A study conducted by the Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance found that the 2016 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships generated over $32 million of “economic activity” for the city. Simultaneously, FINA announced a ‘funding surplus’ of $116,191 (meaning, the event came in under budget, not necessarily that it turned a profit), which they say will
Prior to the meet, the city of Windsor treasurer’s office estimated that the entire event would cost $11.3 million, and FINA reports that Windsor will invest that money “to fund aquatics equipment to help grow the sport of competitive swimming in the city.” In addition, a further $116,191 is being recommended for the city’s 2018 capital budget for similar purposes.
Also from the report:
These expenditures supported $13 million in wages and salaries in the province through the support of 191 jobs, of which 125 jobs and $8.1 million in wages and salaries were supported in Windsor. The Championships also widely supported tax revenues in Canada.
The event included building a temporary competition and warmup pool at the WFCU Center in Ontario, which is traditionally used as a hockey venue. 864 swimmers from 153 countries around the world participated.
“I think the results were very, very positive and I think the city should be looking at more opportunities when it makes sense,” Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens said. “All those who were present had a chance to experience a world-class swimming event. It was a great event for Windsor!”
FINA president Dr. Julio C. Maglione said that the results were good in spite of the city’s relatively small size (218,000 population, 329,000 metro).
“Despite being the smallest city ever to host our FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), the event had a tremendous and positive impact on the local economy and on the overall exposure of the city and province of Ontario. FINA experienced a great time in Windsor and this outcome proves once more the advantages of hosting a major FINA event, in terms of social, economic, tourism, and sport development benefits”.
I guess building a temporary pool in a hockey rink helped with keeping the costs relatively low. It’s also a very Canadian way to host an event.
Better (almost double) than a big time college football game (e.g. Notre Dame v. Georgia)
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21261792/notre-dame-fighting-irish-economy-weekend-south-bend-college-football
I would hope so. This is a 7 day event compared to a 1 day event (of which there are hundreds upon hundreds per year)
Funny thing is Notre Dame has 7 home games, that’s 91,000,000 in revenue nearly 3 times this meet
They certainly did WAY better than the Rio Olympics . LOL
Went to Rio, went to Windsor. I didn’t have any issues with either city. I thought Windsor did a good job, given the size of their city and the fact that it was December in Canada.