Baseball tournament attendees were the biggest economic contributors at more than $51 million, followed by Cheer and Dance competition participants at nearly $49 million. Other top revenue-generating sports for the community included fast-pitch softball ($21.4 million), basketball ($19.8 million), running events ($6.8 million), slow-pitch softball ($5.7 million) and soccer ($4 million).
Dollar-wise, July was the biggest month with $58.2 million in direct spending, while September was the smallest ($988,000). The Myrtle Beach Sports Center, which just opened in March, was responsible for $22 million in direct spending during 2015. Events at the Sports Center included basketball, volleyball and cheerleading.”
HOWEVER, although not exactly a direct 1:1 correlation, if you remove the $22 million generated from the new sports center from the 2015 totals, the year over year would be down $10 million ($167.7M(for 2015) – $12M= $155.7M for 2014. Taking $22 million of sports center dollars off the $167.7 million would put the city at an adjusted figure of $145.7 million.
This is $10 million LESS than the final 2014 tourism numbers.
Investments like the Sports Complex must be viewed over a multi year period, however. MyrtleBeachSC.com will keep our readers updated on how these numbers pan out over the next decade.
Having the Sports Complex in the city of Myrtle Beach adds tourism value and variety for sure.