Training camps have a big impact on non-NFL cities
The Washington Redskins' new training camp facility cost the city of Richmond, Virginia, roughly. $10 million.
By Eric Brandner
It was just another tweet for Drew Brees. But it was history for the folks at Cook’s Country Kitchen.
The New Orleans Saints star quarterback went to dinner with teammates at the White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, restaurant on July 23, 2014. It was the Saints’ first night at their new training camp home in southern West Virginia, and the start of what Kristi Godby, media relations manager at the Greenbrier County CVB, describes as the town’s infatuation with the team.
“You’d have bragging rights for the whole year if [a Saints player] came in and ate,” says Godby. “They are very, very proud of their three-week Saints.”
The Saints’ move to the $30 million AdvoCare Sports Performance Center at The Greenbrier resort in 2014—they returned this summer, too—is emblematic of how some NFL teams are returning to the days when coaches would often seclude their players in small towns or college campuses for grueling practices and team bonding. Unlike those days, cities and corporate partners are willing to foot part of the bill for state-of-the-art facilities in hopes of generating buzz and revenue.
While Greenbrier County didn’t do an economic impact study on the Saints’ first training camp in 2014, Godby says White Sulpher Springs—the nearest town to the resort— was re-energized when the Saints arrived, with restaurants and shops benefiting from the training camp influx.
The reception has earned The Greenbrier another client: Saints owner Tom Benson will be bringing the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans— which he also owns—to the resort for training camp this fall.
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How much is a star quarterback worth? If you’re Spartanburg, South Carolina, it may be $3.5 million annually and counting.
Granted, it’s a small statistical leap. But the economic impact of Carolina Panthers’ training camp on the campus of Spartanburg’s Wofford College went from roughly $2 million in quarterback Cam Newton’s rookie year of 2011 to $5.22 million in 2014 and projects to be even higher when this year’s final numbers are tallied. The Panthers’ training camp attendance has soared during that time period, too, going from a then-record 34,243 attendees in 2011 to 77,625 attendees at this year’s training camp.
The Panthers’ presence in Spartanburg is a calculated move on the part of team owner Jerry Richardson, a Wofford alum. He markets the Panthers under a “Two States. One Team,” slogan and has held each of the franchise’s training camps at the South Carolina college since 1995.
Before camp, the Panthers partnered with home improvement giant Lowe’s to upgrade the fan experience at Wofford, changing the grading of the slope the fans sit on to watch practice and planting thousands of flowers.
“When we ask the question ‘Would you have come if there hadn’t been a Panthers camp in Spartanburg?’ most of the answers are ‘No,’” says Chris Jennings, executive director of the Spartanburg CVB. “[Panthers camp is] giving us real visibility. It’s making us a tourist destination.”
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Richmond, Virginia, is also benefitting from NFL-spurred tourism, though a slew of competing statistics has clouded the full impact.
The city spent $10 million on Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center to lure the team to town in 2013. A report by the Center for Sport Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University says the summer practices had a $10.5 million impact on the economy of the Richmond metropolitan area in its first year. Corey Peterson, director of sports development at Richmond Region Tourism, adds sports tourism in the metropolitan area went from 22 percent in 2011 to 51 percent in 2014.
But training camp attendance dropped this year, coinciding with outside perception of the team. After averaging more than 10,000 fans per practice in 2013 and roughly 11,000 fans per practice in 2014, the team was averaging just 6,222 fans per practice through Aug. 19, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
But Peterson says Washington’s presence puts the city in the national spotlight, noting that a series of sessions against the Houston Texans captured by HBO’s “Hard Knocks” only adds to the value. The year before, the New England Patriots, who went on to the win the Super Bowl, visited.
“Ultimately the training camp helps raise the profile of Richmond,” Peterson says.
This story originally appeared in Connect Sports.