made efforts to reach out to the local Vail youth to engage them in USO acvies including Riglet and compeon viewing. • Creaon of the Olympic Celebraon with the aim to drive people into town early in the event week. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 8 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • Measures that could be taken for event improvement: • Connued outreach and engagement with local ski/snowboard community. • Connued outreach and engagement with local youth. • Connue to develop programs that support local businesses. • Strive for greater engagement with the foreign visitors. • Work on speaking to early season visitors with the intent to get them to return to Vail for the USO. • Connue to strengthen the event foundaon, rather than expanding the event for expansion sake. Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 9 Event Strengths & Weaknesses • On all accounts, the 2014 USO was the most successful USO to date. Building on the successes of 2013, the USO saw growth in the areas of economic impact, spectators, media and general event improvements. • Lodging: on par with 2013 and exceeded same calendar week • TV distribuon: exceeded 2013 • Media aendance and coverage: exceeded 2013 • Impact on revenues: exceeded same calendar week in 2013 • Skier Visits: exceeded same calendar week in 2013 • Local community outreach: exceeded 2013 • Markeng/promoon: exceed 2013 Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 10 Event Budget • Total event budget: $4 million • CSE funds: $400,000 • Profit (loss): $0 • In-kind Sponsorship: $0 • Cash: $3 million Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 11 Estimated Results Another banner year for USO aendance, which further demonstrates that both the on and off hill aracons provide a compelling reason to come to Vail. This season the USO implemented a new system of measurement, assessing the number of actual spectators, rather than the number of total onsite event impressions as was done in 2013. Spectators vs. Comp Sponsor Concert Lionshead Projected Total Total Impressions Venue Villages /Dobson /Riglet Skier Spectators Impressions Days 2014 8,500 26,000 14,300 100 72,000 49,850 121,805 (3/5-8) 2013 15,000 14,000 60,000 91,000 (2/28-3/2) Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 12 Estimated Results Vail Mt Maze Survey Highlights Golden Peak Lionshead Vail Village 75 43 46 33 29 29 29 24 16 18 8 13 % that said % that said % that said % that said USO enhanced they came they came they came their specifically for specifically for specifically for experience USO Men's HP Sat. band Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 Town of Vail | CSE | 6/7/14 13 Estimated Results The USO implemented its own survey in 2014, interviewing over 200 people about their experience in Vail. Here are the highlights: 33%: Overnight visitor 15%: Seasonal resident 23%: Full me resident 28%: Day Visitor Overnight visitors stayed an average of 4.5 nights, the majority were staying in Vail. The USO was rated on average a 6.5 (out of 10) with regard to how important the event was in factoring their decision to come to Vail. Average age of survey respondent was 27 Consumer spending/day: $20 - $1500/day Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 14 Estimated Return on Investment (ROI)* • TOV TO COMPUTE Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 15 Lodging Once again, the USO made a significant impact on lodging within the Vail valley, yielding an 8% increase in capacity and $32 ADR bump from the same week in 2013. Addionally, total rooms booked by and through event grew by 491 room nights. Lodging Event Week Same Calendar March Room Tallies Week ADR Nights 2014 96%(Mar 3-8) $496 2318 2013 97% 88% $464 1827 (Feb 25 –Mar 2) (Mar 4-9) Town of Vail | CSE | 5/7/14 16 Local Revenue It can be inferred that the USO is a contribung factor in the posive growth in local tax revenues over the last two years during the month of March. Tax revenues were up 7.7% or $271,544 from budget and up 3.5% or $128,468 from March 2013. Local Taxes February March 2014 $3,778,625 2013 $3,209,239 $3,690,232 “The Burton USO proved again this year that it is a great addion to the lineup of events and acvies in Vail.